Gaston Bachelard : An Epistemological Illusion and the Question of « Psychologism »

Abstract

This article illuminates Bachelard's epistemological illusion, arising from the question of the "subject" of scientific practice. It seeks to establish that the sciences follow a dialectical process devoid of any basis in an empirical or transcendental subject. However, the concrete problem of the effects of this process on individuals who are called to be its actors remains unresolved. Such an interpretation allows for a clear definition of the limits of Bachelard's epistemology, as it exposes the "psychologism" underpinning his "poetics" as a starting point.