b. 1947
Michael Friedman (born 1947) is an American philosopher of science best known for his neo-Kantian account of the constitutive role of principles in physical theory. Working at Stanford University, he has developed an influential framework of 'relativized a priori' principles—claims that are neither empirical hypotheses nor eternal logical truths, but serve as necessary preconditions for a given scientific framework. His work bridges the history of logical empiricism, Kantian epistemology, and the philosophy of modern physics.
Developed the theory of 'relativized a priori' constitutive principles in scientific theories
Authored Foundations of Space-Time Theories (1983), a landmark analysis of the philosophical foundations of relativity
Reconstructed the intellectual history of logical positivism in Reconsidering Logical Positivism (1999)
Articulated a neo-Kantian dynamics of reason in Dynamics of Reason (2001)
Defended a conventionalist account of metric geometry as neither straightforwardly true nor false