<history of Philosophy, biography> French mathematician and philosopher of science (1854-1912). Although he granted the necessity of testing scientific propositions against observed facts about the natural world in La Science et l'hypothËse (Science and Hypothesis) (1902), PoincarÈ emphasized that scientific theories are conventional claims best supported by appeal to their simplicity and utility rather than to their truth. This philosophy of science provided a significant impetus for logical positivism, but PoincarÈ himself criticized the logicization of arithmetics in DerniËres PensÈes (Mathematics and Science: Last Essays) (1912). Recommended Reading: The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare (Modern Library, 2001); Elie Zahar, Poincare's Philosophy: From Conventionalism to Phenomenology (Open Court, 2001); and Mathematical Heritage of Henri Poincare, ed. by Felix E. Browder (Am. Math. Soc., 1983).
[A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names]
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