The biography of the kourno
He was born in DJ near Dijon on August 28 studied at the Lyceum in Bezanson, entered the Higher Pedagogical School, received the degree of license in the field of science, and in the field of law. He defended his doctoral dissertation. In the became assistant to the inspector of the Paris Academy. B - Kurno - professor of mathematics of the University of Lyon, s - rector of the Academy of Grenoble, general inspector of mathematical education - and V - rector of the Dijon Academy.
He resigned. Kurno died in Paris on March 31, the central idea of his philosophy is the idea of accidental as the result of a joint action of many of the rows of reasons without any dependent. Accident, in his opinion, is not a purely negative concept that indicates only ignorance of the causes of phenomena; This is a real fact that is objective. The role of a case in history that has its own patterns, different from the laws of nature.
The concept of “Prubabilism” developed by Kurno is associated with the interpretation of chance, which was based on the idea of various degrees of the probability of scientific knowledge, the highest in mathematics and the smallest in philosophy. In science, any hypothesis is accepted, since it allows you to rationally organize the observed facts. The theory is likely to the extent that it with maximum simplicity satisfies this condition, allowing you to get closer to reality.
In the first work of the Kurno, the presentation of the theory of chances and probabilities, the reliability of knowledge acts as the limit, in relation to which there are the degree of probability. An important point of the Kourno concept is the theory of categories created under the influence of Kant, but different from the Kantian. The category, or the fundamental idea of science, receives justification from many sources, completely different and independent: from experience; reducing deduction, which reduces a new concept to simpler concepts; imagination; the requirements of the harmony established by this concept between the facts that it leads, and the coordination between it and the fundamental concepts of related sciences.
At the same time, reality cannot be completely covered by fundamental ideas. Intelligence, delayed and unchanged, cannot comprehend life known with the help of instinct. Reflecting on the attitude of science and religion, Kourno argued that the religious life of a person is not comparable with any idea, cannot be known through analogy; Only religion can explain the personal purpose of a person.
Kurno fame was brought by his mathematical works, written mainly in the X years. Over time, the interests of Courno in pure mathematics have somewhat weakened, and the last two decades of his life, he devoted mainly to the study of the problems of the philosophy of natural science. In addition to this main work, he published two more economic works in the X and X years, in which he almost did not use the formulas for the sake of popularizing his ideas.
In the study, Kourno considered only one, but a very important problem for economic theory is the interdependence of price and demand. The scientist introduced into political savings the concept of elasticity of demand, proving that demand is a function from the price and highlighting goods characterized by high and low elasticity of demand. In addition, Kurno first established that the demand function is continuous and, therefore, differentiated and applied it to solve the problem of maximizing income, that is, finding the price at which the gross revenue is maximum, first in the conditions of a natural monopoly, and then duopoly and free competition.
Thus, Kourno, whose economic ideas were recognized only in the last third of the 19th century. Kourno is also considered the predecessor of a subjective school in the economy. Irina Blaubberg.