Leo apostle

Leo Apostle, 1980

Leo Apostel (born September 4, 1925 in Antwerp , † August 10, 1995 in Ghent ) was a Belgian philosopher . He was seen as a representative of interdisciplinary science who sought to bridge the gap between exact science and humanities .

Life

Apostel studied philosophy at the Université Libre de Bruxelles after the Second World War and graduated in 1948 as an MA . He then assisted the Polish legal philosopher Chaim Perelman . He studied at the University of Chicago in 1950/51 as a CRB Fellow with Rudolf Carnap and at Yale University with Carl Gustav Hempel . He received his doctorate in 1953 with the thesis La Loi et les Causes . In Switzerland he worked in 1955 with Jean Piaget in the International Center for Genetic Epistemology . After his return to Belgium he taught logic and philosophy of science at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and as a lecturer in moral philosophy in Ghent . From 1958 to 1959 he was a visiting professor at Pennsylvania State University . From 1960 to 1979 he taught as a professor in Ghent and through teaching assignments at the University of Brussels.

Apostel achieved international fame for his work for atheism by postulating an atheistic spirituality (1998). The humanism of Freemasonry had a formative effect.

In his posthumously published book Oorsprong (Origin), Apostel developed a scientific metaphysics that resulted in a consistent worldview . Apostel first gives an introduction to the concept of metaphysics and the origin of man, the universe and life. The contemporary results of scientific research from natural and human sciences are used for interpretation. In this way, Apostel creates a synthetic worldview from knowledge of physics, astrophysics, biology, geology and anthropology.

Works (selection)

as an author

• Wereldbeelden. Van fragmentering to integratie . Pelckmans, Kapellen 1992, ISBN 90-289-1670-9 .
• Freemasonry: A Philosophical Essay (1985)
• Atheistic spirituality . VUBpress, Brussels 1998, ISBN 90-5487-168-7 .
• Oorsprong. Inleiding to een metafysica van het ontstaan ​​van mens; leven en heelal . VUBpress, Brussels 2000, ISBN 90-5487-268-3 .

as editor

• Homage to Bärbel Inhelder . Pour ses quatre-vingts ans . Editions Médicine & Hygiene, Geneva 1993.
• Religious atheism? Éditions Story-Scientia, Gent 1982, ISBN 90-6439-272-2 .

literature

• Diderik Batens: Leo Apostle. Tien filosofen do . Hadewijch, Antwerp 1996, ISBN 90-5240-391-0 .
• Frans Boenders: Filosofie en maatschappij. Gesprekken met Leo Apostel, Alphonse De Waelhens, Jaap Kruithof, Chaim Perelman , Herman Roelant, Antoon Vergote , André Wylleman . SWU, Antwerp 1974, ISBN 90-0212-827-4 .
• Ingrid Van Dooren, Leo Apostel: The Philosophy of Leo Apostel. A life history . Communication and Cognition, Gent 1989.

Web links

• Ghent University: Biography and Bibliography ( Memento of March 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• University of Brussels: photo and appreciation