Harvey’s egg theory sustained male superiority even where he broke with Aristotle
Evidence
Harvey’s work on generation thus reflected the cultural sex biases of his society, especially in areas where he most strongly disagreed with received authority. He differed from Aristotle by claiming that all animal life was generated from eggs and that the egg was an efficient cause, but he maintained that the sperm was superior to the egg as an efficient cause and was the agent of perfection. Secondly, his argument against Galenist physicians concerning the existence of a female semen was based on the cultural assumption that semen was too elaborate, vivifying, and energetic to come from obscure, imperfect, female parts. Thirdly, he disagreed with both Aristotle and Galen that generation occurred through the mingling of contributions from female and male, and concluded instead that impregnation took place without contact. This meant that the male semen must be endowed with an extraordinary magnetic power capable of affecting the female uterus and mind from a distance. While his conclusions were consistent with Aristotelian sexual ideas, they were reinforced by the conservative social values of his time. Far from championing the equality of male-female principles in reproduction, Harvey’s theories fall within the tradition of male superiority. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 650
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Harvey cast male semen as the source of reason and form in generation — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 633; Aristotle’s gendered form-over-matter hierarchy legitimated male household rule — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 107; Aristotle defined the female body as a defective male — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 108 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Harvey cast male semen as the source of reason and form in generation
#expands(0.90) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 633 - Pre-scientific theories of conception mirrored patriarchal social myths
#corroborates(0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 81 - Aristotle’s gendered form-over-matter hierarchy legitimated male household rule
#corroborates(0.75) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 107 - Aristotle defined the female body as a defective male
#epitomizes(0.70) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 108