View source for Biography:Larry Laudan

{{short description|American philosopher (1941–2022)}}
{{Infobox philosopher
|region           = [[Philosophy:Western philosophy|Western philosophy]]
|era              = [[Philosophy:Contemporary philosophy|Contemporary philosophy]]
|name              = Larry Laudan
|image             = 
|caption           = 
|birth_date        = {{birth date|1941|10|16}}
|birth_place       = {{wipe|Austin, Texas}}, U.S.
|death_date        = {{death date and age|2022|08|23|1941|10|16}}
|death_place       = 
|residence         = 
|school_tradition  = [[Philosophy:Pragmatism|Pragmatism]]
|main_interests    = [[Philosophy:Philosophy of science|Philosophy of science]], [[Philosophy:Epistemology|epistemology]], [[Philosophy:Philosophy of law|philosophy of law]]
|institutions      = University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, [[Organization:University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa|University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa]], University of Texas Law School, UNAM
|education         = [[Organization:University of Kansas|University of Kansas]] (B.A. Physics, 1962)<br>[[Organization:Princeton University|Princeton University]] (Ph.D. Philosophy, 1965)
|influences        = [[Biography:Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles Sanders Peirce]],<ref>Laudan 1977, p. 125.</ref> [[Biography:John Dewey|John Dewey]]<ref>Laudan 1984, page 83.</ref>
|influenced        = [[Biography:James T. Cushing|James T. Cushing]]<ref>[[Biography:James T. Cushing|James T. Cushing]], ''Philosophical Concepts in Physics: The Historical Relation between Philosophy and Scientific Theories'', Cambridge University Press, 1998, page 377.</ref>
|notable_ideas     = [[Philosophy:Historicism|Reticulationist]] model of scientific rationality centered around the concept of research traditions<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/rationality-historicist/|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|first=Thomas|last=Nickles|editor-first=Edward N.|editor-last=Zalta|date=February 13, 2021|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|via=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|access-date=February 13, 2022|archive-date=February 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220213180546/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/rationality-historicist/|url-status=live}}</ref><br>[[Pessimistic induction]]<br>Criticism of [[Philosophy:Positivism|positivism]], [[Philosophy:Philosophical realism|realism]], and [[Relativism|relativism]]
}}

'''Laurens Lynn "Larry" Laudan''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|aʊ|d|ən}};<ref>{{Citation|title=Laudan on Convergent Epistemic Realism|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7ShefBoe3Y|language=en|access-date=|archive-date=April 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423182545/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7ShefBoe3Y&gl=US&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> October 16, 1941 – August 23, 2022)<ref>[https://dailynous.com/2022/08/31/larry-laudan-1941-2022/ Larry Laudan (1941-2022)]. ''Daily Nous''.</ref> was an American [[Philosophy:Philosophy of science|philosopher of science]] and epistemologist. He strongly criticized the traditions of [[Philosophy:Positivism|positivism]], [[Philosophy:Philosophical realism|realism]], and [[Relativism|relativism]], and he 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 [[Biography:Imre Lakatos|Imre Lakatos]]'s "research programs".<ref>[[Biography:Peter Godfrey-Smith|Peter Godfrey-Smith]], ''Theory and Reality'', 2003, [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]], {{ISBN|0-226-30062-5}}, pages 102-121.</ref>

==Life and career==
Laudan earned his PhD in Philosophy at [[Organization:Princeton University|Princeton University]], and then taught at [[Organization:University College London|University College London]] and, for many years, at the University of Pittsburgh.  Subsequently, he taught at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, [[Organization:University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa|University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa]] and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Despite his official retirement, Laudan continued lecturing at the University of Texas, Austin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/laudanl/ |title=Larry Laudan |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603203010/http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/laudanl/ |archive-date=June 3, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> His later work was on legal epistemology. He was the husband of food historian Rachel Laudan.

==Philosophical work==
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 [[Biography:Karl Popper|Karl Popper]], and "revolutionism," represented by [[Biography:Thomas Kuhn|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|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"<ref>{{Cite web|last=Laudan|first=Larry|date=March 1981|title=A Confutation of Convergent Realism|url=https://courses.cs.sfu.ca/2015fa-phil-880-g1/pages/laudan/view|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214105850/https://coursys.sfu.ca/2015fa-phil-880-g1/pages/laudan/view|archive-date=February 14, 2022|access-date=January 19, 2017|website=Philosophy of Science, Vol. 48, No. 1}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-realism/#PesInd|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|chapter=Scientific Realism|year=2017|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=June 9, 2015|archive-date=July 6, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706080354/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-realism/#PesInd|url-status=live}}</ref>

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."<ref>Laudan, ''Beyond Positivism and Relativism'', Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1996, pages 77-87.</ref> Finally, the better theory solves more conceptual problems while minimizing empirical anomalies.

Laudan has also written on [[Risk management|risk management]] and the subject of [[Social:Terrorism|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."<ref>Laudan, "Should We Be Afraid?", in ''The Challenge of Terrorism: A Historical Reader''.</ref> He wrote ''The Book of Risks'' in 1996 which details the relative risks of various accidents.

