Review of "Kant's Theory of Biology" edited by Ina Goy and Eric Watkins

This edited collection began as an international symposium on Kant and biology held at the University of Tübingen in 2010 and the now-published volume provides us new ways of thinking about Kant’s theory of biology with respect to not only his own work but contemporary discussions regarding biological function and form. With a consistently high level of scholarship and a set of internationally renowned contributors, Kant’s Theory of Biology offers us an important contribution to the field’s rapidly growing interest in the history of the life sciences, and the book’s discussions devoted to the Critique of Judgment, in particular, will no doubt shape the course of subsequent investigations in the years to come. The anthology contains 15 essays divided into three parts, with a focus on the development of the philosophy of biology in Kant’s early writings, the theory of organisms in Kant’s Critique of Judgment, and current perspectives on the teleology of nature. The quality of the editing on this book is excellent, far superior to that of a typical anthology, and what is to be especially appreciated is the helpful cross-referencing being done by the majority of the papers insofar as this lends the collection an organic, as opposed to a merely aggregative, feel.