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Ian Hacking
Professor emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto; Professeur au Collège de France.
Ian Hacking's doctoral thesis already indicated his love of contrast.
To use his own words, he has since then, "dabbled in more fields of thought than you could shake a stick at". A specialist in epistemology, in the philosophy of sciences and in the philosophy of languages, he is an acclaimed writer on subjects ranging from experimental physics to multiple personality. In addition to his many publications in peer-reviewed journals his social commentaries and book reviews such are regularly published in the popular press. His book, The Taming of Chance (1990) is a non-fiction, best-seller. He is particularly interested in the different styles of scientific reasoning and in the hierarchical relationships in the arrangement of thought processes. If pressed to give a definition of his own discipline (a word he doesn't underestimate), he chooses the term "analytic philosophy". He claims not to be an interdisciplinarian and never to collaborate with them. The highest academic honours of numerous countries have been bestowed on him. He became the first ever English-speaking member of the Collège de France, where he holds a chair in the philosophy and history of scientific concepts. In 2005, "La Nouvelle Observateur", voted him philosopher of the year. His own role model? Curiosity! |
