Abstract

Realino Marra, In this essay the author tries to demonstrate how Poincaré's thought, usually classified as «conventionalist», is rather ascribable to a scientific realism of Kantian derivation. In particular, this would emerge from the French scientist's reflections on the inductive nature of scientific reasoning (including mathematics). According to Poincaré, only induction is able to create, as it allows one to obtain from demonstrations conclusions having a meaning which is more general than their premises. The essay is dedicated to Ga¬etano Carcaterra, one of the most prominent Poincaré scholars.