Leo Apostel (

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, 4 September 1925 –

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, 10 August 1995) was a Belgian

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and professor at the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch language, Dutch, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated VUB) is a Dutch- and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engine ...

and

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

. Apostel was an advocate of interdisciplinary research and the bridging of the gap between exact science and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

Biography

Leo Apostel was born

, Belgium, in 1925. After the second World War he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the ULB in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

with philosopher of law and logician

Chaïm Perelman Chaïm Perelman (born Henio (or Henri) Perelman; sometimes referred to mistakenly as Charles Perelman) (20 May 1912 – 22 January 1984) was a Belgian philosopher of Polish-Jewish origin. He was among the most important argumentation theorists ...

. He got his M.A. at the ULB in Brussels in October 1948 with the thesis ''Questions sur l'Introspection''. For another year he stayed there working as an assistant of Perelman. In 1950-1951 Apostel was a CRB fellow at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

with

Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. ...

, and with

Carl Hempel Carl Gustav "Peter" Hempel (; ; January 8, 1905 – November 9, 1997) was a German writer, philosopher, logician, and epistemologist. He was a major figure in logical empiricism, a 20th-century movement in the philosophy of science. Hempel ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. He took his Ph.D. at the ULB in March 1953 with the dissertation "La Loi et les Causes". In 1955 he went to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

to study with

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, ; ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. ...

at the Centre International d'Epistémologie Génétique. These experiences would influence him for the rest of his life. From 1955 Apostel lectured

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. Amongst its central questions are the difference between science and non-science, the reliability of scientific theories, ...

at the

and the ULB for three years. In 1958-1959 he was visiting professor at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, and from 1960 to 1979 professor at Ghent University. Leo Apostel was awarded the Solvay award for human sciences in 1985 and the Arkprijs van het Vrije Woord in 1986. The transdisciplinary research department Center Leo Apostel (CLEA) at the

was named after him. Apostel died at the age of 69 on August 10, 1995.

Work

Apostel was an advocate of interdisciplinary research and the bridging of the gap between exact science and

. He wrote two books about Freemasonry: ''Freemasonry: A Philosophical Essay'' in 1985, and ''Atheïstische spiritualiteit'' in 1998. His ideas about atheistic religiosity are widely acknowledged.

Origins

In his book "Oorsprong" (Origin) from 2000 Apostel gives a

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

introduction about the beginning of

man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

and the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

. This work is part of his project to develop his own scientific metaphysics. The basis for this is the contemporary

and humanities and the existing sciences from physics, astrophysics, biology, geology to anthropology. In this book he first outlines the term metaphysics, then presents an ontology, which results in his own consistent

world view A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. However, when two parties view the s ...

.Oorsprong: Inleiding tot een metafysica van het ontstaan van mens, leven en heelal
by Leo Apsotel, retrieved October 2007.

Literature

Apostel wrote about 20 books and 100 articles in Dutch, French and English. Some of his books: * 1959, ''Logika en geesteswetenschappen'', Bruges * 1964, ''De humanismen en het humanisme'', Antwerp * 1966, ''Pluralisme en verdraagzaamheid'', Antwerp (with Marcel Bots) * 1974, ''Matière et Forme'', Ghent * 1975, ''Formele logika. 1. Klassieke systemen'', Kapellen * 1977, ''Déterminants sociologiques de la méthodologie scientifique'', Marseille * 1978, ''Pedagogiek, logica en actietheorie'', Leuven * 1979, ''Communication et Action'', Ghent * 1979, ''Logique et Dialectique'', Ghent * 1980, ''Theory of knowledge and science policy'', Ghent * 1981, ''African Philosophy : myth or reality?'', Ghent * 1982, ''Mysticism, ritual and atheism'', in Religious atheism?, Ghent * 1984, ''Afbraak en Opbouw'', VUB Press, Brussels * 1985, ''Freemasonry: A Philosophical Essay'', VUB Press, Brussels * 1990, ''Atheïstische spiritualiteit'', School voor comparatieve filosofie, Ghent * 1991, ''Wereldbeelden: van fragmentering naar integratie'', Kapellen (with Jan Van der Veken) * 1992, ''De Gebroken Orde'', Kritak, Leuven * 1992, ''Vrijmetselarij. Een wijsgerige benadering'', Hadewijch, Antwerp * 1993, ''Waarde en Zin van de Cultuurwetenschappen in de 20e eeuw'', Pelckmans, Kapellen * 1994, ''Wereldbeelden: ontologie en ethiek'', DNB Pelckmans, Antwerp * 1997, ''Hopeloos gelukkig'', Meulenhoff Kritak, Amsterdam (with Jenny Walry & Bart Keunen) * 1998, ''Atheïstische spiritualiteit'', VUB Press, Brussels * 2000, ''Oorsprong: inleiding tot een metafysica van het ontstaan van mens, leven en heelal'', VUB Press, Brussels * 2000, ''Levend sterven'', VUB Press, Brussels * 2000, ''Natuurfilosofie: voorbereidend werk voor een op de fysica gebaseerde ontologie'', VUB Press, Brussels * 2002, ''Wereldbeelden en ethische stelsels'', VUB Press, Brussels * 2002, ''Zoektocht naar eenheid verscheidenheid: 6 opstellen over metafysica'', VUB Press, Brussels

About Leo Apostel

* Ingrid Van Dooren and Leo Apostel, ''The Philosophy of Leo Apostel: A life history Communication and Cognition'', 1989.

References

External links

Leo Apostel
Official website,

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Apostel, Leo 1925 births 1995 deaths Writers from Antwerp 20th-century Belgian philosophers Flemish philosophers Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Belgian systems scientists Academic staff of Ghent University Belgian atheists Belgian atheism activists