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La Imaginación Como Condición De Posibilidad De Las Ciencias 1

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La Imaginación Como Condición De Posibilidad De Las Ciencias 1 LA IMAGINACIÓN COMO CONDICIÓN DE POSIBILIDAD DE LAS CIENCIAS 1 Luis Flores H. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile 1. La cuestión del origen de las ciencias m¡ 1 i1 El problema que nos planteamoses el del origen de las ciencias. En cuanto íl a la extensión del término "ciencia", nos restringimosal caso de las ciencias empíricasnaturales, en especial,al de la físicay al de la biología. Por "origen" enten­ demos el conjunto de condiciones ontológicas, gnoseológicas y antropológicasciertas que posibilitanla ciencia. Nuestrointerés es filosóficoy no de tipo psicológico o socioló­ gico. Ahora bien, dentrode la ampliatrama del origen, buscamos determinar condiciones de posibilidad gnoseológico-antropológicaque tienen que ver con el modo como el científico elabora sus objetos científicosa partirde los fenómenos. Nuestra propuesta es que la imaginación, considerada desde los puntos de vista cognitivo y antropológico,juega un papel fundamentalen la cuestióndel origen de las ciencias y, por ende, no cumple una función meramente pedagógica o ilustrativa. Por "posturas racionalistas" respecto del origen de las ciencias entendemos aquéllas que enfatizan el papel de la razón (o del entendimiento) y, por ende, de las ideas, de los conceptos (según las terminologíasTractatus de las distintas filosofías). La expre­ sión racional máxima de esta tendencia es la lógica, la cualconstituye el formato del discurso científico.Al respecto, véase el de Wittgenstein(Wittgenstein 1993). Por "posturas empiristas" respecto del origen de las ciencias entendemos aquéllas que centranel pivote del origen en las sensaciones, las impresiones, las experiencias (según las terminologías de las distintas filosofías). Sin duda, ha habido posiciones hfüridas que toman aspectos de ambas como el positivismo lógico. Asimismo las posturas racionalista pura y empirista pura no son sino límites ideales inexistentes. El asunto es que una típica postura racionalista, como la de Leibniz, y una típicamente empirista, como la de Hume, se anudany cristalizan al interior de la síntesisKritik der kantiana. reinen En Kant, apareceuno de los primeros conatos significativospar a encontraruna salida aldilema entrelo racional y lo empírico. Es así como Kant, ya en la 1 Este artículo ha sido escrito como parte del Proyecto de investigación FONDECYT Nº 1990520. 43 Revista de Filosofía Luis Flores H. Vemunft, nos presenta la oscura facultad de la imaginación con sus esquematismos trascendentalescomo mediadora entre el entendimiento y la sensibilidad, tópico que será profundizado en la Kritik der Urteilskraft. Al interior de la filosofía trascenden­ tal, Kant define la imaginación de este modo: "La imaginación es la facultad de re­ presentar un objeto en la intuición incluso cuando éste no se halla presente" (Kant 1978, B 151). Esta tesis kantiana es reorquestada por los filósofos neokantianos que piensan la ciencia (Cassirer 1969). Por otra parte, el positivismo lógico del Círculo de Viena (Carnap, Schlick, etc.) y el del Círculo de Berlín (Hempel, Reichenbach, etc.) renovaronel empirismo (veáse el papel de los enunciados protocolariosen Otto Neurath), pero introdujeron la lógica de primer orden, la sintaxis lógica (Carnap) como marco teórico de lo empírico. K. Popper, a su vez, cuestiona el psicologismo de Carnapdesde su Logik der Forschung aparecidapor primera vez en 1934 (Popper 1959). Mas, Popper reivindica el papel de la razón en la discusión científica,reinstaura una neo-Ilustración, en la cual la tarea de la imaginación no está claramenteasignada. Posteriormente, la contribución de autores como N. R. Hanson y Thomas Kuhn pro­ pone la nítida tesis de que las observaciones están cargadas de teoría y esto replantea el problema de cómo se vinculan teoría y experiencia. Por ejemplo, para Kuhn, no hay "mere facts": los hechos científicos existen solo dentro del nicho ecológico del paradigma. No hay que olvidar aquí el papel jugado por la Gestaltpsychologie en la argumentaciónde estos autores. Sin embargo, estos no presentanun desarrolloespe­ cíficoen cuanto alorigen de estas observaciones impregnadas de teoría. En su Structure of Scientific Revolutions, plantea que no basta la lógica paraexplicar la ciencia, sino que también es necesaria la persuasión (Kuhn 1970, cap. XII), pero no examina el papel de las metáforasy de las imágenes en aquélla. La tendencia historicista, inicia­ da por Kuhn, es continuada por l. Lakatos y se radicaliza con P. Feyerabend. En éste, la ciencia se desperfila respecto de otras producciones de la cultura y ya no hay en­ tonces una razón científicatransparente, pues intervienen la pasión y la imaginación. Sin embargo, creemos que aquí no existe una