Professor Laudan was one of the great philosophers of science of the last fifty years, many of whose papers and books will be read, I expect, a century from now. I had the pleasure of being his colleague at the University of Texas at Austin, as he reinvented himself as a philosopher of law, especially the law governing proof in the criminal context, which led to his splendid book Truth, Error, and Criminal Law (Cambridge, 2006). He taught at many institutions during his long career, and co-founded with Adolf Grunbaum, the history and philosophy of science department at the University of Pittsburgh. There is a splendid and informative memorial notice here. You can get a sense of the breadth of his work, and its impact, from his Google Scholar page here.
I'll share one anecdote, and open comments for remembrances by others. I first met Larry in the late 1990s, when he would come up to Austin to do research in the university libraries. He was just getting interested in the epistemology of law, as it were, and went to see the Dean of the Law School to find out who he should talk to on the faculty. The Dean sent him to me. I remember the day well. He knocked on the door, came in and introduced himself: "I'm Larry Laudan, I am a philosopher of science." I had a couple of Laudan books on my shelf, and I remember saying, somewhat star struck, "I know who you are!" I greatly enjoyed talking with Larry during his time in Austin, and also arranged for him to teach a seminar on legal epistemology, which he did on a regular basis for a number of years, including after my departure from Austin. I also had a lovely time visiting Larry and his wife Rachel, also an historian and philosopher of science (geology in particular), in Mexico City, when he arranged for me to give some talks at UNAM. He was a great scholar and philosopher, and a convivial and warm human being. I will miss him greatly.
(Thanks to Ruchira Paul for the pointer to the memorial notice.)
