Jacques Bouveresse
Encyclopedia
Jacques Bouveresse is a philosopher who has written on subjects including Ludwig Wittgenstein
, Robert Musil
, Karl Kraus
, philosophy of science
, epistemology, philosophy of mathematics
and analytical philosophy. As a result of his attacks on Michel Foucault
, Lyotard, Derrida, and others, he has often managed to raise the analytical stakes in French academic circles, where analytical philosophy is not well understood.
He is known for his critical writings on what he considers scientific and intellectual impostor
s (particularly in French philosophy of the 1970s and the nouveaux philosophes) and the press coverage he has attracted through his own philosophical journalism.
He is now Emeritus Professor at the Collège de France
where until 2010 he held the chair of philosophy of language
and epistemology.His disciple Claudine Tiercelin was appointed to a chair of metaphysics and philosophy of knowledge upon his retirement.
in the Doubs
département of France
into a farming family, Jacques Bouveresse completed his secondary education at the seminary of Besançon
. He spent two years of preparation for the baccalauréat in philosophy and scholastic theology at Faverney
in Haute-Saône
. He followed his preparatory literary classes at the Lycée Lakanal
in Sceaux, and in 1961 entered the École normale supérieure
in Paris
.
He presented his doctoral thesis in philosophy on Wittgenstein, entitled "Le mythe de l'intériorité. Expérience, signification et langage privé chez Wittgenstein" .
Beginning with his earliest works, he has consistently constructed his own philosophical and intellectual path, without following the normal routes and modes of academia. In 1976, Wittgenstein was practically unknown in France, as were Musil and the logic and analytical philosophy which he had begun to study in the 1960s. These two last domains notably propelled him towards the lectures of Jules Vuillemin
and Gilles Gaston Granger, who at the time were practically alone in occupying themselves with these problems, and with whom he has maintained a lasting friendship.
Academic career :
, Boltzmann, Helmholtz, Frege, the Vienna Circle
, Kurt Gödel
). His philosophical programme is in nearly all respects similar to the one conducted by many present day Analytic Philosophers
.
(who wrote a thesis on philosophy) famous for his novel The Man Without Qualities
, as well as the aversion/fascination with which Paul Valéry
regarded philosophy.
and their philosophical consequences. It is on this account that he has attacked, in a popular work Prodiges et vertiges de l'analogie, the use made of these theorems by Régis Debray
. Bouveresse denounces the literary distortion of a scientific concept for the purpose of a thesis. This distortion, according to him, has no other purpose than to overwhelm a readership which lacks the training necessary to comprehend such complex theorems. Bouveresse's reproach to Debray is not that he uses a scientific concept for the purpose of an analogy, but that he uses such a difficult to understand theorem in the attempt to provide an absolute justification in the form of the classic sophism of the argument from authority.
According to Bouveresse, the incompleteness of a formal system
which applies to certain mathematical systems in no way implies the incompleteness of sociology
, which is not a formal system.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
, Robert Musil
Robert Musil
Robert Musil was an Austrian writer. His unfinished long novel The Man Without Qualities is generally considered to be one of the most important modernist novels...
, Karl Kraus
Karl Kraus
Karl Kraus was an Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He is regarded as one of the foremost German-language satirists of the 20th century, especially for his witty criticism of the press, German culture, and German and Austrian...
, philosophy of science
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
, epistemology, philosophy of mathematics
Philosophy of mathematics
The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. The aim of the philosophy of mathematics is to provide an account of the nature and methodology of mathematics and to understand the place of...
and analytical philosophy. As a result of his attacks on Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
, Lyotard, Derrida, and others, he has often managed to raise the analytical stakes in French academic circles, where analytical philosophy is not well understood.
He is known for his critical writings on what he considers scientific and intellectual impostor
Impostor
An impostor or imposter is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but just as often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement....
s (particularly in French philosophy of the 1970s and the nouveaux philosophes) and the press coverage he has attracted through his own philosophical journalism.
He is now Emeritus Professor at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
where until 2010 he held the chair of philosophy of language
Philosophy of language
Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language. As a topic, the philosophy of language for analytic philosophers is concerned with four central problems: the nature of meaning, language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language...
and epistemology.His disciple Claudine Tiercelin was appointed to a chair of metaphysics and philosophy of knowledge upon his retirement.
Biography
Born on 20 August 1940 in ÉpenoyÉpenoy
Épenoy is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...
in the Doubs
Doubs
Doubs is a department the Franche-Comté region of eastern France named after the Doubs River.-History:As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke the Franc-Comtois language, a dialect of Langue d'Oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect...
département of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
into a farming family, Jacques Bouveresse completed his secondary education at the seminary of Besançon
Besançon
Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...
. He spent two years of preparation for the baccalauréat in philosophy and scholastic theology at Faverney
Faverney
Faverney is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Franche-Comté in eastern France.-References:*...
in Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône is a French department of the Franche-Comté région, named after the Saône River.- History :The department was created in the early years of the French Revolution through the application of a law dated 22 December 1789, from part of the former province of Franche-Comté...
. He followed his preparatory literary classes at the Lycée Lakanal
Lycée Lakanal
Lycée Lakanal is a secondary public school in Sceaux, France. It was named after Joseph Lakanal, a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France. The school also offers a middle school and highly ranked "classes préparatoires" undergraduate training...
in Sceaux, and in 1961 entered the École normale supérieure
École normale supérieure
An école normale supérieure or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education in France. A portion of the student body who are French civil servants are called Normaliens....
