Poincaré, Philosopher of Science

This volume presents a selection of papers from the Poincaré Project of the Center for the Philosophy of Science, University of Lisbon, bringing together an international group of scholars with new assessments of Henri Poincaré's philosophy of science—both its historical impact on the foundations of science and mathematics, and its relevance to contemporary philosophical inquiry. The work of Poincaré (1854-1912) extends over many fields within mathematics and mathematical physics. But his scientific work was inseparable from his groundbreaking philosophical reflections, and the scientific ferment in which he participated was inseparable from the philosophical controversies in which he played a pre-eminent part. The subsequent history of the mathematical sciences was profoundly influenced by Poincaré’s philosophical analyses of the relations between and among mathematics, logic, and physics, and, more generally, the relations between formal structures and the world of experience. Thepapers in this collection illuminate Poincaré’s place within his own historical context as well as the implications of his work for ours.

• Conventionalism
• Dynamical Systems
• History of Mathematics
• Phenomenal reality
• Philosophy of Physics
• Philosophy of Science
• Poincaré’s Philosophy of Science
• Portrait of Henri Poincaré
• Principles of the Calculus
• The Foundations of Mathematics
• The construction of space-time
• The foundations of statistical mechanics

“This new volume, part of ‘The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science,’ is a collection of ten papers on the contributions of Poincaré (1854–1912) to the foundation of mathematics and science. … These papers provide an excellent window into that formative period and Poincaré’s interaction with and influence on other intellectual contemporaries. They also provide an intellectual and philosophical context for his contributions to modern science. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers/faculty.” (R. L. Pour, Choice, Vol. 52 (5), January, 2015)

“The text under review is a three-part collection of papers. These papers clearly illustrate the breadth and depth of Poincaré’s intellectual activities. ... each of the papers offers a number of interesting andspeculative considerations regarding Poincaré’s thought. ... the book is well worth consulting for anyone interested in some aspects of the latest research and analysis of the thought of Henri Poincaré.” (Richard Feist, Metascience, Vol. 24, 2015)

• Centre for Philosophy of Science at the University of Lisbon (CFCUL), University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

  María de Paz

• Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

  Robert DiSalle

Policies and ethics