1924 – 2011
Ernan McMullin (1924–2011) was an Irish-American philosopher of science and Catholic priest who spent most of his career at the University of Notre Dame. He made foundational contributions to the philosophy of science, particularly on scientific realism, the history of science, and the relationship between scientific cosmology and Christian theology.
Developed influential accounts of 'epistemic values' and 'fertile theory' in the philosophy of science
Authored landmark scholarship on Galileo and the historical relationship between science and religion
Advanced nuanced positions on theistic evolution and divine action compatible with scientific naturalism
Analyzed the structure of analogical and abductive reasoning in scientific inference
Chaired the philosophy department at the University of Notre Dame and shaped Catholic intellectual engagement with modern science
Divine creative intervention is not causally necessary for the nonconservative appearance of new matter in steady-state cosmology.
claimWhen focusing on a limited class of constants C, background evidence used to motivate the prior P(D) may include initial conditions of the universe, laws of physics, and values of all constants other than C