Gaston Bashlyar is a French art critic and thinker who has devoted his whole life to the study of the philosophical foundations of the natural sciences. History knows very few people who are distinguished by such diverse interests, and therefore now special attention should be paid both to the scientist himself and to his works, which have undoubtedly become a huge contribution to science.
Biography
Gaston Bashlyar was born in Bar-sur-Ob on June 27, 1884. His father was a craftsman, the family did not live well, but nevertheless managed to give the boy an education - from 1895 to 1902 he studied at a local college.
After graduation, the young man immediately began to work. He taught for a year at Cezanne College. Then, from 1903 to 1905, he worked at the post office of the city of Remirmon. And then for a year he was sent to do military service by telegraph (Pont-à-Mousson, 12th Dragoon Regiment).
From 1907 to 1913, Gaston Bashlyar held the post of Commissioner of the Post Office in one of the districts of Paris. He even wanted to organize a contest for postal engineers in 1912, but failed in this matter. But then he became a licensor in the field of mathematical sciences.
Later, on July 8, 2914, Gaston Bashlyar married Jeanne Rossi, a young teacher. And less than a month after that (August 2) he was mobilized for the First World War. In total, he spent 38 months at the front. Upon returning to Gaston, Bachelard was awarded the combat award "Croix de Guerre".
Academic activity
In the late fall of 1918, the war ended. After that, Gaston Bashlyar spent 11 years (until 1930) worked in his home college Bar-sur-Oba as a professor of physics and chemistry.
All this time, he and his wife lived in a small commune of Wuani, at a local school. Interestingly, the way the scientist got to Bar-sur-Oba, today the locals call it "the road of Gaston Bashlyar."
In 1919, on October 18, the couple had a daughter, Suzanne. And in 1920, on June 20, the scientist’s wife died. The thinker dealt with upbringing - Suzanne followed in his footsteps, became a philosopher and historian.
After the death of his wife, Bashlyar did not stop his activity. In 1920, he became a licensor in the field of philosophy, spending only one year on training. And in 1922 he received the degree of aggregation. Immediately after this, Gaston began teaching philosophy at his college. Bashlyar, I must say, continued to conduct classes in the natural sciences.
Further activities
In May 1927, Bashlyar was awarded a doctorate in the Sorbonne. He conducted his first scientific research under the leadership of Leon Brunswick and Abel Ray, and the result of such a large-scale work was "Essay on approximate knowledge."
Already in October of that year, Gaston Bashlyar began teaching philosophy at the University of Dijon. Already in 1930, he gained the status of professor. While working at the university, the philosopher made strong friends with Gaston Rupnel - a medieval historian.
In 1937, the philosopher became a holder of the Legion of Honor, but this does not become his last achievement. In 1940, he was transferred to the Sorbonne, where until 1954 he held the position of head of the department of history and philosophy. And in 1951, he was still awarded the officer degree of the notorious Order. In 1954, Gaston Bashlyar received the title of Honorary Professor of the Sorbonne.
Philosophical foundations of the natural sciences
This is what Bashlar has been interested in throughout his life. The first works on this topic began to appear in the period 1920-1930.
Debut work was the notorious "Essay on approximate knowledge." Then came the work entitled “The New Scientific Spirit”, and then also “Notes on the Psychoanalysis of Objective Knowledge”.
It must be said that even in pre-war writings, the influence of Henri Bergson can be traced, combined with scientific constructivism and psychoanalysis.
The following works, written by Bashlyar, are called “Applied Rationalism” and “Rational Materialism”. What ideas did the philosopher set forth in these works? In short, in both works he systematically analyzed the philosophical problems of natural science. The scientist also paid special attention to the basic concepts of modern science and the creative aspect.
Science of technology
Talking about the philosophy of Bashlyar, it is necessary to make a reservation that it was he who formulated the concept of technoscience. Today, this term is widely used in the multidisciplinary community of research in technology and science. It is this concept that denotes the social and technological context existing in this field.
What is it doing? To the obvious fact: scientific knowledge is not only historically located and socially determined - it is supported, and also perpetuated not by human, material networks.
This term was popularized only in the late 70s / early 80s. Distributed by Gilbert Ottua, Belgian philosopher. Nowadays, technology science is being actively compared with other interdisciplinary innovative fields. These include techno-criticism, techno-ethics, etc.
Psychoanalysis of the elements
This is perhaps one of the most interesting areas of the French philosopher. The scientist created a five-volume work devoted to the psychoanalytic value that the images of the familiar “material elements” have for a person. It is this work that makes the thinker unlike the rest.
And the beginning of the research was laid by a small work entitled "Psychoanalysis of fire." Gaston Bashlyar wrote it in 1938. Although the work is small, it definitely deserves special attention.
The meaning of the "Psychoanalysis of Fire"
Bashlyar calls for a thoughtful, attentive reading of this book from the very first line. After all, it is about a completely unique topic.
This book is an attempt to study the process of objective cognition from the point of view of psychoanalysis, aimed at revealing a certain conflict between the imagination and the mind. What does the fire have to do with it? Despite the fact that he is equally attractive both for poetic fantasy and for cognitive thought.
However, the fire became a stumbling block for the mind precisely because of the defeat of the imagination. Bashlyar tries to convey to the reader the following thought: in order to free himself from the power of fantasies, a thought must realize the true scale at which the imagination affects it.
