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Gaston Bachelard and the Notion of “Phenomenotechnique”

2005; The MIT Press; Volume: 13; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1162/106361405774288026

1530-9274

Hans‐Jörg Rheinberger,

Historical and Scientific Studies

The paper aims at an analysis of the oeuvre of the French historian of science and epistemologist Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962). Bachelard was the founder of a tradition of French thinking about science that extended from Jean Cavailles over Georges Canguilhem to Michel Foucault. In the past, he has become best known and criticized for his postulation of an epistemological rupture between everyday experience and scientific experience. In my analysis, I emphasize another aspect of the work of Bachelard. It is the way he conceptualizes the relation between scientific thinking and technology in modern science. Within this framework, the notion of “phenomenotechnique” is of crucial importance. It is one of the organizing concepts of Bachelard's historical epistemology, and it serves as the organizing center of this paper.