The Revolution of Becoming
How the Theory of Self-Generation Transformed Science and Culture
Introduction: The Great Paradigm Shift
Imagine a world where every living being exists as a miniature pre-formed version of itself, nested within generations like Russian dolls stretching back to the dawn of creation. This seemingly peculiar idea, known as preformationism, dominated biological thought for centuries—until around 1800, when a radical new concept overturned it: epigenesis, the theory that organisms generate themselves under the guidance of a formative drive. This revolutionary idea didn't just transform biology—it rippled through philosophy, linguistics, and literature, creating an intellectual revolution that redefined humanity's understanding of itself and its place in the natural world.
Biological Transformation
The shift from preformation to epigenesis revolutionized how scientists understood development and inheritance.
Philosophical Impact
Kant and German Idealists applied biological concepts to epistemology and metaphysics.
At the turn of the 19th century, the theory of self-generation emerged as a powerful alternative to established doctrines, proposing that living entities develop through progressive formation and differentiation rather than merely growing from pre-existing structures. As historian Helmut Müller-Sievers demonstrates in his work "Self-Generation: Biology, Philosophy, and Literature Around 1800," this concept became the cornerstone of modern thought across multiple disciplines, providing a unique lens through which to understand profound changes in how we perceive knowledge, language, and artistic creation 1 . The story of self-generation is ultimately the story of how we came to understand possibility, potential, and becoming—concepts that continue to shape our modern worldview.
The Biological Revolution: From Preformation to Epigenesis
For much of Western scientific history, preformation theory represented the orthodox understanding of biological origins. This model proposed that all organisms were created simultaneously at the beginning of the world, nested within one another like Russian dolls, with each generation merely growing and unfolding from these pre-existing forms 1 . The theory offered a tidy, deterministic view of creation that aligned well with certain religious doctrines—every creature that would ever exist was already designed in miniature at the moment of creation.
The challenger to this established view, epigenesis, proposed something radically different: organisms develop progressively through emergent self-organization, guided by an internal formative drive. Rather than merely unfolding like a flower from a bud, life was seen as actively creating itself through dynamic processes 1 4 . This wasn't merely a scientific debate—it represented a fundamental shift in how humanity conceived of nature's creative powers.
"The theory of epigenesis proposed that life actively creates itself through dynamic processes rather than merely unfolding from pre-existing forms."
| Aspect | Preformation Theory | Epigenesis Theory |
|---|---|---|
| Origin of Form | Pre-existing structures | Emergent through development |
| Developmental Process | Unfolding/growth | Progressive differentiation |
| Timeline of Creation | Single creation event | Ongoing generative process |
| Nature of Life | Static and deterministic | Dynamic and self-organizing |
| Metaphor | Unfolding scroll | Creative artist |
The evidence for this biological revolution came from embryological observations that revealed the progressive development of complex structures from apparently homogeneous materials. Scientists carefully documented how embryos transformed through stages, with organs and tissues appearing gradually rather than simply expanding from miniature versions 1 . These observations pointed toward a concept of immanent development—the blueprint for creation wasn't imposed from outside but emerged from within the living matter itself.
Philosophy's Turn: Kant and the Self-Generation of Reason
The biological concept of epigenesis found an unexpected advocate in the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, who recognized its powerful metaphorical potential for explaining the origins and validity of human knowledge. Kant appropriated the figures of epigenesis and self-formation to illustrate his concepts of the origin of categories, the possible success of practical reason, and the validity of aesthetic and teleological judgments 1 4 . For Kant, the mind wasn't just a passive receiver of sensory information but an active participant in constructing reality.
Immanuel Kant
Applied epigenetic concepts to philosophy
Kant proposed that our fundamental categories of understanding—cause and effect, space, time, and others—weren't implanted in us from birth (a kind of philosophical preformation) but self-generated through the mind's own operations in encountering the world. This "intellectual epigenesis" claimed that the mind generates its own conceptual frameworks through logically accountable procedures, much as organisms self-organize according to internal principles 1 . This philosophical move established the foundation for German Idealism, which would dominate European philosophy for decades.
Intellectual Epigenesis
Kant's concept that the mind generates its own conceptual frameworks through its own operations, rather than receiving them pre-formed.
The implications were profound: if philosophical knowledge could be shown to generate itself through demonstrable logical processes, it could claim absolute certainty without relying on external authorities or divine revelation. This project was most vigorously pursued by Johann Gottlieb Fichte and his successors, who argued that the self posits itself through its own activity—the ultimate expression of self-generation in the philosophical realm 1 4 . The German Idealists essentially created a philosophy where thought thinks itself into existence, echoing the biological processes of self-organization they observed in nature.
The Language of Creation: Herder and Humboldt's Linguistic Revolution
The revolutionary concept of self-generation inevitably transformed how thinkers understood the origin and nature of language. If organisms could self-organize and philosophy could self-generate its categories, could language too be understood as a self-generating system? This question captivated two of the most important linguistic philosophers of the era: Johann Gottfried Herder and Wilhelm von Humboldt 1 4 .
Herder and Humboldt attempted to formulate self-generation as the philosophical foundation for a future science of language, moving away from traditional views that treated language as either a divine gift or a human convention. Instead, they saw language as emerging organically from human nature itself, developing according to internal principles that reflected the character and worldview of its speakers 1 . Language wasn't invented; it grew, evolved, and transformed itself from within.
