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Birth
Ian Hacking was born in Vancouver, Canada -
Education
Hacking earned his Undergraduate Degree from the University of British Columbia (1956, BA in Mathematics and Physics) and earning a BA, MA, and PhD in Moral Sciences at Cambridge University (1962) -
Teaching Career
Research Fellow- Cambridge University 1962-1964
Assistant Professor/ Associate Professor- University of British Columbia 1964-1969
Associate Professor- Makerere University 1967-1969
Lecturer in Philosophy-Cambridge University 1969-1974
Chair of Stanford University's Philosophy Department 1980-1982 https://www.balzan.org/en/prizewinners/ian-hacking/bio-bibliography-hacking -
Major Contributions
He is known for applying a historical approach to the philosophy of science, considering himself a “Cambridge analytic philosopher”. He has been a major proponent of entity realism. This thought encourages a realistic stance towards answering hypotheses to scientific unknowns, while skeptical of scientific theories. He is influential in bringing attention to experimental and engineering practices of science. He is considered to have brought philosophical thinking one step further than Kuhn. -
Published Books
The Logic of Statistical Interference-1965
The Emergence of Probability-1975
Why Does Language Matter to Philosophy-1975
The Taming of Chance-1990
Scientific Revolutions-1990 -
Published Books continued
Rewriting the Soul: Multiple Personality and the Science of Memory-1995
Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of the Transient Mental Illness-1998
The Social Construction of What?-1999
An Introduction to Probability and Inductive Logic-2001
Historical Ontology-2002
Why Is There Philosophy of Mathematics at All?-2014 -
Awards
The First Killam Prize for the Humanities-2002
Companion of the Order of Canada-2004
Holberg International Memorial Prize-2009
Austrian Decoration for Science and Art-2012
Balzan Prize-2014
