Das Nachleben von Körperwissen

The paper focuses on two fundamental concepts of 20th century life sciences: Homeostasis and Umwelt. Both concepts describe the reciprocal relationship between organisms and  their surroundings and are based on a holistic  conception of  the body.  The  paper  examines  on  the  one  hand  the  linkage  of  past,  present,  and  future knowledge of the body in both concepts starting from Aby Warburg’s time model of Nachleben. On the other hand, the historicity of knowledge is reflected by confronting Warburg’s Nachleben with Georges Canguilhem’s history of  concepts.  Finally, the historical analysis of the two concepts reveals the conditions of possibility for a linkage of the two concepts in the 1970s and thus contributes to the history of holistic body knowledge.