Goodman, Nelson (1906–1998)

Goodman, Nelson(1906–1998)

Nelson Goodman, the distinguished American philosopher of science and language, was born in Massachusetts in 1906. He received a bachelor of science degree from Harvard in 1928 and took his Ph.D. in philosophy there in 1941. After an instructorship at Tufts College (1945–1946), he was appointed associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania (1946–1951) and then professor (1951–1964). From 1964 to 1967 Goodman was the Harry Austryn Wolfson professor of philosophy at Brandeis University. In 1967 he became a professor of philosophy at Harvard. He died in 1998.

Goodman's delineations of certain strategic problems in epistemology, philosophy of science, and constructional methods, as well as the results of his own inquiries, are fundamental in the areas in which he worked. Specifically, these include theories of inductive logic or confirmation, problems concerning the nature of causal or lawlike regularity, theories of the structural or logical simplicity of theories, and constructions of linguistic systems within which philosophical problems may be solved, as well as theories of the adequacy or accuracy of such systems. Because of his achievements any further significant contributions to these areas may be expected to rest, in some measure, upon his work.

In this brief compass no attempt will be made either to give a comprehensive account of Goodman's ramified views or to rehearse in full detail any one of his major achievements.

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