Mario Bunge

Mario Bunge

Mario Bunge is a renowned Argentine Physicist and philosopher of science. He has made notable academic contributions to the fields of Philosophy of Physics, where he has done extensive research into the problems involving the development of quantum mechanics, and Philosophy of Science, where he has formulated theories on general principles and scientific research. He is known for his views considering psychoanalysis as an example of pseudoscience.

Mario Bunge was born on August 21, 1919 in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mario’s father was an influential congressman and he was raised in an intellectual and politically charged society. His love of philosophy began in his youth and blossomed over the years. He enrolled at the Universidad de La Plata, and in 1952, he graduated from there with a Ph.D. in Physico-mathematical sciences. In 1956, he was appointed a Professor of theoretical physics and philosophy, he held this position for the next ten years. During his tenure, he was awarded a Chair in Philosophy, as well as, a chair in theoretical physics.

In 1966, unhappy with the turbulent political climate of Argentina, Bunge decided to move to America. In America, Bunge was offered the Frothingham Professorship of Logic and Metaphysics at the McGill University. Bunge now permanently resides in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he also teaches courses in metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of science.

Bunge has made several notable literary contributions, his major theories are presented in his highly acclaimed work, “Treatise on Basic Philosophy”, a widely discussed work that is categorized into eight volumes consisting of ontology, epistemology, philosophy of science, and ethics. Bunge has authored more than eighty books and 400 papers, some of his remarkable works include, “The principle of causality”, “Philosophy of Physics”, “Treaty of fundamental philosophy”, “The mind-brain”, and “Crisis and reconstruction of philosophy” among others.

Bunge has done significant research and analysis into the trivial concepts of global rationalism, scientific realism, materialism, dynamicism, systemism and consequentialism, and he strives to formulate a comprehensive outlook based on scientific principles, which can be collectively applied to all these phenomenon of social and natural sciences. He is best known for his defence of the psicobiologico approach of the study of “Spirit”. Bunge considered himself as a “Left-wing” liberalist, however, he is considered to be a logical positivist, because of his relentless pursuit of his interest in metaphysics.

Bunge has been the recipient of sixteen distinguished honorary doctorates and four honorary professorships from American and European universities. He is a Fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1984. In 1992, he made a member of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1982, he received the Premio Príncipe de Asturias (Prince of Asturias Award) for communication and humanities. In 2009, he received the Guggenheim Fellowship, and later in 2014, he was awarded the Ludwig von Bertalaffy Award in Complexity Thinking.

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