Cell Theory and Religious Worldview in the 19th Century: A Study on Theodor Schwann's Unpublished Works

除了进化论，细胞理论被认为是生物学对现代世俗世界观的重要贡献。然而，达尔文与宗教的复杂关系长期以来一直是科学史上的一个话题，而宗教对细胞理论的影响迄今为止几乎没有研究。本项目旨在为缩小这一差距作出贡献。它的重点是德国细胞理论创始人西奥多·施旺（Theodor Schwann, 1810-1882）未发表的作品，这些作品迄今很少受到关注。在他19世纪40年代至70年代的手稿的基础上，他的研究和他的天主教世界观之间的相互关系将被密切调查，并置于更广泛的文化背景下。施旺斯的作品将作为19世纪下半叶知识分子潮流的一部分进行研究，这一潮流既拒绝民主重塑社会，也拒绝脱离宗教对人与自然的理解。通过与Matthias Schleiden（1804-1881）的著作进行比较，我们将会看到施旺斯的思想与这个时代其他唯物主义概念的异同。总的来说，该项目旨在为19世纪生物学、宗教和政治之间的关系开辟一个新的视角。

Besides the theory of evolution, cell theory is regarded as biology´s crucial contribution to a modern, secular world view. But whereas Darwins complex relationship with religion has been a topic in history of science for a long time, the bearing of religion on cell theory has hardly been studied so far. This project aims at a contribution to close this gap. It focuses on the unpublished works of the German founder of cell theory, Theodor Schwann (1810-1882), which have received little attention yet. On the basis of his manuscripts from the 1840s to the 1870s, interrelations between his research and his catholic worldview will be closely investigated and placed in a broader cultural context. Schwanns oeuvre will be examined as part of an intellectual current of the second half of the nineteenth century that both rejected a democratic reshaping of society and an understanding of man and nature detached from religion. Parallels and differences between Schwanns ideas and other alternatives to the materialist concepts of this era will be highlighted by a comparison with the writings of Matthias Schleiden (1804-1881). Overall, the project aims to open up a new perspective on the relations between biology, religion and politics in the nineteenth century.