The Case of Life in the Historiography of Modern Science: Canguilhem’s “Biophilosophy” Charles Wolfe and Giulia Gandolfi Contents Introduction ....................................................................................... 2 Canguilhem’ s Historical Epistemology and His Time ........................................... 3 The Historical Epistemology of Life ......................................................... 5 Scientific Facts as Vital Facts ................................................................. 6 Epistemologist or Philosopher of Life? One or Many Canguilhems ........................ 7 The Obstacles to Scientific Knowledge of Life .................................................. 9 History of Science, Historical Epistemology, and Historical Epistemology of the Life Sciences ........................................................................................... 11 Biological Philosophy and Vitalist Themes ...................................................... 13 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 16 Cross-References ................................................................................. 18 References ........................................................................................ 18 Abstract Thanks notably to the work of Georges Canguilhem, the approach to the history and philosophy of science known as “historical epistemology” turned its attention away from its standard objects like physics and astronomy and reoriented toward the life sciences. But what exactly is a historical epistemology of the life sciences? In recent years, it seems to mean (with Rheinberger) a historicized reflection on concept construction in, e.g., molecular biology, with attention paid to instru- mental contexts. But was this Canguilhem’ s approach? We suggest that Canguilhemian épistémologie (i.e., historical epistemology) is at bottom a phi- losophy of life, of the living. Canguilhem sometimes terms this “philosophie C. Wolfe (*) Université de Toulouse Jean-Jaurès, Toulouse, France e-mail: ctwolfe1@gmail.com G. Gandolfi Universita Ca’Foscari Venice, Venice, Italy Université Paris 1 Sorbonne, Paris, France © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. L. Condé, M. Salomon (eds.), Handbook for the Historiography of Science, Historiographies of Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99498-3_4-1 1