Nicholas Rescher

Nicholas Rescher (/ˈrɛʃər/; German: [ˈʀɛʃɐ]; born 1928) is a German-American philosopher at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the Chairman of the Center for Philosophy of Science and has formerly served as Chairman of the Philosophy Department. He has served as president for the American Catholic Philosophical Association, American G.W. Leibniz Society, American Metaphysical Society, American Philosophical Association, and C.S. Peirce Society. He is the founder of American Philosophical Quarterly.

Early life and education

Nicholas Rescher was born in the city of Hagen in the Westphalia region of Germany. He relocated to the United States when he was 10. He obtained a degree in mathematics at Queens College, New York. Thereafter, he attended Princeton University, graduating with his Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1951 at the age of 22, the youngest person ever to have obtained a Ph.D. in that department. From 1952 to 1954, he served a term in the United States Marine Corps, following which from 1954 to 1957 he worked for the Rand Corporation's mathematics division.