
1905 – 1997
Carl Gustav Hempel (1905–1997) was a German-American philosopher of science and leading figure of logical empiricism. He is best known for developing the covering-law model of scientific explanation and for rigorous analyses of confirmation, cognitive significance, and the structure of empirical inquiry.
Developed the deductive-nomological (covering-law) model of scientific explanation
Formulated the raven paradox, a foundational problem in confirmation theory
Critiqued the verifiability criterion of meaning, refining the empiricist account of cognitive significance
Authored Aspects of Scientific Explanation (1965), a landmark text in philosophy of science
Bridged the Vienna Circle tradition with Anglophone analytic philosophy of science