The scientist does not deny that the paths of poetry and science are opposite. But he also believes that they can complement each other, unite. And this is the task of philosophy. It is thanks to the unique, ambivalent phenomenon of the element of fire that the philosophical world has become integral and unreal without a balance of opposing, complementary principles.
Labor "Water and Dreams"
This work followed the above-mentioned Psychoanalysis of Fire. Her scientist wrote in 1942.
What idea does Gaston Bashlyar convey in Water and Dreams? About the same as in the "Psychoanalysis of fire." The scientist continues to talk about the fact that imagination is not the ability to build images of reality (contrary to the etymology of the word). In his opinion, this is the ability to build them. That is, imagination is the ability to see images that surpass reality.
Already in this work another concept can be traced that Bashlyar defined - the poetics of space. About it will be told later. In the book “Water and Dreams”, the scientist says that each poetic image has its own dynamism, and also is revealed in direct ontology.
As the famous French prose writer Georges-Emmanuel Clansier said, Bachelard was able to discover that the imagination is something more than the will. And often it turns out to be stronger in the mental plane for a person than any life impulse.
The work "Earth and the dreams of will"
This is the fourth part of the pentalogy created by the thinker. Gaston Bashlyar also dedicated the book "Earth and the Dreams of Will" to the poetics of the elements. However, this work is also unique. After all, this is the first part of the dilogy, which speaks of such an element as the earth.
The book tells about the work of those writers and poets who devoted themselves to it. Attention is affected by the activities of Melville and Guysmans including. It is interesting that the French philosopher also classified Yesenin, Blok, Andrei Bely among the poets of the earth.
Also in the work, attention is paid to the topic of self-psychoanalysis and the lessons of the imagination of the elements.
The book "Dreams of air"
As mentioned earlier, Gaston Bashlyar paid attention to each element. And “Dreams of Air” is a book that represents another part of the pentalogy, which he devoted to the poetics of natural forces.
In it, the French thinker, as in other works, on the example of numerous literary works, analyzes the validity of what he himself calls material and dynamic imagination. Particular attention is paid to the work of Nietzsche and Shelley. Their Bashlyar refers to the elements of air.
The book "Poetics of space"
Bashlyar is a truly unique thinker. After all, the system of all his views was formed under the influence of fundamental topics of traditional philosophy, but, nevertheless, he threw aside the scientific foundations, wishing to study issues related to poetic imagination.
This work is devoted to the consideration of images of spaces, as well as to what place they occupy in literature and art, and how they function. A variety of examples are cited - Victor Hugo's novels, Baudelaire's essays, Yamblich's treatises, paintings by Van Gogh.
Gaston Bashlar's work “The Poetics of Space” is rightfully considered one of the most lyrical studies on the phenomenon of the home. This is not just a “walk” from the basement to the attic - it is a journey demonstrating how the perception of housing and other shelters affects the formation of our thoughts, dreams and memories.
About the new rationalism
The author of this phenomenon is also Bashlyar. He believed that it was necessary to strengthen criticism of science, to give rise to a new rationalism. The philosopher rejected theoretical and methodological dogmatism, but did not deny that there are concepts of positivism, realism, energy and atomism.
What is Bashlyar's new rationalism? The scientist focuses on the fact that the philosophy of science gravitates to two poles of knowledge, to real extremes. How is it shown? In that, for philosophers, it is a study of general principles. And for scientists - only private results.
But in the end, the philosophy of science combines these opposites. And any thoughts (both direct and general) are limited.
The philosopher emphasizes that the thoughts of each person should come from a synthesis of experience and reason. And for this it is necessary to overcome the limiting immobility of thinking. Examples of the effectiveness of this approach around: two people trying to reach mutual understanding initially contradict each other. Bashlyar assures that truth is the result of discussion, not sympathy.
Also, the scientist does not accept positivistic phenomenology. He is convinced that the mind should not hypertrophy human experience. On the contrary, he must "rise" to a higher level. In other words, the immediate must be inferior to the constructed. What is the meaning of this saying? The fact that science is tested, trained and verified on what it constructs.
In addition, Bashlyar denies the view that the purpose of knowledge is to comprehend being in the form of an object. This is really not enough. The purpose of science is to identify new opportunities ("Why not?"), And not to attain reality ("How?", "What?"). After all, everything really important is born contrary to. And this is precisely true not only for the world of activity, but also for the world of thinking.
To summarize, one of the main ideas of Gaston Bashlyar can be formulated as follows: “Every new truth appears contrary to evidence. Absolutely the same as any new experience - contrary to the obviousness of the old. "
But in general, Gaston Bashlyar devoted many works to the study of the human mind, the phenomenon of scientific thought, its significance, and art. And each person who is interested in such topics should definitely get acquainted with his works.
Contribution of the philosopher to science
It’s hard to overestimate it. The philosophy of science of Gaston Bashlyar has been appreciated throughout the world. It is worth repeating that in the world there are very few people who have such diverse interests as he. The way the French thinker interprets the works and poetic texts of famous personalities has noticeably influenced the subsequent development of epistemology and the humanities itself.
One cannot help but make a reservation that the activity of the French philosopher became a guide for Roland Barth, Jean Starobinsky, Louis Altusser and Michel Foucault - prominent researchers of art and science.
It is important to note that all the main works of Bashlyar have already been translated into Russian. Although this process began only after the restructuring.