The Relativistic Deduction : Epistemological Implications of the Theory of Relativity With a Review by Albert Einstein and an Introduction by Mili? ?apek

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. Front Matter....Pages i-liii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Preface....Pages 3-7 The Quantitative....Pages 8-17 Reality....Pages 18-26 The Spatial....Pages 27-33 The Principle of Inertia....Pages 34-44 Relativism, a Theory About Reality....Pages 45-63 Gravitation....Pages 64-69 Time....Pages 70-79 Electrical Phenomena....Pages 80-85 Biological Phenomena....Pages 86-87 Universal Explanation....Pages 88-94 Matter....Pages 95-100 Essence and Existence....Pages 101-103 Diversity....Pages 104-110 Interpretation....Pages 111-113 The Relativistic Imagination....Pages 114-119 The Appeal of Relativism....Pages 120-131 The Deducible and the Real....Pages 132-142 The System....Pages 143-153 Relativism and Mechanism....Pages 154-169 Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Rational Explanation and the Progress of Mathematics....Pages 170-175 Progress in Making Things Rational....Pages 176-178 The Aprioristic Tendency and Experience....Pages 179-197 The Evolution of Reason....Pages 198-215 Dogmatism and Skepticism in Science....Pages 216-237 The Outlook for the Future....Pages 238-251 Back Matter....Pages 252-268