INTRODUCTION

The aim of this chapter is neither to trace an intellectual genealogy of Piaget nor to sketch the zeitgeist of his times, because such approaches represent a conception of biography and the history of ideas that is not ours for many reasons: verification is difficult, the reconstruction of facts is problematic, and the image of the genesis of ideas is mechanical.

So we are going to limit ourselves here to some selected examples of clear and documented influences upon Piaget during the course of his life in different locations memorable for his growth: Neuchâtel, Zurich, Paris, and Geneva.

NEUCHÂTEL (1896-1919)

Piaget's scientific and philosophical socialization, in childhood and adolescence, took place within two different groups: The Friends of Nature (Les Amis de la Nature), a society of young men interested in natural history, and the YMCA of Switzerland. The Friends of Nature was a movement started by Pierre Bovet (the future director of the J.J.Rousseau Institute). Bovet's idea was to keep the minds of young adolescents busy with scientific preoccupations rather than to let them indulge in drinking binges and sword contests in the tradition of German universities. Bovet was supported in his efforts by Samuel Cornut, Piaget's godfather and a gentleman of letters who, during a trip to Lake Annecy in Savoy, offered Bergson's (1907/1911) Creative Evolution to the young Piaget.