Chemical versus biological explanations: interdisciplinarity and reductionism in the 19th century life sciences

This paper analyzes four controversies in the 19th century life sciences: the nature of fermentation, the nature of infectious diseases, the generation of life from inanimate matter, and vitalism. All these controversies appear to concern chemical versus biological explanations, suggesting that reduction of biology to chemistry was the common underlying issue. My analysis rejects such interpretations, including the labels for explanation, and instead points out sophisticated forms of interdisciplinarity between chemistry, medicine, and biology in the first three debates. I argue that the philosophically favored perspective on reductionism, historically induced by a few physicians in the fourth debate, leads us astray from understanding interdisciplinary research.