Herbert Simon (1916-2001)
Herb Simon was instrumental in founding the CMU Philosophy Department, and was a member of the department from its inception in 1985 until his death in 2001. Simon published nearly a thousand papers in subjects including psychology, economics, philosophy, and computer science. He is considered one of the founders of artificial intelligence, organization theory, and the empirical study of human decision-making. He won the 1975 ACM Turing Award, the 1978 Nobel Prize in Economics, and the National Medal of Science in 1986. His interests in artificial intelligence, causal inference, decision-making, and philosophy of science are reflected in some of the major research areas in the Philosophy department. His wide-ranging interests that recognized no disciplinary boundaries, his application of mathematical formalisms and empirical studies to new areas, and his belief that philosophy could both inform and learn from other disciplines has served as a model and an inspiration for the kind of research that the CMU Philosophy department engages in.
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Department of Philosophy