Claude Bernard

French physiologist (1813-1878) · 1813–1878

Appears in 18 videos · 20 passages, 6 of them in depth.

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani sees Claude Bernard as the man who makes biology a science in the nineteenth century. He often cites him for one formula: "the living is the dead"1. He understands it this way: biology rests on physics and chemistry, and there is no difference in nature between these three sciences2. In his view, medicine is effective only if it treats the living through physico-chemical principles3. He also makes him an example of the continuous passage from the inert to the living, and he links even the fact of eating because one is hungry to this determinism. As a concrete example, he singles out the discovery of the glycogenic function of the liver, obtained by measuring sugar before and after the liver. This measurement brings the living into determinism4. Finally, he places Claude Bernard within a broader history, that of the natural sciences breaking away from philosophy. With biology, this series of declarations of independence comes to an end5.

Summary produced automatically from 20 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Who is this?

Claude Bernard (French:; 12 July 1813 – 10 February 1878) was a French physiologist. I. Bernard Cohen of Harvard University called Bernard "one of the greatest of all men of science". He originated the term milieu intérieur and the associated concept of homeostasis (the latter term being coined by Walter Cannon).

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Season 14 · 28 Aug 2026From Copernicus to Lenin: Revolution!

1:02:23Founder of biology, for whom there is no difference in nature between physics, chemistry, and biology.

Season 9.2 · 5 Feb 20219 #14 How can sciences of history be real?

1:25:50The glycogenic function of the liver, discovered through measurement, brings the living into determinism and founds modern biology.

Series · 28 Jan 2021Musicosophy 12. Nietzsche (right up) against Wagner

47:40Founder of biology, he refuses the boundary between the chemical and the living: "the living is the dead."

Series · 2 Feb 2016Hegel on the Beach 3/5

32:29Founds biology by measuring sugar before and after the liver: the glycogenic function.

Series · 1 Feb 2016Hegel on the Beach 1/5

2:02:26"The living is the dead": medicine is only effective by treating the living through physico-chemical principles.

Season 1 · 10 Dec 2015#1.4 Between crisis and war: Philosophising?

7:39Founds scientific biology: "the living is the dead," physico-chemical models are applied to it.
1:29:06Illustrates the continuous passage from the inert to the living.