Popper versus Bachelard: the case of Darwin’s “provisional hypothesis of pangenesis”

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to compare the relation between the epistemologies of Karl Popper and Gaston Bachelard with the history of science. First, a comparison was made of the theoretical assumptions of both epistemologies in their interpretations of the history of science. Then, a case of the history of biology was discussed from the perspective of both epistemologies, that of Charles Darwin's “provisional hypothesis of pangenesis”. It was then concluded that, since Popper's theory is structured in a logical perspective, it ends up restricting itself in telling a history of science that is too homogeneous, which does not include the plurality of sciences. Bachelard’s theory, on the other hand, gives focus precisely to the plurality and contradictions of scientific activity. Both, however, lacks a discussion about non-conceptual elements of the history of science.