|
Showing 1 - 3 of
3 matches in All Departments
Emile Meyerson's writings on the philosophy of science are a rich
source of ideas and information concerning many philosophical and
historical aspects of the development of modem science. Meyerson's
works are not widely read or cited today by philosophers or even
philosophers of science, in part because they have long been out of
print and are often not available even in research libraries. There
are additional chevaux de !rise for all but the hardiest scholars:
Meyerson's books are written in French (and do not all exist in
English versions) and deal with the subject matter of science -
ideas or concepts, laws or principles, theories - and epis
temological questions rather than today's more fashionable topics
of the social matrix and external influences on science with the
concomitant neglect of the intellectual content of science. Born in
Lublin, Poland, in 1859, Meyerson received most of his education in
Germany, where he studied from the age of 12 to 23, preparing
himself for a career in chemistry. ! He moved to Paris in 1882,
where he began a career as an industrial chemist. Changing his
profession, he then worked for a time as the foreign news editor of
the HAVAS News Agency in Paris. In 1898 he joined the agency
established by Edmond Rothschild that had as its purpose the
settling of Jews in Palestine and became the Director of the Jewish
Colonization Association for Europe and Asia Minor. These
activities represent Meyerson's formal career.
When the author of Identity and Reality accepted Langevin's
suggestion that Meyerson "identify the thought processes" of
Einstein's relativity theory, he turned from his assured
perspective as historian of the sciences to the risky bias of
contemporary philosophical critic. But Emile Meyerson, the epis
temologist as historian, could not find a more rigorous test of his
conclusions from historical learning than the interpretation of
Einstein's work, unless perhaps he were to turn from the classical
revolution of Einstein's relativity to the non-classical quantum
theory. Meyerson captures our sympathy in all his writings: " . . .
the role of the epistemologist is . . . in following the
development of science" (250); the study of the evolution of reason
leads us to see that "man does not experience himself reasoning . .
. which is carried on unconsciously," and as the summation of his
empirical studies of the works and practices of scientists, "reason
. . . behaves in an altogether predict able way: . . . first by
making the consequent equivalent to the antecedent, and then by
actually denying all diversity in space" (202). If logic - and to
Meyerson the epistemologist is logician - is to understand reason,
then "logic proceeds a posteriori. " And so we are faced with an
empirically based Par menides, and, as we shall see, with an
ineliminable 'irrational' within science. Meyerson's story, written
in 1924, is still exciting, 60 years later."
Emile Meyerson's writings on the philosophy of science are a rich
source of ideas and information concerning many philosophical and
historical aspects of the development of modem science. Meyerson's
works are not widely read or cited today by philosophers or even
philosophers of science, in part because they have long been out of
print and are often not available even in research libraries. There
are additional chevaux de !rise for all but the hardiest scholars:
Meyerson's books are written in French (and do not all exist in
English versions) and deal with the subject matter of science -
ideas or concepts, laws or principles, theories - and epis
temological questions rather than today's more fashionable topics
of the social matrix and external influences on science with the
concomitant neglect of the intellectual content of science. Born in
Lublin, Poland, in 1859, Meyerson received most of his education in
Germany, where he studied from the age of 12 to 23, preparing
himself for a career in chemistry. ! He moved to Paris in 1882,
where he began a career as an industrial chemist. Changing his
profession, he then worked for a time as the foreign news editor of
the HAVAS News Agency in Paris. In 1898 he joined the agency
established by Edmond Rothschild that had as its purpose the
settling of Jews in Palestine and became the Director of the Jewish
Colonization Association for Europe and Asia Minor. These
activities represent Meyerson's formal career.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|