Andreas Gerardus Maria van Melsen

AGM van Melsen (1979)

Andreas Gerardus Maria van Melsen , mostly cited by AGM van Melsen, (born November 10, 1912 in Zeist , † October 8, 1994 in Nijmegen ) was a Dutch philosopher of science . He was a professor at Radboud University in Nijmegen .

Life

Andreas Gerardus Maria was the son of Andreas Gerdinus van Melsen (born January 4, 1878 in Zeist; † June 28, 1943 in Utrecht) and his wife Anna Maria de Visscher (born November 15, 1885; † December 8, 1945 in Utrecht) . Van Melsen attended the episcopal college in Roermond and studied chemistry and philosophy at the University of Utrecht after graduating in 1930 . Here he attended the philosophical lectures by Innocentius Jozefus Maria van den Berg (1890–1977), Albertus Carolus Gorgonius Gregorius Doodkorte (1869–1938), Peter Hoenen (1880–1961) and joined the Veritas student association. From 1937 to 1945 he was assistant for inorganic chemistry in Utrecht and at the same time taught chemistry at the Lyceum in Amersfoort . In 1941 he received his doctorate under Hugo Rudolph Kruyt with the chemical treatise Het wijsgeerig verleden der atoomtheorie (German: The philosophical past of the atomic theory ) as a doctor of natural sciences. In 1945 he became a lecturer and in 1946 professor of philosophy, logic and natural philosophy at the University of Nijmegen, where he was rector from 1955/56 and from 1957 to 1967 headed the faculty of mathematics and natural sciences. In 1977 he retired. In the same year the Catholic Study Center (KSC) was set up at the university, which he helped to found. Until 1985 he was on their board of directors.

1951/52 he was visiting professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh . 1953 to 1966 he had a teaching position for philosophy of the exact sciences at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen . 1966 to 1970 he was chairman of the council of the pastoral council of the Dutch ecclesiastical province. He was active in the discussion group of Protestant and Catholic university teachers in the Netherlands. He received an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Amsterdam in 1980, an honorary doctorate from Duquesne University in Pittsburg in 1953 and an honorary doctorate from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila in 1984 . He was made a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion and was given the Commendation of the Order of Gregory .

From 1947 to 1982 he was co-editor of the Tijdschrift voor Filosofie and from 1951 to 1983 of the Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte.

Melsen married on July 13, 1940 in Hilversum with Cornelia Johanna Maria Bernsen (born January 15, 1915 in Kerkrade, † November 25, 2006 in Renkum), the daughter of Hendrikus Michael Bernsen (* approx. 1881; † February 18, 1946 in Hilversum) and his wife Alida Cornelia Huijg (* approx. 1884; † May 18, 1969 in Oss).

Works (selection)

Melsen had written 15 books and around 400 articles in the specialist journals and journals of his time. The following description offers a possible overview of his work.

• Atom , Orbis academicus , Karl Alber Verlag 1957
• Ethics and science. A reflection on the connection between nature and morality , Cologne, Bachem 1967
• Evolution and Philosophy , Pittsburgh, Duquesne University Press, 1965
• with Reinout Bakker, CA van Peursen: Inleiding tot de wijsbegeerte in christelijk perspectief , Kampen: Kok 1981
• Van atomos naar atoom; de geschiedenis van het grip atoom , Amsterdam, Meulenhoff 1949
• From atomos to atom: the history of the concept atom , Dover 2004
• Philosophy of Nature , Pittsburgh, Duquesne University Press, 1953, 3rd edition 1961
• Physical science and ethics; a reflection on the relationship between nature and morality , Pittsburgh, Duquesne University Press, 1967
• Science and responsibility , Duquesne University Press, 1970

literature

• HAG Braakhuis: Level report AGM van Melsen. In: Levensberichten en herdenkingen de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen . 1995, Amsterdam, pp. 77-84 ( Online PDF )

Web links

• Biography in the Catholic Documentation Center of Radboud University Nijmegen, Dutch
• Melsen entry at the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW)