EN
I take the view that the inclusion of the problems of origin in scientific researches was a philosophical breakthrough, in three aspects—ontological, epistemological, and concerning the consciousness of scientists (precisely, it consists in deciding if the issue of the origin is worthy of consideration). It turns out that following a philosophical approach it is possible to (1) have a good grasp of the essence of the most important breakthrough which came in the twentieth-century natural history, (2) establish the circumstances in which it happened, (3) to explain the reasons why the foremost representatives of neo-positivist orientation has put so much effort to replace the truth with the legend in recent years. I demonstrate that the dispute over the nature (and over the assessment) of philosophical ideas, which were at the root of the above-mentioned breakthrough, led to a polarization of stances but also to completely unexpected alliances.