UNIVERSITE DES SCIENCES HUMAINES DE STRASBOURG

6
Summary
The scientific revolution of the 16 t h and
17 t h centuries having been initiated by Galilee,
developped by Descartes and synthesized by Newton made us
realize that nature is mechanistic, simple, determinist
and reversible. Nature of modern science was a dead,
passive one a robotic nature whose essential
characteristic was that of laws accessible to man a
nature ".-There men ".-Tere to become "masters and owners" in
order to give life to both the baconian and cartesian
expr e s sion. However this is commonly accepted. Wha t is
certainly far from the truth is that this "edifice" of
modern science has suffered and is suffering from cracks
d e c ay . The principles upon which mcder n inteJ,.ligibility
of nature was SEï: are influenced by the development of
objective knowledge. Contemporary knowledge is not only
taking backward steps as regards the principal concepts
of the interpretation of nature by modern science, but
also appears to put into question the secret stimulus,
Prometheus desire which has always animated modern
science, the cult of increasing domination over things.