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Early Years
Stephan Toulmin was born March 25, 1922 in London England. He shared a middle name with his father Geoffrey Edelson Toulmin and his mother's name was Doris Holman Toulmin. He attended King's College Cambridge where he pursued an under graduate degree and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1943. Upon graduation he served as a junior scientific officer for the Ministry of Aircraft Production in Malvern and later he served in a similar position under the Allied Expeditionary Force in Germany. -
Graduate School
Upon the end of World War 2, Stephen Toulmin returned to King's College Cambridge. He pursued a graduate degree and earned a Master of Arts. He continued at Cambridge earning a PhD in philosophy in 1947. While at Cambridge, he met Ludwig Wittgenstein who may have been a big influence on Toulmin's ideas and later work. -
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Lecturer University of Science
Stephen Toulmin held the position of university lecturer at Oxford University. While serving in this position, he the book 'The Philosophy of Science: an introduction in 1953' potentially paving the way for a future positions in other education institutions. -
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Professor of History and Philosophy of Science
Stephen Toulmin held the position of visiting Professor of History and Philosophy of science at the University of Melbourne. Upon completion a year as visiting professor, he returned to England -
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Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy
While serving as the Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Leeds, Stephen Toulmin wrote what many consider his most influential work titled 'The Uses of Arguments.' Link text -
Uses of Argument
Toulmin, Stephen E. (1958). The Uses of Argument. Cambridge University Press. -
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The Busy Years
Stephen Toulmin held various positions in education institutions in the United States and England as he seemed to be well excepted and revered for his apparent scholarly rational of matters. Many felt his ideas might apply to their paradigms. -
Foresight and Understanding: An Enquiry Into the Aims of Science
Toulmin, Stephen (1961). Foresight and Understanding: An Enquiry Into the Aims of Science. Greenwood Press. -
Human Understanding
Stephen Toulmin's book titled 'Human Understanding' suggests Thomas Kuhn's book titled Structures of Scientific Revolution may have overlooked aspects of argumentation which might be considered field dependent. While Kuhn's relativists view might suggest one idea may not be better than another and they may simply be from different conceptual context while Toulmin might suggest a winning term or concept grows from its ability to explain a phenomenon. -
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National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research
Stephan Toulmin's involvement with the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research lead to the Belmont Report. The ultimate goal of the project was establishing ethical rules that might be used in the future to avoid situations like the Tuskegee Experiment. Link text -
Return to Reason
Toulmin, Stephen Edelston (2001). Return to Reason. Harvard University Press. -
Death
Stephen Toulmin passed from a heart attack at age 87. Link text