Catherine Z. Elgin (born 1948) is a philosopher working in
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
and the philosophies of art and science.
She is currently a
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of philosophy of education at the Graduate School of Education 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 ...
.
Education and career
She holds a Ph.D. from
Brandeis University
Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
where she studied with
Nelson Goodman
Henry Nelson Goodman (7 August 1906 – 25 November 1998) was an American philosopher, known for his work on counterfactuals, mereology, the problem of induction, irrealism, and aesthetics.
Life and career
Goodman was born in Somerville, Ma ...
. She has held tenure-track and visiting positions at many universities, including
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
,
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
,
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
, and
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts & Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other F ...
.
Philosophical work
Elgin's work has considered such questions as "what makes something cognitively valuable?" As an epistemologist, she considers the pursuit of understanding to be of higher value than the pursuit of knowledge.
In ''Considered Judgment'', Elgin argues for "a reconception that takes reflective equilibrium as the standard of rational acceptability."
Works
* ''
With Reference to Reference'', Hackett, 1983
* ''
Reconceptions in Philosophy and Other Arts and Sciences'', with Nelson Goodman, Routledge, 1988
** German translation: ''Revisionen. Philosophie und andere Künste und Wissenschaften'', 1993
* (ed.) ''The Philosophy of Nelson Goodman'', v. 1. ''Nominalism, Constructivism, and Relativism'', , v. 2. ''Nelson Goodman's New Riddle of Induction'', , v. 3. ''Nelson Goodman's Philosophy of Art'', , v. 4. ''Nelson Goodman's Theory of Symbols and its Applications'', , 1997
* ''
Between the Absolute and the Arbitrary'' Cornell University Press, 1997
* ''Considered Judgment'', Princeton University Press, 1996
* (ed.) ''Philosophical Inquiry: Classic and Contemporary Readings'', with Jonathan E. Adler. 2007
"Begging to differ" ''
The Philosophers' Magazine
''The Philosophers' Magazine'' (''TPM''), an independent quarterly magazine founded in 1997, aims to provide a venue for philosophy in an accessible and entertaining format. The founders were Julian Baggini and Jeremy Stangroom. The magazine inc ...
'', December, 2012
* ''
True Enough,'' MIT Press, 2017
* "Understanding in Science and Elsewhere": Interview with Catherine Z. Elgin about her philosophy and her intellectual biography, published 2019 on
3:AM Magazinebr>
and republished on 3:1
See also
*
American philosophy
American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can neverthe ...
*
List of American philosophers
American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can neverthe ...
References
External links
* Catherine Z. Elgin'
website
Living people
Harvard Graduate School of Education faculty
Harvard University Department of Philosophy faculty
21st-century American philosophers
20th-century American philosophers
Brandeis University alumni
American epistemologists
1948 births
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