Living organisms contain a special, non-physical 'vital force' or 'élan vital' that distinguishes them from non-living matter and cannot be explained by chemistry.
Vitalism was disproven through biochemistry and molecular biology starting in the 19th century. Friedrich Wöhler's 1828 synthesis of urea demonstrated that organic compounds could be made without a living organism, and modern biochemistry shows all biological processes result from chemical and physical laws. Life's complexity emerges from chemical reactions, genetics, and evolution , not from any immaterial vital force.
Reception
Sources
- Vitalism and the History of Biochemistry PRIMARY
- Friedrich Wöhler and Urea Synthesis REFERENCE