Abraham Kaplan (June 11, 1918 – June 19, 1993) was an American philosopher, known best for being the first philosopher to systematically examine the

behavioral science Behavioural science is the branch of science concerned with Human behavior, human behaviour.Hallsworth, M. (2023). A manifesto for applying behavioural science. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', ''7''(3), 310-322. While the term can technically be ap ...

s in his book ''The Conduct of Inquiry'' (1964). His thinking was influenced by

pragmatists Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics� ...

Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American scientist, mathematician, logician, and philosopher who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". According to philosopher Paul Weiss (philosopher), Paul ...

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...

, and

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

.''The conduct of inquiry'', p. xv (preface)

Biography

Kaplan's parents were Joseph J. and Chava (Lerner) Kaplan. Abraham's father was a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

. He was raised in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He became a naturalized citizen of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1930, after immigrating to the country in 1923. In 1937, he graduated in chemistry from the

College of St. Thomas The University of St. Thomas (also known as UST or simply St. Thomas) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university with campuses in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Fo ...

. He received a Ph.D. in philosophy 1942 from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. He was assistant professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

from 1940 to 1945. He then returned to the

UCLA Department of Philosophy The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

as assistant professor for the next four years of his life, and associate professor for three years after that. Kaplan became a professor of philosophy in 1952, and stayed there for twelve years. He was also chair of the department for those twelve years, along with two years past that. He taught at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1962 to 1972 as well. Then in 1978 he moved to teaching at

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where he also served as dean of the faculty of social sciences. From 1977 to 1984 he was a faculty member of the RAND Graduate School in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. Kaplan also taught at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a Public university, public Institute of Technology (United States)#Polytechnic universities, polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the l ...

, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and several other schools. While at Harvard, he taught

Stanley Cavell Stanley Louis Cavell (; September 1, 1926 – June 19, 2018) was an American philosopher. He was the Walter M. Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value at Harvard University. He worked in the fields of ethics, aesthetics, ...

. He was also president of the

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...

from 1947 to 1958. His co-authored book with

Harold Lasswell Harold Dwight Lasswell (February 13, 1902 – December 18, 1978) was an American political scientist and communications theorist. He earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy and economics and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He was a ...

''Power and Society: a framework for political inquiry'' was published in 1950. His ''The conduct of inquiry: methodology for behavioral science'' was published in 1964. Kaplan was named one of the top ten teachers in the United States in 1966 by

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

. He also traveled to India, Israel, and Japan to study their cultures and beliefs. On November 17, 1939, Abraham Kaplan married Iona Judith Wax, a child psychologist. They had two children: Karen Eva Kaplan Diskin and Jessica Aryia Kaplan Symonds.

Bibliography

*''Power and Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry'', 1951 *''The new world of philosophy'', 1961 *''American ethics and public policy'', 1963
''The conduct of inquiry: methodology for behavioral science'', 1964
*''Individuality and the New Society'', 1970 *''In pursuit of wisdom: the scope of philosophy'', 1977

Notes

References

New York Times, Obituary
* ttps://books.google.com/books?id=OYe6fsXSP3IC&q=Abraham+kaplan ''The conduct of inquiry'' at google booksbr>1968 documentary

External links

(1964) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Abraham 20th-century American philosophers Pragmatists Odesa Jews Soviet emigrants to the United States University of California, Los Angeles alumni Jewish philosophers New York University faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty University of Michigan faculty Academic staff of the University of Haifa Harvard University Department of Philosophy faculty 1918 births 1993 deaths UCLA Department of Philosophy faculty

Biography

Bibliography

See also

Notes

References

External links