Voyage vers le matérialisme : François Dagognet et l’évolution de l’épistémologie historique [A journey towards materialism: François Dagognet and the evolution of historical epistemology]

I discuss the philosophy of François Dagognet as the inheritor of the French tradition in philosophy of science that, following Dominique Lecourt, we all now call historical epistemology. I investigate a particular aspect of this tradition. Dagognet has argued that Gaston Bachelard embarked on a journey away from Léon Brunschvicg’s intellectualism. I discuss this aspect of the relation between Brunschvicg’s and Bachelard’s philosophies, and Dagognet’s reading of it. I argue that Dagognet has continued historical epistemology’s evolution away from intellectualism, and towards materialism

A Mind of her Own: Helene Metzger to Emile Meyerson, 1933

In May 1933 the historian of chemistry Hélène Metzger addressed a letter to the renowned historian and philosopher of science Émile Meyerson, a cri de coeur against Meyerson's patronizing attitude toward her. This recently discovered letter is published and translated here because it is an exceptional human document reflecting the gender power structure of our discipline in interwar France. At the age of forty-three, and with five books to her credit, Metzger was still a junior scholar in the exclusively male community of French historians and philosophers of science. We sketch the institutional setting of higher learning in France at the time, noting the limited openings it offered to would-be femmes savantes, and situate Metzger in this context. We also describe the philosophical differences between Metzger and Meyerson. Though Metzger never managed to obtain a post of her own, in her letter to Meyerson she forcefully lays claim, at least, to a mind of her own

L’oggetto impuro dell’epistemologia storica di Georges Canguilhem

Unlike the object of other epistemologies, the object of historical epistemology is historical and regional, as it focuses on individual sciences, indeed particular domains within a science, in their historical development. But how does the historical epistemologist construct her historical and regional object? Which type of history can answer epistemological questions? I analyse the object of Georges Canguilhem’s epistemology in the context of historical epistemology, by comparing it in particular with Léon Brunschvicg’s and Gaston Bachelard’s. I argue that the ‘impure’ objects of the life sciences and medicine guided Canguilhem towards a view of the epistemologist’s object which similarly cannot be rectified in the way that Bachelard had proposed

The tribunal of philosophy and its norms: History and philosophy in Georges Canguilhem's historical epistemology

In this article I assess Georges Canguilhem's historical epistemology with both theoretical and historical questions in mind. From a theoretical point of view, I am concerned with the role that history can play in the understanding and evaluation of philosophical concepts. From a historical point of view, I regard historical epistemology, as developed by Gaston Bachelard and Georges Canguilhem, as a conception and practice which came out of the project, elaborated in France from the 1920s to the 1940s, of combining history of science and philosophy. I analyse in particular Canguilhem's epistemology in his theory and practive of history of science. What he called 'normative history' is the focus of my analysis. I evaluate the question of the nature and provenience of the norm employed in normative history, and I compare it with the norm as discussed by Canguilhem in _Le normal et le pathologique_. While I am critical of Canguilhem's treatment of history, I conclude that his philosophical suggestion to analyse the formation of scientific concepts 'from below' represents a useful model for history and philosophy of science, and that it can be very profitably extended to philosophical concepts

Narrative and epistemology: Georges Canguilhem’s concept of scientific ideology

In the late 1960s, Georges Canguilhem introduced the concept of ‘scientific ideology’. This concept had not played any role in his previous work, so why introduce it at all? This is the central question of my paper. Although it may seem a rather modest question, its answer in fact uncovers hidden tensions in the tradition of historical epistemology, in particular between its normative and descriptive aspects. The term ideology suggests the influence of Althusser’s and Foucault’s philosophies. However, I show the differences between Canguilhem’s concept of scientific ideology and Althusser’s and Foucault’s respective concepts of ideology. I argue that Canguilhem was in fact attempting to solve long-standing problems in the tradition of historical epistemology, rather than following the lead of his younger colleagues. I argue that Canguilhem’s ‘refurbishment without rejection’ of Bachelard’s epistemology, which the concept of scientific ideology was aimed to implement, was necessary to justify the historical narratives that Canguilhem had constructed in his own work as a historian of concepts. A strict acceptance of Bachelard’s epistemology would have made it impossible to justify them. Canguilhem’s concept of scientific ideology therefore served as a theoretical justification of his practice as a historian. I maintain that the concept of scientific ideology was needed to reconcile Bachelard’s normative epistemology with Canguilhem’s view of the history of science and its aims, which differed from Bachelard’s more than it is generally acknowledged

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

A matter of substance? Gaston Bachelard on chemistry's philosophical lessons

Chemistry has played a greater role in the French philosophy of science than in other philosophical traditions; Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent has argued that the attention that Duhem, Meyerson, Metzger and Bachelard paid to chemistry had a profound impact on their philosophies, which as a consequence share concerns and views of science, despite their differences. Cristina Chimisso investigates the philosophical importance of chemistry within the French tradition by focussing on the significance of chemistry for some crucial aspects of the philosophy of Bachelard. I shall focus on the specific lessons that chemistry affords philosophy according to Bachelard, in particular concerning the role of analysis and synthesis in the development of knowledge, the concept of substance, and the concept of scientific object. Bachelard shared his focus on chemistry with other philosophers, and yet he ‘learned’ quite different lessons from it than for instance Meyerson. Chimisso argues that philosophers, just like scientists, construct their own object (e.g. history of chemistry) and that they do so differently. I shall briefly outline some of the philosophical ideas that contributed to Bachelard’s construction of his own philosophical objects

Gaston Bachelard's Places of the Imagination and Images of Space

This chapter explores Gaston Bachelard’s hermeneutics of place, or ‘topoanalysis’, in the context of his philosophy of the imagination. In turn, his philosophy of the imagination is considered as part of his whole philosophical project, which includes his philosophy of science, and is based on his view of the ‘double anthropology’ of the ‘diurnal man’ and the ‘nocturnal man’. By broadening the narrow focus on The Poetics of Space, which has been predominant in Anglophone criticism, we can better understand Bachelard’s approach to the analysis of space. I examine Bachelard’s approach to the study of space, and consider his use of Jungian analytical psychology, phenomenology and hermeneutics. I conclude that he consciously, and indeed explicitly, steered away from any fully-fledged and rational method in his study of place. I also argue that the aims of his philosophy, including his hermeneutics of place, are pedagogical

Hélène Metzger, Historian and Historiographer of the Sciences

Is there something important to learn from the history of science about knowledge and the mind? Do habits and emotions play a significant role in science? To what extent do present concerns and knowledge distort our understanding of past texts and practices? These are crucial questions in current debates, but they are not new. This monograph evaluates the answers to these and other questions that Hélène Metzger (1889-1944) provided. Metzger, who was the leading historian of chemistry of her generation, left us unparalleled reflections on the theory, practice and aims of history writing. Despite her influence on subsequent generations of thinkers, including Thomas Kuhn, this is the first full-length monograph on her. Beginning with an overview of her life, and the challenges faced by a Jewish woman working within academia, the book goes on to discuss the most important themes of her historiography, and her engagement with other disciplines, notably general history, philosophy, ethnology and religious studies. The book also explores both Metzger’s immediate legacy and the relevance of her ideas for a host of current debates in science studies. The Appendices include four of her historiographical papers, translated into English for the first time