Fraassen

Bastiaan Cornelis Van Fraassen 1941 - Present

By iron772

  • Family immagrated to Alberta, Canada

    Family immagrated to Alberta, Canada
    Bastiaan's father was forced to work at a factory in Hamburg by the Nazi's during WWII. After the war the family reunited and made the choice to move across the Atlantic Ocean to a better life in Canada.

  • Professor Emeritus

    Professor Emeritus
    Professor Van Fraassen began teaching at Yale University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Toronto until 1982 when he moved to Princeton University until 2008 where he is respected, distinguished, emeritus. Here is a short interview with Prof Von Fraassen advocating his philosophical views on a question in the philosophy of science: "What is the scope and limits of science?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3N1D-uPAFg

  • An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space, Random House, New York 1970.

    An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space, Random House, New York 1970.

  • Formal Semantics and Logic, Macmillan, New York 1971

    Formal Semantics and Logic, Macmillan, New York 1971

  • Coined the term: "constructive empiricism"

    Coined the term: "constructive empiricism"
    Detailed in his book "The Scientific Image" (1980) Bas Von Fraassen opposes positivism and realism by arguing for a middle ground "constructive empiricism." This has given empiricists, who are in the philosophy of knowledge, a breath of fresh air from the hard-faced outlook of scientific realism and also with out diving too deep into rejected logical positivism. Two polar opposites of philosophy found a middle ground to explore as the term "constructive empiricism" is defined in this book.

  • The Lakatos Award

    The Lakatos Award
    Fraassen won this award shortly after writing and publishing "The Scientific Work" (1980) which added greatly to the subject of the philosophy of science. The Lakatos Award was created in memory of Imre Lakatos, a Hungarian philosopher of science and mathematics, to recognize outstanding contributions to the philosophy of science. This award is part of the Latsis Foundation.

  • Laws and Symmetry, Oxford University Press (1989)

    Laws and Symmetry, Oxford University Press (1989)

  • Quantum Mechanics: An Empiricist View, Oxford University Press, (1991)

    Quantum Mechanics: An Empiricist View, Oxford University Press, (1991)

  • The Empirical Stance, Yale University Press, (2002)

    The Empirical Stance, Yale University Press, (2002)

  • Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective, Oxford University Press (2008)

    Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective, Oxford University Press (2008)

  • Hempel Award

    Hempel Award
    The Philosophy of Science Association awarded this to Bas von Fraassen for a lifetime achievement in philosophy of science. He had also served as president of the Association.

  • Works Cited Continued

    -Peer Reviewed: van Fraassen, Bas C. “Modeling and Measurement: The Criterion of Empirical Grounding.” Philosophy of Science, vol. 79, no. 5, University of Chicago Press, 2012, pp. 773–84, doi:10.1086/667847.
    - Peer Reviewed: van Fraassen, Bas C. “Modeling and Measurement: The Criterion of Empirical Grounding.” Philosophy of Science, vol. 79, no. 5, University of Chicago Press, 2012, pp. 773–84, doi:10.1086/667847.

  • Works Cited Final Page

  • Works Cited

    • van Fraassen, Bas C. The Empirical Stance. Yale University Press, 2002.
      -Peer Reviewed: Kindi, Vasso. “The Challenge of Scientific Revolutions: Van Fraassen’s and Friedman’s Responses.” International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 25, no. 4, Routledge, 2011, pp. 327–49, doi:10.1080/02698595.2011.623363.
    • Fraassen, Bas C. van. Laws and Symmetry. Oxford University Press, 1989, doi:10.1093/0198248601.001.0001.