Biological philosophy and influence in literature?

[Tanja Becker]

Subject: Biological philosophy and influence in literature?


I would like to write an interdisciplinary Ph. D. thesis about the 
mechanism-vitalism debate in the field of biology and its reception in 
german literature. I will especially concentrate on a timeperiod between 
1888 and ca. 1951 in which many biologists point out the neovitalism as a 
new field in the theory of science to the materialistic and mechanistic 
trends  in the 19th century. Among these biologists have been a lot of 
big names like:

	H. Driesch			J. von Uexkuell
	R. Becker			E. Rindfleisch
	H. Conrad-Martius		G. Bunge
	P. N. Cossmann			G. Wolff
	J. Reinke			A. Kerner von Marilaun
	A. Wenzl			E. Albrecht
	A. Pauly			E. von Hartmann
	W. Roux				E. Du Bois-Reymond

I am searching for any kind of information about or people working on the 
topic if and when how german literature in the timeperiod between 1888 
and ca. 1951 is dealing with the question about the understanding of life 
(mechanism/vitalism), the term of the organic and the imagination of 
biology in common (evolutiontheory, teleology, telonomy, 
Lebenskraftlehren, equifinal processes etc.). 

For hints to the reception of the mechanism-vitalism debate in (german) 
literature, which are referring to another period of time (e.g. the
romanticism (Romantik)) I would be also very grateful.

Many thanks in advance

Tanja Becker