Henri Poincaré · 1908
Science and Method
- Original title
- Science et méthode
- Language
- French
- Form
- Treatise
- Text
- Full text
- English
- Period translation · Halsted, The Foundations of Science (1913), includes Science and Method
- Source text
- fr.wikisource.org
- Selected
- Ben Breen, 2026-09-29; suggested by Claude research agents, 29 Sep 2026
- Status
- Arguments unverified; quotations chosen by machine, unchecked
Q10JUDGMENT
Can a fixed procedure for reasoning settle a disagreement when the participants accept the same premises?No. logic alone does not settle mathematics. Poincaré argues that blind adherence to rules would require infallibility, whereas logicians have encountered contradictions and are revising their rules.
Should your rules be followed blindly? Yes, else only intuition could enable us to distinguish among them; but then they must be infallible; for only in an infallible authority can one have a blind confidence.... Here it is not at all the case; the logicians have applied their rules, and they have fallen into contradiction; and so true is this, that they are preparing to change these rules and to "sacrifice the notion of class."
OCR corrected
Book II, 'Les logiques nouvelles' and 'Les derniers efforts des logisticiens' · Chapter titles confirmed in search results (Wikisource, CNRS Images des mathématiques). Book number from memory of structure; chapter titles verified.