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A new edition of Dernières pensées by Jules-Henri Poincaré

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Lettera Matematica

Abstract

Poincaré’s Dernières pensées was published posthumously in 1913, and contains articles and lectures written in the final phase of life of Poincaré, between 1909 and 1912. A new Italian edition, entitled Ultimi pensieri, edited by Vincenzo Barone, has recently been published. The value of Dernières pensées is not merely historical, because it clarifies the context of comparison between scientists and philosophers regarding new scientific theories, fostering the birth of the epistemology of the twentieth century and causing an intense debate among scientists and the general public. It touches three levels: epistemology, with reflections on space and time, relativity, infinite; philosophy of science, with the problems of scientific truth, evolution and contingency of natural laws; ethics, with the matters linked to the relationship between science, worldview and morality.

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Notes

  1. On the occasion of the centenary of Poincaré’s death, Lettera Matematica International Edition devoted to him a special double issue in which that cultural climate is well evoked [3].

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Correspondence to Gaspare Polizzi.

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The present text refers to the Italian edition of this book, Ultimi pensieri, edited by Vincenzo Barone and with a translation by Eva Filoramo [11].

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Polizzi, G. A new edition of Dernières pensées by Jules-Henri Poincaré. Lett Mat Int 4, 177–180 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40329-016-0151-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40329-016-0151-3

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