Larry Laudan. Biografia

Laurence Laudan è nata ad Austin in Texas nel  1941 ed attualemente è considerato uno dei filosofi della scienza più innovativi e rilevanti. Si è laureato in fisica nel 1962 all'Università del Kansas e nel 1965 ha ricevuto il titolo di Philosophiae Doctor all'Università di Princeton con una dissertazione sulle teorie riguardanti il metodo scientifico.Ha insegnato in Gran Bretagna per alcuni anni e nel 1969 si è trasferito all'University of Pittsburgh, dove ha fondato il dipartimento di Storia della filosofia della scienza, diventando al contempo direttore del centro per la filosofia della scienza per il periodo 1978/1981.In seguito ha insegnato al Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, ed alla Università delle Hawaii.Dal 2000 insegna alla Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

 

EDUCATION:

B.A. (magna cum laude), University of Kansas (Physics), 1962
M.A., Princeton (Philosophy), 1964
Junior Research Fellow, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, 1964-65
Ph.D., Princeton (Philosophy), 1965

EMPLOYMENT:

Tutor, Churchill College, Cambridge University, 1964-65
Lecturer in Philosophy of Physics, University College, University of London, 1965-69
Co-director, Telluride Institute, Cornell, 1968
Associate Professor of Philosophy and History, University of Pittsburgh, 1969-72
Professor, Departments of Philosophy, History, and History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, 1972-83 
(Founding) Chair, History and Philosophy of Science, Pitt, 1972-74;1976-77
Academic Visitor, London School of Economics, 1974
Visiting Professor, Philosophy, University of Illinois-Chicago Circle, Spring 1978
Director, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, 1978-81
Visiting Research Professor, Center for Science & Technology Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, 1981-83
Professor of Philosophy of Science and Science Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, 1983-87
Visiting Professor, History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne, 1984
Visiting Philosopher-in-Residence, University of Rochester, Winter 1985
Visiting Professor, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, Spring 1986
Professor, Philosophy, University of Hawaii, 1987-97
Chair, Philosophy, University of Hawaii, 1987-92
Director, Program in Applied Philosophy, University of Hawaii, 1990-95
Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 1992-93
Visiting Researcher, Instituto de las Investigaciones Filosóficas, UNAM, 1996-97
Visiting Fellow, Dibner Institute, M.I.T., 1997
Senior Investigator, Instituto de las Investigaciones Filosóficas, National Autonomous University of Mexico, 2000-

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

General Editor, Cass Library of Science Classics, 1965-70
General Council, British Society for the History of Science, 1967-69
Executive Committee, British Society for Philosophy of Science, 1968-69
Founder and Editor, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 1969-74
Consultant, Centro Superiore de Logica e Scienze Comparate (Bologna), 1972-present
U.S. delegate from National Research Council to IUHPS (Bucharest), 1975
Organizing Committee, Hunt Workshops in the History of Science, 1972-74 (Chairman, 1974)
Editorial Boards of 18th-Century Life, 1974-80; Philosophy of Science, 1976-91, 1994-present; Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 1969-74, 1977-present; American Philosophical Quarterly, 1977-82; Cadernos, 1977-present; Knowledge, 1982-87; History of Philosophy Quarterly, 1985-88; Knowledge in Society, 1987-present; Theoria, 1995-present
Editor for philosophy and history of science, Encyclopedia Americana, 1967-present
General Editor, Pittsburgh Series in Philosophy and History of Science (published by University of California Press), 1977-84
Program Committee, Philosophy of Science Association, 1980, 1988
Program Committee, American Philosophical Association, 1987-90
President & Vice-President, American Philosophical Association (Pacific Division), 1993-95

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS:

Danforth, Woodrow Wilson, NSF Fellowships, 1962-65
Fulbright Scholar (Cambridge University), 1964-65
Royal Society of London Grant-in-Aid, 1966-67
ACLS Faculty Research Grants, 1967-68; 1972
NSF Faculty Research Grants, 1972-74; 1976-78; 1986-88
Center for International Studies Grant, 1976
Fulbright Senior Research Fellow (Munich, Konstanz), 1976
Fulbright Scholar (Melbourne), 1984
NSF/NEH Sustained Development Scholar, Virginia Tech, 1981-85
Director, NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers, 1985 [Topic: ”Agreement & Disagreement in Science”]
Director, NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers, 1989 [Topic: “Naturalistic Epistemology”]
NEH and A.W. Mellon Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 1992-93
NEH Faculty Research Grant, 1993-95
Director, NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers, 1994 [Topic: “Concepts of Evidence”]
Fellow, Burndy Institute, 1997

(Also recipient of grants from the Hunt Foundation, the Sarah Mellon Scaife Foundation, the R. K. Mellon Foundation and the Buhl Foundation.)

ENDOWED LECTURES:

University of Missouri (Benjamin Lectures)
University of Cincinnati (Taft Lectures);
Brown (Whalen Collegium Lectures)
National Autonomous University of Mexico (Gaos Lectures). 

 

Phoenix