Gaston Bachelard: Critic Of Science And The Imagination (routledge Studies In Twentieth Century Philosophy)

In this new study, Cristina Chimisso explores the work of the French Philosopher of Science, Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) by situating it within French cultural life of the first half of the century. The book is introduced by a study - based on an analysis of portraits and literary representations - of how Bachelard's admirers transformed him into the mythical image of the Philosopher, the Patriarch and the'Teacher of Happiness'. Such a projected image is contrasted with Bachelard's own conception of philosophy and his personal pedagogical and moral ideas.This pedagogical orientation is a major feature of Bachelard's texts, and one which deepens our understanding of the main philosophical arguments. The primary thesis of the book is based on the examination of the French educational system of the time and of French philosophy taught in schools and conceived by contemporary philosophers. This approach also helps to explain Bachelard's reception of psychoanalysis and his mastery of modern literature. Gaston Bachelard: Critic of Science and the Imagination thus allows for a new reading of Bachelard's body of work, whilst at the same time providing an insight into twentieth century French culture. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 12 Abbreviations 14 Introduction: The formation of Gaston Bachelard's philosophy 16 Chapter 1 Painting an icon: Gaston Bachelard and the philosophical beard 26 Biography and autobiography 29 Philosophical beards, diachronically and synchronically considered 32 Vita activa and vita contemplativa 49 Mythology 56 Chapter 2 Culture générale and the new scientific spirit 66 The sciences and the development of the mind 74 Science and morality 81 Chapter 3 Bachelard's pedagogical rationalism 94 Dialectics, dialogue and the pedagogical obstacle 100 Application of one mind to another and rational memory 107 Chapter 4 Philosophy between the Sorbonne and the Collège de France 122 Philosophy at the Sorbonne 122 Polemics between Brunschvicg, Le Roy, Bachelard and Bergson: An introduction 128 Brunschvicg and Bachelard vs. Le Roy and conventionalism 132 Bachelard vs. Bergson 135 Chapter 5 Philosophy, history and the history of the Sciences 144 The general history of the sciences and the philosophers 148 The early days of the Institut d'Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques 151 The history of the sciences and its boundaries 156 Two histories of the sciences? 162 Chapter 6 The study of man 170 Philosophy and mentalities 170 Finding a disciplinary space for a new discipline: Ethnology at the Sorbonne 174 Bachelard and ethnology 182 Sociology vs. psychology 187 Chapter 7 The study of the psyche 196 From psychology to psychoanalysis 196 Surrationalism and Surrealism: Two interpretations of dreams and two golden ages 205 The psychoanalysis of knowledge in Bachelard's work 216 Chapter 8 Bachelard as a reader 234 Bachelard's boundless library 234 Le Comte de Lautréamont and his readers 238 Bachelard as a reader of Isidore Ducasse 245 What kind of reader? 253 Afterword 262 References 268 Index 290 In this new study, Cristina Chimisso explores the work of the French Philosopher of Science, Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) by situating it within French cultural life of the first half of the century. The book is introduced by a study - based on an analysis of portraits and literary representations - of how Bachelard's admirers transformed him into the mythical image of the Philosopher, the Patriarch and the 'Teacher of Happiness'. Such a projected image is contrasted with Bachelard's own conception of philosophy and his personal pedagogical and moral ideas. This pedagogical orientation is a major feature of Bachelard's texts, and one which deepens our understanding of the main philosophical arguments. The primary thesis of the book is based on the examination of the French educational system of the time and of French philosophy taught in schools and conceived by contemporary philosophers. This approach also helps to explain Bachelard's reception of psychoanalysis and his mastery of modern literature. Gaston Critic of Science and the Imagination thus allows for a new reading of Bachelard's body of work, whilst at the same time providing an insight into twentieth century French culture.