Larry Laudan - Wikipedia Larry Laudan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Larry Laudan Born (1941-10-16) 16 October 1941 (age 79) Austin, Texas Nationality United States Education University of Kansas (B.A. Physics, 1962) Princeton University (Ph.D. Philosophy, 1965) Era Contemporary philosophy Region Western philosophy School Pragmatism Institutions University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, University of Hawaii, University of Texas Law School, UNAM Main interests Philosophy of science, epistemology Notable ideas Reticulationist model of scientific rationality centered around the concept of research traditions[1] Pessimistic induction Criticism of positivism, realism, and relativism Influences Charles Sanders Peirce,[2] John Dewey[3] Influenced James T. Cushing[4] Larry Laudan (/ˈlaʊdən/;[5] born 1941) is an American philosopher of science and epistemologist. He has strongly criticized the traditions of positivism, realism, and relativism, and he has defended a view of science as a privileged and progressive institution against popular challenges. Laudan's philosophical view of "research traditions" is seen as an important alternative to Imre Lakatos's "research programs."[6] Contents 1 Life and career 2 Philosophical work 3 Selected writings 4 References 5 External links Life and career[edit] Laudan took his PhD in Philosophy at Princeton University, and then taught at University College London and, for many years, at the University of Pittsburgh. Subsequently, he taught at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, University of Hawaii and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He presently teaches at the University of Texas, Austin.[7] His more recent work has been on legal epistemology. He is the husband of food historian Rachel Laudan. Philosophical work[edit] Laudan's most influential book is Progress and Its Problems (1977), in which he charges philosophers of science with paying lip service to the view that "science is fundamentally a problem-solving activity" without taking seriously the view's implications for the history of science and its philosophy, and without questioning certain issues in the historiography and methodology of science. Against empiricism, which is represented by Karl Popper, and "revolutionism," represented by Thomas Kuhn, Laudan maintained in Progress and Its Problems that science is an evolving process that accumulates more empirically validated evidence while solving conceptual anomalies at the same time. Mere evidence collecting or empirical confirmation does not constitute the true mechanism of scientific advancement; conceptual resolution and comparison of the solutions of anomalies provided by various theories form an indispensable part of the evolution of science. Laudan is particularly well known for his pessimistic induction argument against the claim that the cumulative success of science shows that science must truly describe reality. Laudan famously argued in his 1981 article "A Confutation of Convergent Realism"[8] that "the history of science furnishes vast evidence of empirically successful theories that were later rejected; from subsequent perspectives, their unobservable terms were judged not to refer and thus, they cannot be regarded as true or even approximately true."[9] In Beyond Positivism and Relativism, Laudan wrote that "the aim of science is to secure theories with a high problem-solving effectiveness" and that scientific progress is possible when empirical data is diminished. "Indeed, on this model, it is possible that a change from an empirically well-supported theory to a less well-supported one could be progressive, provided that the latter resolved significant conceptual difficulties confronting the former."[10] Finally, the better theory solves more conceptual problems while minimizing empirical anomalies. Laudan has also written on risk management and the subject of terrorism. He has argued that "moral outrage and compassion are the proper responses to terrorism, but fear for oneself and one's life is not. The risk that the average American will be a victim of terrorism is extremely remote."[11] He wrote The Book of Risks in 1996 which details the relative risks of various accidents. Selected writings[edit] 1977. Progress and Its Problems: Towards a Theory of Scientific Growth,[12] ISBN 978-0-520-03721-2 1981. Science and Hypothesis 1984. Science and Values: The Aims of Science and Their Role in Scientific Debate, ISBN 978-0-520-05743-2 1990. Science and Relativism: Dialogues on the Philosophy of Science, ISBN 978-0-226-46949-2 1995. The Book of Risks 1996. Beyond Positivism and Relativism, ISBN 978-0-8133-2469-2[13] 1997. Danger Ahead 2006. Truth, Error and Criminal Law: An Essay in Legal Epistemology 2016. The Law's Flaws: Rethinking Trials and Errors? References[edit] ^ Historicist Theories of Scientific Rationality (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) ^ Laudan 1977, p. 125. ^ Laudan 1984, p. 83. ^ James T. Cushing, Philosophical Concepts in Physics: The Historical Relation between Philosophy and Scientific Theories, Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 377. ^ Laudan on Convergent Epistemic Realism ^ Peter Godfrey-Smith, Theory and Reality, 2003, University of Chicago, ISBN 0-226-30062-5, pp.102-121. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2015-06-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ^ https://courses.cs.sfu.ca/2015fa-phil-880-g1/pages/laudan/view ^ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-realism/#PesInd ^ Laudan, Beyond Positivism and Relativism, Boulder, CO, Westview Press, 1996, pp.77-87. ^ Laudan, "Should We Be Afraid?", in The Challenge of Terrorism: A Historical Reader. ^ Gutting, Gary (March 1980). "Review of Progress and Its Problems by Larry Laudan". Erkenntnis. 15 (1): 91–103. JSTOR 20010687. ^ Bonk, Thomas (1997). "Review of Beyond Positivism and Relativism by Larry Laudan". Erkenntnis. 47 (3): 415–417. doi:10.1023/A:1005393922419. JSTOR 20012815. S2CID 169809938. 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Quine Thomas Kuhn Imre Lakatos Paul Feyerabend Jürgen Habermas Ian Hacking Bas van Fraassen Larry Laudan Daniel Dennett Category  Philosophy portal  Science portal Authority control BNE: XX995242 BNF: cb120184418 (data) CANTIC: a11477891 GND: 139162364 ISNI: 0000 0001 0901 9590 LCCN: n81094157 NKC: mzk2011620748 NLK: KAC201502608 NTA: 068748965 PLWABN: 9810628777305606 SELIBR: 321622 SNAC: w69m92hs SUDOC: 028325699 VIAF: 54159955 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n81094157 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Larry_Laudan&oldid=986988329" Categories: Philosophers of science University of Kansas alumni Princeton University alumni Academics of University College London National Autonomous University of Mexico faculty University of Pittsburgh faculty University of Hawaii faculty Virginia Tech faculty University of Texas faculty Epistemologists Philosophers of law Living people 1941 births People from Austin, Texas 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers Hidden categories: CS1 maint: archived copy as title Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLK identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikiquote Languages Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Italiano Nederlands Русский Suomi Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 4 November 2020, at 04:40 (UTC). 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