Abstract

The paper focuses on the work of Lorenz Oken in an attempt to make sense of the role played by RomanticNaturphilosophiein the development of natural history in Germany at the turn of the nineteenth century. It first focuses on the role played by Schelling and his Würzburg circle in the development of Oken's early views on natural history, then reconstructs Oken's mature programme for a reform of animal classification.