- published: 01 Apr 2016
- views: 2177
Bastiaan Cornelis van Fraassen (born in Goes, the Netherlands on 5 April 1941) is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University, teaching courses in the philosophy of science, philosophical logic and the role of models in scientific practice. He previously taught at Yale University, the University of Southern California (USC), the University of Toronto and Princeton University. He coined the term "constructive empiricism" in his 1980 book The Scientific Image. Van Fraassen earned his B.A. (1963) from the University of Alberta and his M.A. (1964) and Ph.D. (1966, under the direction of Adolf Grünbaum) from the University of Pittsburgh.
A philosopher of science, van Fraassen's 1989 book Laws and Symmetry attempted to lay the ground-work for explaining physical phenomena without using the assumption that such phenomena are caused by rules or laws which can be said to cause or govern their behavior. Focusing on the problem of underdetermination, he argued for the possibility that theories could have empirical equivalence but differ in their ontological commitments. He rejects the notion that the aim of science is to produce an account of the physical world that is literally true, but rather that its aim is to produce theories that are empirically adequate. Van Fraassen has also studied the philosophy of quantum mechanics, philosophical logic, and epistemology.
Bas van Fraassen - What are the Scope and Limits of Science?
Bas van Fraassen: The Self, From a Logical Point of View
Bas van Fraassen: The Semantic Approach to Science, After 50 Years
Journées Hughes Leblanc Conférence_Serge Robert vs Bas van Fraassen (Deuxième partie).wmv
Bas van Fraassen
Are You Your Brain?
Journée Hughes Leblanc_Bas C. van Fraassen, Tracking Truth, via Possible Statistics (3e partie).wmv
7 - 5 - Part Five - Scientific Anti-Realism Constructive Empiricism (0726)
Wissenschaftstheorie 6.6: Bas van Fraassen: Konstruktiver Empirismus. Prof. Dr. Torsten Wilholt
Giulio Preti International Prize - Bas van Fraassen's speech (part 2)