De la science des monstres: Canguilhem et la tératologie expérimentale d'Étienne Wolff

In this paper I set out to show how Canguilhem’s firsthand knowledge of innovative experimental teratology affected his ana- lyses of anomaly and abnormality. After retracing Canguilhem’s interest in the work of Étienne Wolff to the preparatory work for his 1943 dissertation, in the first part of the paper I outline Canguilhem’s theses regarding the ontological a priori equivalence of all living forms and the epistemological necessity of « enhancing the knowledge of normal formations by using knowledge about monstrous for- mations ». In the second part of the paper, I focus on Wolff’s specific contributions to Canguilhem’s reflections on the concepts of totality and irreversibility. I conclude by observing the impact of the 1960s « molecular revolution » on teratology and by drawing more general conclusions about how the study of monsters illuminates the methodological underpinnings of historical epistemology.