A dialogical philosophy: Bachelard’s “Introduction” to “Le Rationalisme appliqué”

Abstract

The translation in the following essay of this issue of Philosophical inquiries makes available a preliminary version of what would become the introduction to Le Rationalisme appliqué (Bachelard 1949). We can regard it as a first step towards making Le Rationalisme appliqué accessible to the English readers, hoping that it may lead to a translation of the entire work.

The introduction to Le Rationalisme appliqué can be regarded as one of the most canonical expositions of Bachelard’s philosophy of science. It echoes the introductions and conclusions of each of his epistemological works since The New Scientific Spirit, in a series of small philosophical treatises that offer a remarkable continuity.