función precisa para la imaginación atemperada por la razón (Feyerabend 1970). Ciertas filosofías, como las de Husserl y Wittgenstein, las cuales han revalori­ zado la contribuciónde la imaginación en el método de la filosofía, permiten proyec­ tar esta visión a la ciencia. La fenomenología husserliana concibe la imaginación como vivencia intencional de la conciencia, cuyo correlato es lo imaginado, en cuan­ to objeto intencional. En suma, la imaginación se difracta en una noesis y un noema típicos.En cuanto al método filosófico, Husserl sostiene "que la 'ficción' constituye el elemento vital de la fenomenologíacomo de toda ciencia eidética; que la ficciónes la fuentede donde saca su sustento el conocimiento de las 'verdades eternas' "(Husserl 1950, §70, p. 158). En cuanto a Wittgenstein, éste nos orienta a buscarlos juegos de lenguaje en los cuales funciona la imaginación científica y, por ende, a describir la gramática del "imaginar" en general y del "imaginar científico"en particular. Por ejemplo, cuando Torricelli extrapolala hidroestática y la hidrodinámicahacia la na­ ciente neumática, ¿en qué juego de lenguaje se formula expresiones como: "Y si hubiera un mar de aire"? En cuanto al método filosófico, Wittgenstein concibe la imaginación al servicio de la construcciónde juegos de lenguaje imaginarios,al modo de los Gedankenexperimente (véase, por ejemplo, Wittgenstein 1993, PI, §312). 44 La imaginación como condición de posibilidad de las ciencias Revista de Filosofía 2. Debates epistemológicos en torno a la imaginación científica Gaston Bachelard es sensible alpapel de las imágenes en la ciencia, pero ad­ vierte su peligro: "El peligro de las metáforasinmediatas parala formacióndel espí­ ritu científico es que ellas no son siempre imágenes que pasan, ellas incitan a un pensamiento autónomo; ellas tienden a completarse, a acabarse en el reino de la ima­ gen" (Bachelard 1975, p. 81). Por eso, "todas estas imágenes pueriles, comprendi­ das, de alguna manera, por sus rasgos exteriores, están lejos de ser las más actuantes" (Bachelard 1975, p. 82). Otro autor a considerar es Rom Harré con sus análisis sobre el concepto de modelo y su distinción entre modelos micromorfos-"La más familiarclase de mode­ lo es el modelo a escala, donde una exacta copia de algo es hecha, pero de un reduci­ do tamaño" (Harré1965, p. 86)-y modelos paramorfos -"en los cualeslos procesos pueden ser representados en algún sistema análogo" (Harré 1965, p. 87). Desde el lado de los científicos mismos, se escucha la voz de Peter Medawar, Premio Nobel 1960, por sus trabajossobre el trasplantede los tejidos: "Hoy pensa­ mos que el elemento imaginativo es una de las mayores glorias de la ciencia" (Medawar 1997, p. 39). Además, a los ojos de Medawar, la interpretación meramente lógica de la ciencia es insuficiente, porque no da cuenta del origen de las hipótesis: "La debili­ dad del sistema lógico-deductivo, en la medida que pretenda ofrecer una exposición completa del proceso científico, estriba en que niega tener capacidad alguna para explicar el nacimiento de las hipótesis" (Medawar1997, p. 49). Paradecirlo en tér­ minos de Reichenbach, el contexto de justificación ha de ser complementado con el contexto de descubrimiento. Una inicialreflexión es la de Max Black en Models and Metaphors. Studies in Language and Philosophy (Black 1962), especialmente en el capítulo "Models and Archetypes", el cual finalizaasí con esta excelente síntesis: "Si yo he enfatizadotanto la importancia de los modelos y arquetiposcientíficos, es debido a una convicción de que los aspectos imaginativos del pensamiento científicohan sido en el pasado dema­ siado descuidados. Porque la ciencia, como las humanidades, como la literaturaes un asunto de imaginación" (Black 1962, p. 243). Otra contribución en este debate es la obra de Mary Hesse. Su Models and Analogies de 1963 es completada en 1980 con Revolutions and Reconstructions in the Philosophy of Science. En esta versión ma­ dura expone "The explanatory Function of Metaphor" (Hesse 1980, cap. II). Mary Hesse sostiene lo siguiente: "La tesis de este ensayo es que el modelo deductivo de explicación científica debería ser modificado y complementado por una perspectiva de explicación teórica como redescripción metafórica del explanandum (Hesse 1980, p. 111). En este sentido, su posición continúa la iniciada por Max Black y su "interaction view", dándole a la metáfora una funciónheurística: "Es aún desafortu­ nadamente necesario argüir que la metáfora es más que un dispositivo literario y decorativo, y que tiene implicaciones cognitivas cuya naturalezaes un tópico propio de implicaciones filosóficas" (Hesse 1980, p. 111). Sin embargo, uno de los princi­ pales problemas para la perspectiva de interacción en su aplicación a la explicación científica es la cuestión de cuál es el referente de un modelo o de una metáfora.
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