vital force

The concept of a "vital force" proposed that living organisms possess a unique energy, distinct from physical forces, that animates them and guides their development. This idea, with roots in Aristotle's philosophy and later theories like entelechy and élan vital, suggested that life could not be explained by purely physical or chemical principles.1234

However, vitalism faced challenges as scientific understanding advanced. The synthesis of organic compounds from inorganic materials, notably Friedrich Wöhler's 1828 creation of urea, demonstrated that organic substances could be produced without a special life force. Consequently, vitalism lost favor because it offered little predictive power or unified explanation for biological phenomena. Modern biology largely explains life through chemical and physical processes, though the complexity of organic molecules still presents challenges.564