Alexandre Koyré facts for kids

Alexandre Koyré (born Alexandr Vladimirovich (or Volfovich) Koyra; 29 August 1892 – 28 April 1964) was a French philosopher. He was born in Russia. He is known for his writings on the history of science and the philosophy of science.

Life of Alexandre Koyré

Alexandre Koyré was born in Taganrog, Russia, on August 29, 1892. His family was Jewish. He studied in different cities in Russia, like Tbilisi, Rostov-on-Don, and Odessa. Later, he went to study in other countries.

Early Education and Influences

From 1908 to 1911, Koyré studied at the University of Göttingen in Germany. There, he learned from important thinkers like Edmund Husserl and David Hilbert. Husserl did not approve of Koyré's main paper. So, Koyré moved to Paris in 1912. He continued his studies at the Collège de France and the Sorbonne. He was taught by famous philosophers such as Henri Bergson and Léon Brunschvicg.

War Service and Teaching Career

In 1914, when World War I began, Koyré joined the French Foreign Legion. In 1916, he volunteered to fight with a Russian army unit. After the war, in 1922, Koyré finished his two advanced degrees. He then started teaching at the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE) in Paris. In 1931, he helped start a philosophy magazine called Recherches philosophiques. The EPHE created a special department for him in 1932. He led this department until he passed away.

International Teaching and Later Life

Koyré also taught in Cairo, Egypt, at Fuad University (now Cairo University). This was between 1932 and 1941. He helped bring modern philosophy to Egyptian students. One of his most important students there was Abdel Rahman Badawi, who became a leading Arab philosopher. During World War II, Koyré lived in New York City. He taught at the New School for Social Research. After the war, he often visited the United States. He taught at top universities like Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins University. His lectures at Johns Hopkins became a famous book called From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe. Alexandre Koyré died in Paris on April 28, 1964.

Alexandre Koyré's Work and Ideas

Alexandre Koyré is best known as a philosopher of science. However, he first studied the history of religion. He was unique because he connected his studies of modern science to the history of religion and metaphysics (the study of reality).

Focus on Key Scientists and Philosophers

Koyré mainly focused on the work of Galileo, Plato, and Isaac Newton. His most famous book, From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe, came from lectures he gave in 1959. This book talks about how science changed in early modern times. It explains how scientists' views of the world shifted from Nicholas of Cusa and Giordano Bruno to Newton.

Views on Scientific Experiments and Theory

Koyré was careful about scientists' claims to prove truths through experiments. He believed that experiments were based on complex ideas. He thought they often proved the ideas behind them, rather than a new truth. He often questioned Galileo's experiments. He even suggested that some of them might not have actually happened. He also doubted the results Galileo claimed.

Koyré believed that the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries was not mainly due to experiments. Instead, he thought it was a change in how people thought about the world. It was a shift in their theoretical outlook. Koyré strongly disagreed with the idea that science should only find facts and laws. He called this idea "positivist". For Koyré, science was about theory. It was about trying to understand the true nature of the world.

Science, Religion, and Human Experience

Koyré was also interested in how scientific discoveries relate to religious or philosophical beliefs. He argued that modern science had closed the gap between Earth and Space. This gap existed in older Aristotelian science. Now, the same laws were seen to govern both. However, he also believed a new gap had opened. This was between the world humans experience and the abstract, mathematical world of science.

Koyré wanted to show that the "first world"—the world of human experience—was important for science. Even though it seemed separate, it helped shape how science developed. He always tried to show that scientific truth is found in specific historical and personal situations. Koyré's work helps us understand how scientific knowledge is created. He emphasized the human and historical conditions that shape scientists' views of the world. Koyré's ideas influenced many important philosophers of science. These include Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, and Paul Feyerabend.

Criticism of Koyré's Views

Koyré famously claimed that Galileo's experiments with falling weights might have been "thought experiments." This means Galileo might have imagined them rather than actually doing them. Koyré argued that Galileo's reported results were too precise for the tools available at the time. He also quoted Marin Mersenne, who doubted if Galileo's results could be repeated. Koyré thought Galileo's science came more from his Platonist philosophy than from real experiments.

However, Koyré's ideas were challenged. In 1961, Thomas B. Settle successfully repeated Galileo's experiments. He used the same methods and tools Galileo described. Later, Stillman Drake and others studied Galileo's notes. They showed that Galileo was a careful experimenter. His observations played a key role in his scientific work. Koyré was also criticized for saying Galileo was a Platonist. Some scholars, like Lodovico Geymonat, argued that Platonism doesn't fully explain Galileo's focus on practical mathematics, engineering, and mechanics.

Writings (selection)

• La Philosophie de Jacob Boehme, Paris, J. Vrin, 1929.
• Études galiléennes, Paris: Hermann, 1939
• From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1957
• La Révolution astronomique: Copernic, Kepler, Borelli, Paris: Hermann, 1961
• The Astronomical Revolution Methuen, London, 1973
• Introduction à la lecture de Platon, Paris: Gallimard, 1994
• Metaphysics & Measurement: Essays in Scientific Revolution Harvard University Press, 1968
• A Documentary History of the Problem of Fall from Kepler to Newton, pp. 329–395, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 45, 1955
• Newtonian Studies, Chapman & Hall, 1965

Honours

• General Secretary and Vice President, Institut International de Philosophie
• Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Sarton Medal, History of Science Society
• CNRS Silver Medal, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

See also

In Spanish: Alexandre Koyré para niños