Ian Hacking: Feb. 18, 1936 - May 10, 2023

By JayJay2888

  • Birth of Ian Hacking

    Ian Hacking, born in Vancouver, British Columbia on February 18, 1936 was a Canadian philosopher. He was considered, according to Fjelland & Strand (n.d.), "one of the world's leading scholars in the fields of philosophy and history of science."

  • Ian Hacking: Key Event

    Ian Hacking was an accomplished thinker who won numerous awards. The Le Nouvel Observateur of France named him "one of the 25 greatest thinkers in the world." But arguably, the key event his life is when he "won an entrance scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge" (University of Toronto, 2023). This important because he was denied a scholarship to UBC and was about to go work for Shell looking for oil. Philosophy may not have been what it is today had he not been given that scholarship.

  • Ian Hacking: Major Works

    Hacking, Ian. The Emergence of Probability. Cambridge University Press, 1975. Hacking, Ian. Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Science. Cambridge University Press, 1983. Hacking, Ian. The Taming of Chance. Cambridge University Press, 1990. Hacking, Ian. Rewriting the Soul: Multiple Personality and the Sciences of Memory. Princeton University Press, 1998.

  • Ian Hacking: Major Works Continued

    Hacking, Ian. Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses. Harvard University Press, 2002. Hacking, Ian. Historical Ontology. Harvard University Press, 2004. Hacking, Ian. Why Is There a Philosophy of Mathematics at All? Cambridge University Press, 2014.

  • Ian Hacking: The Passing of a Great Mind

    Ian Hacking was described by Fjelland and Strand on the Holberg Prize site as a "true bridge-builder." Most notably, Hacking bridged the gap bringing "analytical and historical perspectives" together in understanding science. Furthermore, he helped us in understanding the "relationships between theory and practice" and "between what is and how it emerged" (Fjelland & Roger, n.d.). I'll leave you with a video of Ian Hacking's Holberg Lecture (2009). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOkuVqe3WBs