Mario Bunge

Updated on Oct 25, 2023

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Region Western Philosophy Name Mario Bunge		Role Philosopher

Born September 21, 1919 (age 104) ( 1919-09-21 ) Buenos Aires, Argentina Main interests Philosophy of science Philosophy of physics Emergentism · Realism Areas of interest Emergentism, Philosophy of physics, Philosophical realism, Philosophy of science Education National University of La Plata (1952) Awards Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities, US & Canada Books Social Science under De, Ethics, Finding philosophy in social s, Chasing Reality, Emergence and convergence Similar People Martin Mahner, Juan Jose Sebreli, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend
Schools of thought Analytic philosophy

Mario bunge philosopher and physicist

Mario Augusto Bunge ([ˈbuŋxe]; born September 21, 1919) is an Argentine philosopher, philosopher of science and physicist mainly active in Canada.

Interview with mario bunge 1

Biography

Bunge began his studies at the National University of La Plata, graduating with a Ph.D. in physico-mathematical sciences in 1952. He was professor of theoretical physics and philosophy, 1956–1966, first at La Plata then at University of Buenos Aires. He was, until his recent retirement at age 90, the Frothingham Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at McGill University in Montreal, where he had been since 1966.

Mario Bunge Mario Bunge philosophy and physics Newsroom McGill University

Mario Bunge has been distinguished with sixteen honorary doctorates and four honorary professorships by universities from both the Americas and Europe. Bunge is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1984– ) and of the Royal Society of Canada (1992– ). In 1982 he was awarded the Premio Príncipe de Asturias (Prince of Asturias Award), in 2009 the Guggenheim Fellowship, and in 2014 the Ludwig von Bertalanffy Award in Complexity Thinking.

Work

Bunge is a prolific intellectual, having written more than 400 papers and 80 books, notably his monumental Treatise on Basic Philosophy in 8 volumes (1974–1989), a comprehensive and rigorous study of those philosophical aspects Bunge takes to be the core of modern philosophy: semantics, ontology, epistemology, philosophy of science and ethics. Here, Bunge develops a comprehensive scientific outlook which he then applies to the various natural and social sciences.

His thinking embodies global systemism, emergentism, rationalism, scientific realism, materialism and consequentialism. Bunge has repeatedly and explicitly denied being a logical positivist, and has written on metaphysics. In the political arena, Bunge has defined himself as a "left-wing liberal" and democratic socialist, in the tradition of John Stuart Mill and José Ingenieros.

Popularly, he is known for his remarks considering psychoanalysis as an example of pseudoscience.

Publications (selection)

1959. Causality; the place of the causal principle in modern science. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

1960. La ciencia, su método y su filosofía. Buenos Aires: Eudeba. (In French: La science, sa méthode et sa philosophie. Paris: Vigdor, 2001, ISBN 2-910243-90-7.)

1962. Intuition and Science. Prentice-Hall. (In French: Intuition et raison. Paris: Vigdor, 2001, ISBN 2-910243-89-3.)

1967. Scientific Research. Strategy and Philosophy. Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag. Reprinted as Philosophy of Science (1998).

1967. Foundations of Physics. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag (1967), Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-11999

1973. Philosophy of Physics. Dordrecht: Reidel.

1980. The Mind-Body Problem. Oxford: Pergamon.

1983. "Demarcating Science from Pseudoscience," Fundamenta Scientiae 3: 369-388.

1984. "What is Pseudoscience?" The Skeptical Inquirer. Volume 9: 36-46.

1987. "Why Parapsychology Cannot Become a Science," Behavioral and Brain Sciences 10: 576-577.

1974–89. Treatise on Basic Philosophy: 8 volumes in 9 parts:

I: Sense and Reference. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1974.

II: Interpretation and Truth. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1974.

III: The Furniture of the World. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1977.

IV: A World of Systems. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1979.

V: Epistemology and Methodology I: Exploring the World. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1983.

VI: Epistemology and Methodology II: Understanding the World. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1983.

VII: Epistemology and Methodology III: Philosophy of Science and Technology: Part I. Formal and Physical Sciences. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1985. Part II. Life Science, Social Science and Technology. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1985.

VIII: Ethics: the Good and the Right. Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1989.

1996. Finding Philosophy in Social Science. New Haven: Yale University Press.

1997. Foundations of Biophilosophy (with Martin Mahner). New York: Springer.

1998. Dictionary of Philosophy. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

1998. Philosophy of Science, 2 Vols. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

1998. Social Science under Debate: A Philosophical Perspective. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

1999. The Sociology-Philosophy Connection. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

2001: Scientific Realism: Selected Essays of Mario Bunge. Edited by Martin Mahner. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

2001. Philosophy in Crisis. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

2002. Philosophy of Psychology, with Ruben Ardila, Springer.

2003. Emergence and Convergence: Qualitative Novelty and the Unity of Knowledge. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

2004: Über die Natur der Dinge. Materialismus und Wissenschaft (with Martin Mahner). Stuttgart: S. Hirzel Verlag.

2006. Chasing Reality: Strife over Realism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

2009. Political Philosophy. Fact, Fiction, and Vision. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

2010: Matter and Mind: A Philosophical Inquiry. New York: Springer.

2012: Evaluating Philosophies. New York: Springer.

2012: "Does Quantum Physics Refute Realism, Materialism and Determinism?", Science & Education 21(10): 1601-1610.

2013: Medical Philosophy: Conceptual Issues in Medicine. New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing Company.

2016: Between Two Worlds: Memoirs of a Philosopher-Scientist. New York: Springer.

2017: Doing Science: In the Light of Philosophy. New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing Company.

References

Mario Bunge Wikipedia

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