Hossein Jorjani
First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30
The alchemists’ belief in the fixed “kinds” of metals drew upon the Platonic–Aristotelian tradition of essential forms, according to which each natural substance possessed a defining essence that determined its identity. The repeated failure to transmute one metal into another was taken by many as confirmation of the unchangeability of such kinds. This essentialist framework also underpinned pre-Darwinian biology, where “species” were likewise regarded as fixed and invariable. Darwin’s argument for the transmutability of species thus challenged not only prevailing biological thought but also the metaphysical inheritance that had shaped both natural philosophy and the alchemical tradition since antiquity.
In both cases, the assumption that natural kinds possessed immutable essences made genuine transformation appear philosophically impossible rather than merely empirically unobserved.
Hossein Jorjani 