May Brodbeck

May Brodbeck (July 26, 1917 – August 1, 1983) was an American philosopher of science.

Biography

Brodbeck was born in New Jersey. She studied chemistry at New York University, attending evening courses while working, and earned a bachelor's degree in 1941. Thereafter, she worked as a high-school chemistry teacher, before being recruited into the Manhattan Project. Following the war, she studied philosophy at the University of Iowa, completing a Ph.D. supervised by Gustav Bergmann in 1947. She spent the first portion of her academic career at the University of Minnesota, eventually rising to chair of the philosophy department (1967–1970) and dean of the graduate school (1972–1974). She then returned to the University of Iowa as Carver Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculties. In her administrative position, among other initiatives she focused in particular on the status of women in the university, and oversaw the creation of one of the first women's studies programs. She stepped down from administration in 1981, retired in 1983, and died later that year in California.^[1]

Work

Brodbeck's career focused on a number of issues in the philosophy of science, in particular aiming to include the social sciences within its remit. She edited two widely read anthologies on the subject: Readings in the Philosophy of Science (1953, co-edited with Herbert Feigl), and Readings in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences (1968). Later in her career, she also wrote on the philosophy of mind, defending a form of psychophysical parallelism.^[1]

References