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) 255 copies, 4 reviews
Air and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Movement (Bachelard Translation Series) (1943) 209 copies
Earth and Reveries of Will: An Essay on the Imagination of Matter (Bachelard Translations Series) (1945) 81 copies, 1 review
La ragione scientifica 5 copies
Atomistic Intuitions: An Essay on Classification (SUNY series in Contemporary French Thought) (2018) 5 copies
L'évolution d'un problème de physique: la propagation thermique dans les solides (1973) 3 copies, 1 review
Epistemologie : ausgew. Texte 2 copies
Images imaginees: 12 photographes contemporains et la pensee de Gaston Bachelard (French Edition) (1984) 2 copies
T35 - A Poética do espaço 1 copy
Bachelard 1 copy
Bachelard Os Pensadores 1 copy
O SURRACIONALISMO 1 copy
Bachelard {Estudos} 1 copy
El racionalismo aplicado 1 copy
Associated Works
ランボオの世界 — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Bachelard, Gaston Louis Pierre
- Birthdate
- 1884-06-27
- Date of death
- 1962-10-16
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Sorbonne
- Occupations
- postmaster
professor (physics, philosophy) - 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) - Relationships
- Bachelard, Suzanne (daughter)
Atlan, Liliane (student) - 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".
- Nationality
- France
- Birthplace
- Bar-Sur-Aube, France
- Places of residence
- Bar-Sur-Aube, France
Dijon, France
Paris, Île-de-France, France - Place of death
- Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Burial location
- Paris, France
- Associated Place (for map)
- France
Members
Reviews
Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space is enigmatic, infuriating, bold, poetic, dense, far-reaching, and ultimately craves a second reading. The central conceit is to work through how intimate spaces can be described philosophically, phenomenologically, and poetically, treating each of those fields as theoretically equivalent. Passages in poems referencing corners contribute to a philosophy of corners which informs a phenomenology of those spaces. It's all very mid-century French, and as show more such, is unapologetic in its forthright-ness. In a way, it's Bachelard's righteousness that keeps the book moving forward. Any doubt on his end, and the whole thing falls apart. It's a tough read to be sure, but not unpleasant. show less
It's one of those great books with the rare ability to put into words everything I've always known. *
* Wittgenstein says "About what one can not speak, one must remain silent." Of course, as a philosopher, he was right. But what is unspeakable is also exactly where poets must venture forth a primitive utterance. Not to fill it up brashly with idle talk, but to consecrate it with voices which will increase the silence. This is why phenomenology as practiced by Bachelard, though a branch of show more philosophy, is more akin to poetry. He whispers to you everything you've always known, intimate knowledge that we all share wordlessly, yet he increases its mystery by speaking about it in a hush of clarity that does not defile the subject matter as psychologists, philosophers, or psychoanalysts do. It makes sense then
that he uses poets and writers as the basis for his study of intimate spaces. More specifically, the poet's image, which arises purely, in a realm before thought or language, springing forth without history or context or reason. The image is Bachelard's tool for studying the essence of safe places in which (and for which) daydreaming takes place, like the house, the drawer, and the shell. The phenomenologist, like the poet, is interested entirely in the essence of a thing, which often has only weak ties to the actual physical reality of a thing. Since I also live almost entirely in the imagination,
this book had the odd effect of feeling at once familiar and new. For once, someone does not miss the whole point! Bachelard does not analyze. What he does instead is set the tongues of these various images to ringing at harmonic frequencies, then invite you in to hear the resonances. It's like going to church. There is awe here, and play, and love that comes only after intense immersion. Many of my own poems are rooted in this same seeing/hearing, especially my In the Sea, There Are a Million Things in There poems and my chapbook A Reduction (yes, shameless self promotion!), both of which start with the inextricably linked worlds of large and small as a realm for daydreaming. show less
* Wittgenstein says "About what one can not speak, one must remain silent." Of course, as a philosopher, he was right. But what is unspeakable is also exactly where poets must venture forth a primitive utterance. Not to fill it up brashly with idle talk, but to consecrate it with voices which will increase the silence. This is why phenomenology as practiced by Bachelard, though a branch of show more philosophy, is more akin to poetry. He whispers to you everything you've always known, intimate knowledge that we all share wordlessly, yet he increases its mystery by speaking about it in a hush of clarity that does not defile the subject matter as psychologists, philosophers, or psychoanalysts do. It makes sense then
that he uses poets and writers as the basis for his study of intimate spaces. More specifically, the poet's image, which arises purely, in a realm before thought or language, springing forth without history or context or reason. The image is Bachelard's tool for studying the essence of safe places in which (and for which) daydreaming takes place, like the house, the drawer, and the shell. The phenomenologist, like the poet, is interested entirely in the essence of a thing, which often has only weak ties to the actual physical reality of a thing. Since I also live almost entirely in the imagination,
this book had the odd effect of feeling at once familiar and new. For once, someone does not miss the whole point! Bachelard does not analyze. What he does instead is set the tongues of these various images to ringing at harmonic frequencies, then invite you in to hear the resonances. It's like going to church. There is awe here, and play, and love that comes only after intense immersion. Many of my own poems are rooted in this same seeing/hearing, especially my In the Sea, There Are a Million Things in There poems and my chapbook A Reduction (yes, shameless self promotion!), both of which start with the inextricably linked worlds of large and small as a realm for daydreaming. show less
[W]e are never real historians, but always near poets, and our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost.
This is not what I expected. The Poetics of Space is not some rigorous discussion of the concept of home or the distinction between inside and outside. This is a meditation. Bachelard prefers "daydream". As one reads, one takes shorthand from the philosopher's imagination. The text is steeped in whimsy and speculation. The citations refer to the poetic, not show more the philosophical. Heidegger is not mentioned. I suspect that is political.
Borrowing Bachelard's seminal point of contact, his Poetics remains half-open. The idea of the house and dwelling is only explored on the hoof; broader issues of the miniature and the vast are extended the lengthier chew. I loved the sections on nests and wardrobes, each dizzying with references to Rimbaud and insularity. I simply felt the wider thrust of the book abandoned the thesis of the Home.
This then is my ancestral forest. And all the rest is fiction. show less
This is not what I expected. The Poetics of Space is not some rigorous discussion of the concept of home or the distinction between inside and outside. This is a meditation. Bachelard prefers "daydream". As one reads, one takes shorthand from the philosopher's imagination. The text is steeped in whimsy and speculation. The citations refer to the poetic, not show more the philosophical. Heidegger is not mentioned. I suspect that is political.
Borrowing Bachelard's seminal point of contact, his Poetics remains half-open. The idea of the house and dwelling is only explored on the hoof; broader issues of the miniature and the vast are extended the lengthier chew. I loved the sections on nests and wardrobes, each dizzying with references to Rimbaud and insularity. I simply felt the wider thrust of the book abandoned the thesis of the Home.
This then is my ancestral forest. And all the rest is fiction. show less
Finally done with this bad boy! A challenging but ultimately rewarding read. Bachelard’s idea about a phenomenology of the imagination, one that tries to examine images with a primal, immemorial source, is utterly mesmerising and fertile (though I do believe poetry/art consists of more than that which Bachelard values most in this book). A lot of it went over my head - it’s super dense - definitely down for a re-read. I don’t think I’ll look at poetry (or elements of reality) in the show more same way again. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 63
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 5,806
- Popularity
- #4,239
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 68
- ISBNs
- 335
- Languages
- 19
- Favorited
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