principle shares in the process of development. It follows 

 that the developing organic bodies are not machines, but 

 consist of non-organic substance" (§ 253) . In the commentary 

 to this paragraph he puts the question, why does development 

 need this non-organic substance? Because it possesses 

 definite characters or because it builds in a definite way? 

 Wolff, without deviation, assumed the first alternative, and 

 as a proof he referred to the growth of plants in which the 

 arising parts are composed only of non-organized mass. The 

 organization, the structure in this non-organized matter, 

 is manifested later on (§ 253). 



From these considerations appears the general relation of 

 Wolff to the mechanical explanation of vital phenomena, 

 either normal or pathological. The title of paragraph 255 

 directly asks the question: "What is thought on this basis 

 about the mechanical medicine?" The answer is given as follows: 

 "If mechanical medicine is labelled that which explains the 

 vital processes of the human body...., then it is clear that 

 mechanical medicine is an imagined system, i.e. that which 

 does not correspond to any thing in nature." 



Commenting on this conclusion, Wolff characterized the 

 opinions of the supporters of mechanical medicine: "The 

 little which they have established hardly penetrates through 

 the surface of matter, and the great part of that which 

 concerns animal nature is either completely hypothetical or 

 simply unknown" (5 255, remark 1). Below (Remark 2) Wolff 

 indicated that the mechanical interpretation of vital phenomena 

 only gives that explanation deceptive clarity. In the 

 conclusion to this paragraph, Wolff turned to the character- 

 istics of his own view, warning against hurried conclusions, 

 because "If you, favorable reader, want to guess my opinion, 

 then you easily can make a mistake. Further you can approach 

 my opinions, if you think about Stahl's opinion . . . according 

 to which the functions of our body must be attributed to a 

 non-material spirit" (5 255, Remark 4) . 



This declaration of Wolff must be considered carefully, 

 and it must not be hastily concluded that he was a supporter 

 of Stahl's animistic vitalism. Wolff's idea is greater in that 

 he declared himself as a decisive opponent of mechanical 

 understanding of vital phenomena and objected against the 



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