Colin Howson
Encyclopedia
Professor Colin Howson is a British
philosopher who is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto
, where he joined the faculty on July 1, 2008. Previously, he was Professor of Logic
at the London School of Economics
. He completed a PhD on the philosophy of probability in 1981. In the late 1960s he had been a research assistant of Imre Lakatos
at LSE.
His research interests include philosophy of science
, logic
, and foundations of probability
. He was President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science from 2003-2005. His book, Scientific Reasoning: the Bayesian Approach (with Peter Urbach) is considered the canonical philosophical defense of Bayesian
reasoning.
Professor Howson is married to Margaret Morrison
, a Canadian
philosopher of science who is also a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto
.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
philosopher who is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, where he joined the faculty on July 1, 2008. Previously, he was Professor of Logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He completed a PhD on the philosophy of probability in 1981. In the late 1960s he had been a research assistant of Imre Lakatos
Imre Lakatos
Imre Lakatos was a Hungarian philosopher of mathematics and science, known for his thesis of the fallibility of mathematics and its 'methodology of proofs and refutations' in its pre-axiomatic stages of development, and also for introducing the concept of the 'research programme' in his...
at LSE.
His research interests include philosophy of science
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
, logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, and foundations of probability
Probability
Probability is ordinarily used to describe an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we arenot certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The...
. He was President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science from 2003-2005. His book, Scientific Reasoning: the Bayesian Approach (with Peter Urbach) is considered the canonical philosophical defense of Bayesian
Bayesian inference
In statistics, Bayesian inference is a method of statistical inference. It is often used in science and engineering to determine model parameters, make predictions about unknown variables, and to perform model selection...
reasoning.
Professor Howson is married to Margaret Morrison
Margaret Morrison
Margaret Morrison is an artist and professor of art, currently living and working in Athens, Georgia. Her paintings incorporate figurative elements as well as surreal subjects and still life images. Margaret Morrison is an assistant professor of drawing and painting at the Lamar Dodd School of...
, a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
philosopher of science who is also a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
.
Books
- Hume's Problem: Induction and the Justification of Belief, (Oxford University Press, 2000); ISBN 978-0-19-825038-8 Peter Lipton in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science describes the book as "Delivered with pace and consistent intelligence" and suggests that it "covers a great deal of ground, including Hume's sceptical argument, the new riddle of induction, naturalised epistemology, reliabilism, scientific realism, deductivism, objective chances and Hume on miracles, all from a Bayesian perspective...often provocative and repeatedly enlightening."
- Scientific Reasoning: the Bayesian Approach (with Peter Urbach), Open Court Publishing Company, 1989; 2nd ed 1993; 3rd ed 2005 ISBN 978-0812695786 - reviewed e.g. here
Articles
His articles include:- ‘Evidence and Confirmation’, and ‘Induction and the Uniformity of Nature’, A Companion to the Philosophy of Science, ed. W H Newton-SmithWilliam Newton-SmithWilliam Herbert Newton-Smith is an Anglo-Canadian philosopher of science.His undergraduate degree from Queen's University was in Mathematics and Philosophy, in 1966. He took an MA from Cornell University in Philosophy, in 1968, and a DPhil in philosophy from Balliol College, Oxford, in 1974...
, Blackwell (2000) - ‘The Logic of Personal Probability’, The Foundations of Bayesianism, eds. D. Corfield and J. Williamson, Dordrecht: Kluwer, 137-161 (2001)
- ‘Bayesianism in Statistics’, in Bayes’s Theorem, ed. Richard SwinburneRichard SwinburneRichard G. Swinburne is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years Swinburne has been a very influential proponent of philosophical arguments for the existence of God. His philosophical contributions are primarily in philosophy of religion and...
, The British AcademyBritish AcademyThe British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 39-71 (2002) - ‘Bayesian Evidence’, in Observation and Experiment in the Natural and Social Sciences, ed. M Galavotti, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Dordrecht: Kluwer, 301-321 (2003)
- ‘Probability and Logic’, Journal of Applied Logic, 1, 151-165 (2003)
- ‘Why Are We Here?’, Short Letters to The Times, Times Books, London: Harpercollins, 167 (2003)
- ‘Ramsey’s Big Idea’, Festschrift for Frank Ramsey, ed. M.J. Frapolli, Rodopi