Peter Lipton

Peter Lipton
Peter Lipton
Born	October 9, 1954 New York City
Died	25 November 2007 (age 53) Cambridge
Alma mater	Wesleyan University

Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western Philosophers
School	Analytic philosophy
Main interests	Philosophy of science, epistemology

Peter Lipton (October 9, 1954 – November 25, 2007) was the Hans Rausing Professor and Head of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University, and a fellow of King's College, until his unexpected death in November 2007. According to his obituary on the Cambridge web site, he was "recognized as one of the leading philosophers of science and epistemologists in the world."

Lipton was an undergraduate at Wesleyan University and a graduate student at Oxford University. Before coming to Cambridge, he taught at Clark University and Williams College. He was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and chaired the working party that produced Pharmacogenetics: Ethical Issues. He was also on the AskPhilosophers panel. In 2004, Lipton had the honour of being the Medawar Prize Lecturer of the Royal Society.

Lipton's research interests focused on the philosophy of science, including topics such as explanation, inference, testing, theory change, laws of nature, and scientific realism. Lipton's research in philosophy of science led him to do work in other related areas of philosophy; in epistemology, Lipton also investigated the philosophy of induction and testimony. Likewise in philosophy of mind Lipton researched notions of mental content and the mind-body problem.