The narrative of French philosophy during the first two decades of the twentieth century consists of three intertwined stories: the development of philosophy of science as an independent discipline, the solidification of university idealism in the philosophy of Leon Brunschvicg, and the brilliant rise of Bergson's spiritualist metaphysics. This chapter treats the first two topics, and the following chapter is devoted to Bergson.

PHILOSOPHERS OF SCIENCE: POINCARÉ, DUHEM, AND MEYERSON

Although French philosophers firmly rejected positivism, they still recognized the centrality of science for philosophical reflection. Lachelier and Boutroux, in particular, insisted on the need to construct a unified account of nature that showed how the truths of science and of human freedom combined in a coherent whole. Such a synthesis involved exhibiting the limitations of science (indeterminism, absence of finality) that require us to complement it with metaphysical accounts if we are to describe the full concrete-ness of reality. This enterprise of developing a metaphysics of nature called for serious philosophical reflection on scientific knowing, which in turn required a thorough acquaintance with the methods and results of science.