"Language is not a work (ergon) but an activity (energeia). Its true definition can therefore only be a genetic one." — Wilhelm von Humboldt
Key Linguistic Concepts
- Energeia vs. Ergon
- Inner Form of Language
- Worldview Hypothesis
- Organic Development
Humboldt in particular developed a comprehensive view of language as an energeia (active process) rather than ergon (finished product)—a dynamic, self-generating system that shapes thought even as it gives it expression. He believed that each language contained its own internal formative principle that generated the structures and patterns unique to it, much as each species followed its own developmental path 1 . This conception of language as a living, self-organizing system would influence linguistics for centuries, prefiguring aspects of modern cognitive science and linguistic theory.
| Domain | Traditional View | Self-Generation View | Key Thinkers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | Preformed organisms | Emergent development | Unknown embryologists |
| Philosophy | Innate ideas | Self-generated categories | Kant, Fichte |
| Linguistics | Divine origin | Organic emergence | Herder, Humboldt |
Literary Manifestations: Self-Generation in Goethe and Beaumarchais
The problematic of self-generation found perhaps its most vivid expressions in the literary works of the period, where authors explored its implications through narrative and character. Müller-Sievers demonstrates that the biological, philosophical, and linguistic questions surrounding self-generation are central to understanding Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel Elective Affinities and Pierre Beaumarchais's play The Marriage of Figaro 1 .
In Elective Affinities (1809), Goethe used the chemical metaphor of elective affinities—where certain elements or compounds show preference for particular reaction partners—to explore the laws of attraction governing human relationships. The novel examines whether human passions follow deterministic laws similar to chemical processes or whether moral agents can generate new forms of relationship through self-conscious effort 1 . The characters struggle between their predetermined social positions and their desires to create new relational possibilities, mirroring the tension between preformation and epigenesis in biological discourse.
Beaumarchais's The Marriage of Figaro (1784), while best known as a comedic romp, contains serious philosophical undertones exploring social mobility and self-creation. The character of Figaro, through his wit and ingenuity, constantly challenges the predetermined social hierarchy that would keep him in his place, embodying the Enlightenment belief in self-generation through merit rather than accepting inherited status 1 . His famous soliloquy questioning the nobility's inherent superiority captures this theme perfectly: "What have you done to deserve such advantages? You took the trouble to be born, and no more!"
These literary works demonstrate how the abstract scientific and philosophical concept of self-generation permeated popular consciousness, providing narratives that allowed readers to explore its implications for personal agency, social structure, and the possibility of genuine change in both individual lives and society at large.
The Scientist's Toolkit: Key Concepts of Self-Generation Theory
To understand the revolution of self-generation, it's helpful to identify the conceptual tools that enabled this paradigm shift:
Formative Drive (Bildungstrieb)
The hypothesized driving force behind epigenetic development, an internal principle guiding the organization and differentiation of living matter. This concept allowed scientists to explain directional development without recourse to external designers 1 .
Progressive Differentiation
The process by which homogeneous biological materials become increasingly specialized and heterogeneous during development. This observational evidence directly contradicted preformationist expectations 1 .
Self-Organization
The capacity of complex systems to generate their own organization through the interaction of components rather than through external direction. This became the hallmark of epigenetic thinking across disciplines 1 .
Emergent Properties
Characteristics that arise at the level of the whole system that couldn't be predicted from its parts alone. This concept helped explain how complexity could generate itself from relative simplicity 1 .
Timeline of the Self-Generation Revolution
Pre-1750
| Biological Theory | Philosophical Approach | Linguistic Model |
|---|---|---|
| Preformationism | Innate ideas | Divine origin |
1750-1800
| Biological Theory | Philosophical Approach | Linguistic Model |
|---|---|---|
| Transition period | Empirical psychology | Conventional origin |
Post-1800
| Biological Theory | Philosophical Approach | Linguistic Model |
|---|---|---|
| Epigenesis | German Idealism | Organic emergence |
Conclusion: The Lasting Legacy of Self-Generation
The revolution represented by self-generation theory around 1800 continues to echo through modern thought in surprising ways. Our contemporary understanding of complex systems, emergence, and self-organization across disciplines from physics to economics owes a significant debt to the epigenetic revolution that replaced static being with dynamic becoming as the primary metaphor for existence 1 4 .
The concept of self-generation fundamentally transformed how we understand human agency and creativity. By proposing that nature itself operates through principles of innovation and development, not merely the execution of predetermined designs, the theory of epigenesis gave philosophical and scientific warrant to the Enlightenment's emphasis on human potential and progress. If even biological forms weren't fixed at the creation of the world, then human institutions and knowledge systems could likewise evolve and improve through deliberate effort.
"The theory of self-generation provided the conceptual framework for understanding mind, language, and society not as fixed entities but as ongoing creations."
Lasting Impact
Self-generation concepts continue to influence modern systems thinking and complexity theory.
Perhaps most importantly, the story of self-generation reminds us that scientific revolutions rarely remain confined to their disciplines of origin. As Müller-Sievers so compellingly demonstrates, a concept that began in embryology transformed philosophy, linguistics, and literature, creating a ripple effect that changed how an entire civilization understood itself 1 . The theory that organisms generate themselves under the guidance of a formative drive provided the conceptual framework for understanding mind, language, and society not as fixed entities but as ongoing creations—a perspective that continues to shape our modern worldview in profound and often unrecognized ways.