Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962)
Author of The Poetics of Space
About the Author
Born in Bar-sur-Aube, France, in 1884, Gaston Bachelard received his doctorate in 1927. He became professor of philosophy at the University of Dijon in 1930, and held the chair in the history and philosophy of science at the University of Paris from 1940 to 1954. In epistemology and the philosophy show more of science, Bachelard espoused a dialectical rationalism, or dialogue between reason and experience. He rejected the Cartesian conception of scientific truths as immutable; he insisted on experiment as well as mathematics in the development of science. Bachelard described the cooperation between the two as a philosophy of saying no, of being ever ready to revise or abandon the established framework of scientific theory to express the new discoveries. In addition to his contributions to the epistemological foundations of science, Bachelard explored the role of reverie and emotion in the expressions of both science and more imaginative thinking. His psychological explanations of the four elements-earth, air, fire, water-illustrate this almost poetic aspect of his philosophy. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Gaston Bachelard
Water and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Matter (Bachelard Translation Series) (1956) 224 copies
Air and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Movement (Bachelard Translation Series) (1943) 176 copies
Earth and Reveries of Will: An Essay on the Imagination of Matter (Bachelard Translations Series) (1945) 72 copies
La ragione scientifica 5 copies
Images imaginees: 12 photographes contemporains et la pensee de Gaston Bachelard (French Edition) (1984) 3 copies
Os Pensadores: Bachelard 3 copies
Bachelard 1 copy
Atomistic Intuitions: An Essay on Classification (Suny Series in Contemporary French Thought) (2018) 1 copy
O SURRACIONALISMO 1 copy
Études 1 copy
Bachelard {Estudos} 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Bachelard, Gaston Louis Pierre
- Birthdate
- 1884-06-27
- Date of death
- 1962-10-16
- Burial location
- Paris, France
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- France
- Birthplace
- Bar-Sur-Aube, France
- Place of death
- Paris, France
- Places of residence
- Bar-Sur-Aube, France
Dijon, France
Paris, France - Education
- Sorbonne
- Occupations
- postmaster
professor (physics, philosophy) - Relationships
- Bachelard, Suzanne (daughter)
Atlan, Liliane (student) - Organizations
- Sorbonne (Chair in History and Philosophy of Science)
University of Dijon
Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques - Awards and honors
- Grand Prix national des lettres (1961)
- Agent
- Thomas S. Kuhn
Alexandre Koyre
Michel Foucault
Georges Canguilhem (successor at the Sorbonne) - Short biography
- A founding figure in historically-oriented philosophy of science. Viewed science as a struggle against ideological obstacles, and benefiting from reverie and imagination as much as from Reason. Many Americans first discovered Bachelard's work behind the famous "paradigm shifts" described by Thomas S. Kuhn. Bachelard described the products of science and imagination as epistemological structures -- "all is constructed" -- and the shifts from one answer to another as "ruptures". Alexander Koyre interpreted these as "shifts".
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 58
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 5,081
- Popularity
- #4,921
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 60
- ISBNs
- 314
- Languages
- 19
- Favorited
- 21