The critical vitalism of Georges Canguilhem

Abstract

The thesis defended in this article is that the philosophy that Georges Canguilhem started to develop during the 1940s, with the publication of his thesis in medicine The normal and the pathological, can be called a critical vitalism. We propose to trace some of the references used by Canguilhem in the formulation of this philosophy, as well as to exclude some readings that would bring him closer to phenomenology and existentialism, aiming to demonstrate that one of his main concerns was to reformulate the philosophical status of man beyond all forms of humanism.