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Larry Lauden Birth
Larry Lauden was born on October 16, 1941 in Austin, Texas. He went to the University of Kansas for his bachelor's degree in physics in 1962, and later received his PhD in Philosophy from Princeton University in 1965. -
Lauden's Theory of Pessimistic Induction
Larry Lauden was skeptical to agree with scientists he had met in his time of how the theories modern society created were inherently true because of their current acceptance. Lauden proposed the concept of pessimistic induction with the logic of, "if past scientific theories which were successful were found to be false, we have no reason to believe the realist's claim that our currently successful theories are approximately true". -
Lauden's Theory of Pessimistic Induction ~ Part 2
His examples of past scientific beliefs to show his ideas were such as the geocentric model of the solar system, the phlogiston theory of chemistry and the electromagnetic ether. His testament to scientific philosophy is to not assume that our beliefs in science are correct, and to assume that they are wrong, or at least partially incorrect. -
Citations
Here are the resources for the information on Lauden's contributions to science. -“Larry Laudan.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Aug. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Laudan.
-Laudan, Larry. "A Confutation of Convergent Realism", Philosophy of Science, Vol. 48, No. 1, (Mar. 1981): 19–49. [1] -
Video on Pessimistic Induction
Here is a video providing more information on the concept of Pessimistic Induction. https://youtu.be/s3IH290ihZ0