Jul 2, 2026 · 20 min · 11 segments
Before the modern days of organic and inorganic chemistry, there was an old theory called "Vitalism" that had made its way into chemistry. Pioneered into the field by the one and only Jöns Jacob…
In the early 19th century, science was governed by a dominant theory known as vitalism.
The core of vitalism hung on the fact that the universe was split into two completely separate realms.
On one side was the inorganic world, the realm of rocks, minerals, and dead matter.
On this side, human beings had free reign.
Chemists could take acids and salts, break them down, and rebuild them in a laboratory.
But on the other side was the organic world, the realm of plants, animals, and ultimately human beings.
Here, the scientific elite had built a massive impassable wall.
Organic compounds could never be synthesized in a laboratory from inorganic starting materials.
They claimed that living matter possessed a mystical metaphysical force called the vital force or vis vitalis.
This force was believed to be a unique law of nature that operated exclusively inside living tissue.
Rather, they were animated by a literal soul or anima.
For centuries, this remained a vague philosophical concept, but in the late 1600s and 1700s, it exploded into popularity for a very practical reason.
Doctors were trying to figure out why a living body behaves so differently from a dead corpse.
He looked at a human body and realized that the moment a person dies, their flesh immediately begins to rot and decompose.
While obviously not a new observation, Stahl argued from this that the physical chemicals in our bodies naturally want to fall apart.
Therefore, something active, intelligent, and non-physical must be constantly fighting off that decay while we are alive.
He called this force the sensitive soul.
By the late 1700s, Stahl's philosophy known as animism became incredibly popular.
But as science progressed, other theorists found the idea of a literal soul directing biology a bit too spiritual.
Instead of a conscious soul, they argued for a more natural biological vital force.
This movement, which was started in rebellion to animism, became incredibly popular because medical science had come to a crossroads.
Mechanistic scientists were trying to argue that the human body was just a fancy clockwork machine made of pumps and pipes.
In the early 19th century, science was governed by a dominant theory known as vitalism.
The core of vitalism hung on the fact that the universe was split into two completely separate realms.
On one side was the inorganic world, the realm of rocks, minerals, and dead matter.
On this side, human beings had free reign.
Chemists could take acids and salts, break them down, and rebuild them in a laboratory.
But on the other side was the organic world, the realm of plants, animals, and ultimately human beings.
Here, the scientific elite had built a massive impassable wall.
Organic compounds could never be synthesized in a laboratory from inorganic starting materials.
They claimed that living matter possessed a mystical metaphysical force called the vital force or vis vitalis.
This force was believed to be a unique law of nature that operated exclusively inside living tissue.
Rather, they were animated by a literal soul or anima.
For centuries, this remained a vague philosophical concept, but in the late 1600s and 1700s, it exploded into popularity for a very practical reason.
Doctors were trying to figure out why a living body behaves so differently from a dead corpse.
He looked at a human body and realized that the moment a person dies, their flesh immediately begins to rot and decompose.
While obviously not a new observation, Stahl argued from this that the physical chemicals in our bodies naturally want to fall apart.
Therefore, something active, intelligent, and non-physical must be constantly fighting off that decay while we are alive.
He called this force the sensitive soul.
By the late 1700s, Stahl's philosophy known as animism became incredibly popular.
But as science progressed, other theorists found the idea of a literal soul directing biology a bit too spiritual.
Instead of a conscious soul, they argued for a more natural biological vital force.
This movement, which was started in rebellion to animism, became incredibly popular because medical science had come to a crossroads.
Mechanistic scientists were trying to argue that the human body was just a fancy clockwork machine made of pumps and pipes.
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