Peter Achinstein | |
---|---|
Born |
New York, United States |
June 30, 1935
Era | 20th-century philosophy |
Region | Western Philosophy |
School | Analytic |
Main interests
|
Philosophy of science, history of science |
Influences
|
|
Influenced
|
Peter Achinstein (born June 30, 1935) is an American philosopher of science. He is the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein University Professor of Philosophy at Yeshiva University, director of the Yeshiva Center for History and Philosophy of Science, and a professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Achinstein received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard with a dissertation on Carnap's theory of probability. It was the German philosopher Carl G. Hempel, in a visit to Harvard in 1953–4 (replacing W.V. Quine who was on leave), that motivated him to pursue Philosophy of Science. Upon getting a Harvard Traveling Fellowship, Achinstein spent a year in Oxford in 1959 working under the guidance of P. F. Strawson. In Oxford he attended seminars and lectures delivered by Gilbert Ryle, A.J. Ayer, and J.L. Austin. Achinstein specializes in philosophy of science with strong interests in the history of science.
Achinstein has taught for many years at Johns Hopkins University, where he is currently Professor of Philosophy. In Spring 2009, Achinstein began teaching at Yeshiva University as the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein University Professor of Philosophy and is the founder and director of the Center for History and Philosophy of Science of Yeshiva University, New York. He returned to Johns Hopkins in Spring 2011. He has held Guggenheim, NEH, and NSF fellowships, and has served as a visiting professor at MIT, Stanford, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.