POJAM KONVENCIJE: POENKARE, ŠLIK I RAJHENBAH
THE NOTION OF CONVENTION: POINCARÉ, SCHLICK, REICHENBACH

Summary/Abstract: After the appearance of non-Euclidian geometries, Kant’s apriorism regarding geometry was seriously put in question. Poencaré challenged both apriorism and empricism, claiming that the question of “true geometry” of our phisical world has no meaning. His position became known as conventionalism. Logical positivists recognised the importance of understanding the nature of conventional elements in our scientific knowledge, especially after the appearence of the general relativity theory, but their positions differe concerning their role. While Schlick accepted the term “conventions” when speaking of basic elements of physics, young Rajhenbah called those elements “relativistic a priori”, arguing that Kant’s doctrine can be accomodated even to the new relativistic physics. After an important correspondence between two philosophers, they astonishingly agreed that their dispute is purely terminological. I want to analyse their postions and to argue that this diagnosis was in fact mistaken.

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