Canguilhem, Georges

(1904-1995)

   philosopher

   Born in Castelnaudary, Georges Canguilhem was educated both in philosophy and in medicine. He proposed, over the course of a series of works, a philosophy of living without opposing analytical knowledge. Thus, vitalism (see henri bergson) could not be radically condemned according to Canguilhem. The clinic and pathology are "the basis of physiology," and are part of a questioning of "normalcy." More largely, Canguilhem proposed a theory of science as the production of problematics and concepts, which is closer to the history of science than to formal logic. He had a strong influence on Michel foucault in particular.