Ernest Nagel, 1901-1985

By ShelquanTarant1

  • Who is Ernest Nagel?

    Who is Ernest Nagel?
    Ernest Nagel was a leading American philosopher of science, who developed a logical empirical theory of science within the framework of pragmatic naturalism. He was born in Nove Mesto, Bohemia (Chechoslowvakia, a sovereign state in central Europe). Nagel came to the US when he was 10 years old and became a naturalized citizen in 1919.
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    Education

    In 1923, he received a Bachelor of Science from the College of New York City
    In 1925, he obtained a masters degree in Philosophy from Columbia of University
    Finally in 1931, he received his ph.D in Philosophy from Columbia.
    After earning his PHD in philosophy at Columbia this kickstarted Ernest Nagel interest in various European philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Rudolf Carnap, where he eventually adopted many of there theories.

  • Trailblazer in the Scientific Logic

    Trailblazer in the Scientific Logic
    At City College, Nagel studied under Morris Cohen (a teacher), who emphasized the role of reason in science. Nagel's association with Cohen led to the publication of An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method(Suppes,1994).This became one of the first and most successful textbooks of scientific method. They explored the study of empirical science through experimentation, emphasizing the role of hypotheses in conducting research.
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    Awards Received

    Throughout Ernest long and illustrious life he received many honors and 2 notable awards those being from
    Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities in 1934
    Ernest Nagel Butler Gold Medal in 1980
    Honors included
    He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1954
    in 1962 he was also elected to the American Philosophical Society.
    Finally, in 1977 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

  • Contribution to Philosophy of Science: Gödel's Proof

    Contribution to Philosophy of Science: Gödel's Proof
    In 1931 Kurt Gödel published his fundamental paper, On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems. This revolutionary paper challenged certain basic assumptions underlying much research in mathematics and logic. This is when the great Ernest Nagel and James Newman offer up a more short and revised version of what Kurt had written. This was a milestone for mathematical logic and helped non-specialists retain the main ideas and implications of Gödel's discovery.

  • WORK CITED

    1.Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ernest Nagel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Nov. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Nagel. Accessed 5 June 2022.
    2.Columbia Spectator, Volume CV, number 22, 2 October 1980. Columbia Spectator 2 October 1980 - Columbia Spectator. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19801002-01.2.3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------

  • WORK CITED PT 2

    1. 3.Suppes, P. (1994). Nagel Ernest - National Academy of Sciences. nagel-ernest.pdf. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from http://nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf