Related Terms • Konrad Lorenz

Name:
Jules Henri Poincare

Dates:
Born: April 29, 1854 in Nancy, France
Died: July 17, 1912 in Paris, France

Specialization:
Mathematics
Philosophy of Mathematics
Philosophy of Science

Major Works:
Science and Hypothesis (1902)
The Value of Science (1905)
Science and Method (1908)

Biography:
Jules Henri Poincare is one of France's greatest theoretical scientists. Together with Konrad Lorenz and Albert Einstein, he is associated with the early development of the special theory of relativity.

He is perhaps better known for his ideas regarding the nature and process of science and scientific theories. He began his theorizing after the discovery of non-Euclidean geometry led him to the conclusion that, contrary to traditional belief, the axioms of geometry are not expression of logical truths, logical necessities, or empirical propositions. Instead, they are simply definitions "in disguise" - they are decisions about how certain terms (like "point" and "line") will be used in order to accurately describe particular relationships. Different definitions could be chosen and thus create different geometries. The geometry which is chosen depends upon convenience and whichever set of relationships is most economical most fruitful.

Eventually Poincare came to apply these ideas to physics as well. These ideas would come to be called "conventionalism" to reflect that idea that basic axioms or principles are "conventions" rather than logical or empirical truths. Poincare did not, however go so far as to argue that all empirical claims are simply matters of convention. He argued that the physical sciences are attempts to describe a world which is independent of our minds; as such, it is possible for the physical sciences to be more or less accurate, even if many of its principles are conventions in nature.

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