==Controversy==
In 1990, while Chair of Philosophy at the University of Hawaiʻi, Laudan was critical of fellow professor Haunani-Kay Trask, over a debate in the local newspapers regarding her claims about white supremacy and the colonisation of Hawaii.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Carter Trask Files|url=https://issuu.com/kaleoohawaii/docs/carter-trask_1990-1991|access-date=March 15, 2021|website=Issuu|language=en|archive-date=January 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122151818/https://issuu.com/kaleoohawaii/docs/carter-trask_1990-1991|url-status=live}}</ref> Laudan "demanded" to a Vice President of the University that Trask be reprimanded for her published comments.<ref>{{Citation|title=60- Haunani-Kay Trask Delivers Powerful Speech at the University of Hawaii|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltaYNSyhodo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103193813/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltaYNSyhodo&feature=youtu.be |archive-date=November 3, 2020 |url-status=dead|language=en|access-date=March 15, 2021}}</ref> Later on, the Philosophy Department that Laudan chaired issued a public "Statement on Racism in Academe" condemning Trask's remarks.<ref>Series 5: Box 4A1(2):71, Jon Van Dyke Collection, The Archival Collections at the University of Hawaiʻi School of Law Library</ref>

In September 2021, following Trask’s death, the University of Hawaii at Mānoa philosophy department recognized that the accusations of racism that Laudan (among others) made against Haunani-Kay Trask were entirely baseless, and “apologize[d] sincerely for the attacks [Trask] suffered from philosophers at Mānoa in the past.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hilo.hawaii.edu/depts/philosophy/news/|title=Department of Philosophy Events|website=hilo.hawaii.edu|access-date=January 21, 2022|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224185724/https://hilo.hawaii.edu/depts/philosophy/news/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Philosophy department apologizes to late Professor Trask|url=https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2021/10/22/philosophy-deptartment-apologizes-to-late-professor-trask/|access-date=|website=University of Hawaiʻi System News|language=en-US|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224190927/https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2021/10/22/philosophy-deptartment-apologizes-to-late-professor-trask/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kawaiola.news/nuhou/university-of-hawaii-public-apology-to-dr-trask/|title=University of Hawai'i Public Apology to Dr. Trask|website=Ka Wai Ola|date=September 1, 2021|access-date=January 21, 2022|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224185431/https://kawaiola.news/nuhou/university-of-hawaii-public-apology-to-dr-trask/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bigislandgazette.com/uh-philosophy-department-apologizes-to-late-professor-haunani-kay-trask/|title=UH Philosophy Department Apologizes to Late Professor Haunani-Kay Trask|date=October 27, 2021|access-date=January 21, 2022|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224185429/https://bigislandgazette.com/uh-philosophy-department-apologizes-to-late-professor-haunani-kay-trask/|url-status=live}}</ref> The University of Hawaii philosophy department addressed its apology not only to Trask but also the “wider community of Kānaka ʻŌiwi faculty and students” because Laudan’s accusations against Trask “left lasting wounds among Native Hawaiian faculty and students.”<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2021/10/22/philosophy-deptartment-apologizes-to-late-professor-trask/|title=Philosophy department apologizes to late Professor Trask &#124; University of Hawaiʻi System News|date=October 22, 2021 |access-date=January 21, 2022|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224190927/https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2021/10/22/philosophy-deptartment-apologizes-to-late-professor-trask/|url-status=live}}</ref> The philosophy department recognized that its members “had a moral obligation to reach out” and apologize for the actions of its past members, such as Laudan.<ref name="auto"/>

==Selected writings==
*1977. [https://books.google.com/books/about/Progress_and_Its_Problems.html?id=x9ZQEL_WP5gC ''Progress and Its Problems: Towards a Theory of Scientific Growth''],<ref>{{cite journal|author=Gutting, Gary|title=Review of ''Progress and Its Problems'' by Larry Laudan|journal=Erkenntnis|date=March 1980|volume=15|issue=1|pages=91–103|jstor=20010687}}</ref> {{ISBN|978-0-520-03721-2}}
*1981. ''Science and Hypothesis''
*1983. ''The Demise of the Demarcation Problem''<ref>R S Cohen and L Laudan, ''Physics, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis, Essays in Honor of [[Biography:Adolf Grünbaum|Adolf Grünbaum]]'', D Reidel Publishing Company, 1983, pp. 111-127. Also available at [https://philarchive.org/archive/LAUTDO-4]</ref>
*1984. [https://books.google.com/books/about/Science_and_Values.html?id=47KrhvBeUQYC ''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}}<ref>{{cite journal|author=Bonk, Thomas|title=Review of ''Beyond Positivism and Relativism'' by Larry Laudan|journal=Erkenntnis|year=1997|volume=47|issue=3|pages=415–417|jstor=20012815|doi=10.1023/A:1005393922419|s2cid=169809938}}</ref>
*1997. ''Danger Ahead''
*2006. ''Truth, Error and Criminal Law: An Essay in Legal Epistemology''
*2016. ''The Law's Flaws: Rethinking Trials and Errors?''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.larrylaudan.com Larry Laudan] (www.larrylaudan.com)
*[http://www.pragmatism.org/research/laudan.htm Pragmatism Cybrary Profile]
 
{{philosophy of science}}

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[[Category:Philosophers of science]]
[[Category:Epistemologists]]
[[Category:Philosophers of law]]

{{Sourceattribution|Larry Laudan}}