Wesley C. Salmon Memorial Lecture - Peter Godfrey-Smith (Univ of Sydney)

November 9, 2022 - 3:00pm


"What Becomes of Induction?”
The problem of induction, as it figures in the epistemology of science, was an important theme in Wesley Salmon’s work. Where do things stand with induction now, in the light of Bayesianism and other developments in recent philosophy? I will look at several themes here, including Goodman’s “new riddle,” total evidence requirements, and others, trying to put together an overall picture.


Wesley C. Salmon joined the Department of Philosophy as Professor and Chair in 1981. He held the rank of University Professor from 1983 until his retirement in 1999. He exerted a profound influence over philosophy of science as it was practiced in Pittsburgh and internationally. His investigations into scientific explanation, causality, probability and induction and the philosophy of space and time provide a model of insight and clarity, in both thought and word. He set an example personally through his unfailing integrity and kindness. He died in 2001. His memory survives through the scholars who study his work and the many who remember him personally, with respect and admiration. The Wesley C. Salmon Memorial Lecture Fund has been established to support an annual lecture by a prominent scholar in philosophy of science in honor of Wesley Salmon.

Location and Address

Connolly Ballroom
Alumni Hall