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
He presented his doctoral thesis in philosophy on Wittgenstein, entitled "Le mythe de l'intériorité. Expérience, signification et langage privé chez Wittgenstein" .
Beginning with his earliest works, he has consistently constructed his own philosophical and intellectual path, without following the normal routes and modes of academia. In 1976, Wittgenstein was practically unknown in France, as were Musil and the logic and analytical philosophy which he had begun to study in the 1960s. These two last domains notably propelled him towards the lectures of Jules Vuillemin
Jules Vuillemin
Jules Vuillemin was a French philosopher, succeeding to Maurice Merleau-Ponty at the Collège de France from 1962 to his death. A friend of Michel Foucault, he supported his election at the College, and was also close to Michel Serres...
and Gilles Gaston Granger, who at the time were practically alone in occupying themselves with these problems, and with whom he has maintained a lasting friendship.
Academic career :
- 1966-1969 : Assistant to the Section de Philosophie of the SorbonneSorbonneThe Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
(teaching logic) - 1969-1971 : Maître-Assistant to the UER de Philosophie of the Université Paris I
- 1971-1975 : Attached to the CNRS
- 1975-1979 : Maître de Conférences at the Université Paris I
- 1979-1983 : Professor at the University of GenevaUniversity of GenevaThe University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
- 1983-1995 : Professor at the University of ParisUniversity of ParisThe University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
- From 1995 : Professor at the Collège de FranceCollège de FranceThe Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
in the chair of philosophie du langage et de la connaissance.
Works
Bouveresse`s philosophy is a continuation of the intellectual and philosophical tradition of central Europe (BrentanoFranz Brentano
Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Brentano was an influential German philosopher and psychologist whose influence was felt by other such luminaries as Sigmund Freud, Edmund Husserl, Kazimierz Twardowski and Alexius Meinong, who followed and adapted his views.-Life:Brentano was born at Marienberg am...
, Boltzmann, Helmholtz, Frege, the Vienna Circle
Vienna Circle
The Vienna Circle was an association of philosophers gathered around the University of Vienna in 1922, chaired by Moritz Schlick, also known as the Ernst Mach Society in honour of Ernst Mach...
, Kurt Gödel
Kurt Gödel
Kurt Friedrich Gödel was an Austrian logician, mathematician and philosopher. Later in his life he emigrated to the United States to escape the effects of World War II. One of the most significant logicians of all time, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the...
). His philosophical programme is in nearly all respects similar to the one conducted by many present day Analytic Philosophers
Analytic philosophy
Analytic philosophy is a generic term for a style of philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century...
.
The thought of Robert Musil
Jacques Bouveresse is interested in the thought of the early 20th-century Austrian writer Robert MusilRobert Musil
Robert Musil was an Austrian writer. His unfinished long novel The Man Without Qualities is generally considered to be one of the most important modernist novels...
(who wrote a thesis on philosophy) famous for his novel The Man Without Qualities
The Man Without Qualities
The Man Without Qualities is an unfinished novel in three books by the Austrian writer Robert Musil....
, as well as the aversion/fascination with which Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
regarded philosophy.
Incompleteness and philosophy
Apart from his work on Ludwig Wittgenstein, Jacques Bouveresse is interested in the incompleteness theorems of Kurt GödelKurt Gödel
Kurt Friedrich Gödel was an Austrian logician, mathematician and philosopher. Later in his life he emigrated to the United States to escape the effects of World War II. One of the most significant logicians of all time, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the...
and their philosophical consequences. It is on this account that he has attacked, in a popular work Prodiges et vertiges de l'analogie, the use made of these theorems by Régis Debray
Régis Debray
Jules Régis Debray is a French intellectual, journalist, government official and professor. He is known for his theorization of mediology, a critical theory of the long-term transmission of cultural meaning in human society; and for having fought in 1967 with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in...
. Bouveresse denounces the literary distortion of a scientific concept for the purpose of a thesis. This distortion, according to him, has no other purpose than to overwhelm a readership which lacks the training necessary to comprehend such complex theorems. Bouveresse's reproach to Debray is not that he uses a scientific concept for the purpose of an analogy, but that he uses such a difficult to understand theorem in the attempt to provide an absolute justification in the form of the classic sophism of the argument from authority.
According to Bouveresse, the incompleteness of a formal system
Formal system
In formal logic, a formal system consists of a formal language and a set of inference rules, used to derive an expression from one or more other premises that are antecedently supposed or derived . The axioms and rules may be called a deductive apparatus...
which applies to certain mathematical systems in no way implies the incompleteness of sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, which is not a formal system.
Quotation
- "Une bonne partie de la production philosophique contemporaine est la justification plus ou moins inconsciente d’un renoncement et d’une démission." ("A good part of contemporary philosophical production is a more or less unconscious justification of a renunciation and an abandonment.")
External links
- Qu'appellent-ils « penser »? Bouveresse on the affaire SokalAlan SokalAlan David Sokal is a professor of mathematics at University College London and professor of physics at New York University. He works in statistical mechanics and combinatorics. To the general public he is best known for his criticism of postmodernism, resulting in the Sokal affair in...
and its consequences. - Entretien paru dans l'Humanité (January 2004).