Abstract

In this contribution, I show that Jean Gayon’s work operates an original synthesis between the history of scienceHistory of science, the philosophy of science and the life sciences. I propose that the philosophy of biology as it has been constructed since the 1970s could usefully draw inspiration from this synthesis to develop a much richer and more open analysis of current biological sciences. While the philosophy of biology is very strongly dominated by the biology of evolution, the history of biologyGayon, Jeanon the history of biology has opened up to practically all the major fields of contemporary biology (for example, cell biology, molecular biologyMolecular biology, or virology, among many others). Perhaps Jean Gayon’s work is an invitation to draw inspiration from this thematic diversity to construct a new philosophy of biology and, beyond that, a new synthesis between philosophy, history, and biology.