Prominent philosopher to lecture at FIU Jan. 21

Professor Susan Haack to explore the meaning of truth in legal and scientific realms.

 By Grant Smith

Considered by some to be one of the greatest women philosophers of all time, Professor Susan Haack will give a lecture on Wed., January 21, exploring how truth is relevant to legal proceedings. “Of Truth, in Science and in Law” will address how to develop an account of truth in the sciences that combines a full acknowledgment of the fallibility and incompleteness of the scientific enterprise with a robustly objective conception of truth.  Professor Haack will also address why the legal system often gets less than the best out of science and show how false scientific claims sometimes get accepted as legally reliable.

The lecture will begin at 3 p.m. in University Park’s RDB 1000. The event is free and open to everyone.

Haack is frequently recognized among the most prominent contemporary philosophers. In 2005, she was included in a list in the Sunday Independent (London) of the 10 most important women philosophers of all time. In 2004, she was included in Peter J. King’s, 100 Philosophers: The Life and Work of the World’s Greatest Thinkers. She is one of only a handful of living philosophers so honored.

“Professor Haack, who is rightfully included among the most prominent contemporary philosophers in the world, will explore the profound and fundamental question of how we think about truth in both science and law,” said College of Law professor Joelle Moreno. “This topic should resonate across all disciplinary boundaries because each in its own way strives for understanding.”

Haack was educated at Oxford and Cambridge. She was a fellow of New Hall, Cambridge, and then lecturer, reader, and professor of philosophy at the University of Warwick, U.K.