Sciences, Philosophie, Histoire – UMR 7219, laboratoire SPHERE

This axis is intended to accommodate any member of SPHERE whose work relates, in whole or in part, to the history and / or philosophy of the natural sciences. It therefore includes research on natural philosophy, natural history, the physical sciences (including chemistry), and the life and earth sciences from antiquity to the present day in all geographical areas. Without excluding the study of contexts in the broad sense, it is nevertheless characterized by a particular interest in scientific or philosophical contents.

Thematics of research / Seminar / Members /

• 1 Natural Philosophy and Natural Sciences from Antiquity to the 16th Century 2018–2022
  Natural philosophy covers, for the period concerned, a broad spectrum of disciplines : from the theory of elements to cosmology, from mineralogy to a part of psychology, through meteorology, botany and zoology. It is based on the general theory of movement and for neighborhood disciplines on the one hand the so-called intermediate sciences: static, mechanics, optics, music, and on the other hand the disciplines of application such as medicine, alchemy, astrology.
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• 2 Natural history and life sciences in modern and contemporary times 2018–2022
  This theme brings together research on the history and philosophy of the disciplines devoted to living things (eg natural history, anatomy, neurosciences, evolutionary sciences ...) and the conceptions associated with these fields, From the end of the Renaissance to the present day. Particular emphasis is placed on the emergence of new notions, their stakes, their transformations and their links with the contexts. The approaches adopted are varied, and if conceptual history is privileged, it is within the framework of a close dialogue with epistemology, the history of practices, institutions, scientific texts and images, etc.
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• 3 Methods, instruments and institutions of modern and contemporary physics 2012–2017
  This theme regroups several themes of research of the former axis "Physics and philosophy" of Rehseis. One of these themes was rather theoretical and concerned the modes, levels and orders of description in the physical sciences. The other was experimental and involved measurement and metrology. Finally, some researchers of the old axis addressed institutional issues such as the organization of mathematical physics in France in the first half of the nineteenth century. These three themes are highly interwoven.
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• 4 Science of Nature, Mathematics and Philosophy 2018–2022
  The natural sciences, their history and their possible relationship to mathematics are susceptible to philosophical inquiries aimed at defining their concepts, objects, purposes and methods. Some researchers in the unit conduct this inquiry directly, scrutinizing the foundations or practices of the sciences under consideration. Others prefer to comment and exploit the reflections of actors in these sciences. Still others are interested in the interrelationships between science and philosophy at a given time. The combination of these three approaches and the combination of the skills of historians, scientists and philosophers define the kind of philosophy of science here proposed.
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