Epistemology and its Time

Abstract

The first part of the article describes the basic concepts and some problems of the epistemology of Gaston Bachelard, especially his idea of philosophy which would be appropriate to science. It also demonstrates how Georges Cangilhem tried to solve some problems of Bachelard's theory. In the second part, the author investigates Bachelard's strange assertion that there are scientific concepts which are true “For ever”, an assertion which contradicts some basic postulates of Bachelard's theory. The article treats this assertion as a symptom of Bachelard's thought and tries to show some shortcomings and contradictions of Bachelard's epistemology, of which the above mentioned assertion is a consequence of. At the same time, the author shows why Bachelard's thought is still relevant today.