Adolffest to Celebrate Decades of Achievement

March 24, 2003 Issue

By Cynthia D. Gordy

In celebration of the 80th birthday of Adolf Grünbaum, founder and chair of Pitt’s Center for Philosophy of Science, the center is presenting an afternoon of lectures on Grünbaum’s work called, aptly, Adolffest.

The event will begin at 12:30 p.m. April 12 in 2P56 Posvar Hall with opening remarks by Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg.

Grünbaum, the Andrew Mellon Professor of Philosophy of Science who came to the University in 1960, will be recognized for his innovative contributions in a speech titled “Adolf and the Center’s Early Years” by Pitt Emeritus Professor of Physics Alan Janis.

Following these recollections, the afternoon will highlight three areas of philosophy that have been the focus of Grünbaum’s work. Professor John Worrall of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Sciences, London School of Economics, will ask “Adhocness and Content-Increase: Is There Life After Grünbaum?” He will be followed by a former student of Grünbaum’s, Professor Phil Quinn of the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Philosophy, who will speak on “Cosmological Contingency and Theistic Explanation.” The afternoon will conclude with a lecture jointly prepared by Professor Morris Eagle of Adelphia University and Professor Jerome Wakefield of Columbia University titled “The ‘New View’ in Psychoanalysis: A Critique.”

Following the lectures, there will be a reception in honor of Grünbaum, including a toast by Pitt Provost James V. Maher. Information about Adolffest can be found at www.pitt.edu/~pittcntr/Events/Adolffest/Adolffest_Web_Program.htm.