Catherine Z. Elgin

Catherine Z. Elgin

Professor of Education, Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Catherine Z. Elgin

Professor Elgin, who holds a PhD from Brandeis University, is a philosopher whose areas of study include the theory of knowledge, philosophy of art, and philosophy of science. Her recent work considers the question of what makes something cognitively valuable. She has argued that the pursuit of understanding, rather than the pursuit of knowledge, should be the focus of epistemology's concerns; and she explores how similar problems arise in diverse branches of philosophy such as aesthetics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science. Professor Elgin's writings include Considered Judgment; Between the Absolute and the Arbitrary; Reconceptions (with Nelson Goodman); and With Reference to Reference. She is the editor of The Philosophy of Nelson Goodman, and co-editor (with Jonathan Adler) of Philosophical Inquiry.

Professor Elgin was a Senior Scholar in Ethics in 2000-2001, and became a Faculty Associate of the Ethics Center at the end of that year.

Current Role

Senior Scholar