Bachelard
Contemporary philosophyBachelard was a 20th century French philosopher (1884-1962). Born in a small village (Bar-sur-Aube in Champagne), he worked in the post office before becoming a physics and chemistry teacher in Bar-sur-Aube. He obtained an agrégation in philosophy, and then defended his thesis at the Sorbonne, where he ended up teaching. His work in epistemology (The Philosophy of No, Water and Dreams, The Psychoanalysis of Fire) questions the role of the imaginary, dreams, and literature in scientific discovery.
Bachelard's works summarised on this site
The Philosophy of No
Bachelard here theorizes the virtues of surrationalism, or complex rationalism, which goes beyond the opposition of empiricism and rationalism, using the example of the concept of mass.
Bibliography
Here are the essential books if you wish to gain a better understanding of this author's thought:
McAllester Jones, Gaston Bachelard Subversive Humanist: Texts and Readings, University of Wisconsin Press, 1991
D. Lecourt, Marxism and Epistemology: Bachelard, Canguilhem and Foucault, New Left Books, London
Eileen Rizo-Patron, Edward S. Casey, and Jason Wirth, eds. Adventures in Phenomenology, Gaston Bachelard, State University of New York Press, 2017
Mary Tiles, Bachelard: Science and Objectivity, Cambridge University Press, 1984
Chimisso, Cristina (2013) Gaston Bachelard: Critic of Science and the Imagination, Routledge
Recommended videos
Conferences, symposia, radio broadcasts... here are 5 videos that will help you better understand Gaston Bachelard's thought.
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Biography: life of Bachelard
Youth
Gaston Bachelard was born in France in Bar-sur-Aube, in Champagne, in 1884, into a modest family.
He attended school there, and at the age of eighteen became a tutor at the college in Sézanne, a neighbouring town.
He worked at Remiremont post office while taking evening classes in mathematics. After his military service, he was transferred to the post office in Paris. He practised this profession for 6 years, until 1913, when he took a leave of absence to prepare for the competitive examination for becoming a telegraph engineer.
In 1914 he married a teacher from his native region, with whom he had a daughter.
Seeking to move closer to his home village, he was appointed as a teacher at Bar-sur-Aube secondary school, where he taught physics and chemistry. He remained in this post for eleven years.
When World War 1 broke out, he was mobilised and awarded the Croix de Guerre after 38 months of fighting in the trenches.
From Bar-sur-Aube to the Sorbonne
1920 was a pivotal year.
His wife died just 6 years after their marriage.
Parallel to this tragedy, that same year he obtained his bachelor's degree in philosophy, which he had prepared on his own, as a self-taught student. Two years later, he passed the competitive examination for the agrégation.
From 1922 to 1927, he taught philosophy and science at Bar-sur-Aube secondary school, while preparing a thesis.
In 1927, he defended his thesis at the Sorbonne and became a doctor of philosophy. He then became a lecturer at the literature college in Dijon. Three years later, he was appointed full professor.
In 1934 he wrote The New Scientific Spirit.
In 1937, he was awarded the Légion d'honneur.
A year later, he published The Formation of the Scientific Mind, as well as The Psychoanalysis of Fire.
He endeavoured to unravel the influence of the imaginary, of dreams, or better still, of daydreaming, on scientific theories.
In 1940, he was appointed to the Sorbonne, where he held the chair of history and philosophy of science.
The same year, he published The Philosophy of No.
In 1942 appeared Water and Dreams.
Last years
In 1955, he was elected to Académie des sciences morales et politiques.
He was awarded the Grand Prix national des lettres in 1961 for his body of work.
He died in Paris in 1962, and is buried in his native village.
Main works
The New Scientific Spirit, Boston: Beacon Press, 1984
The Psychoanalysis of Fire, Boston: Beacon Press, 1987
The Philosophy of No: A Philosophy of the New Scientific Mind, Orion Press: New York, 1968
Water and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Matter, Dallas: Dallas Inst Humanities & Culture, 1999
Air and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Movement, Dallas: Dallas Institute Publications, 2011