Lawrence Sklar *64

Larry died in Ann Arbor, Mich., Dec. 9, 2024, at age 86.

Born June 25, 1938, in Baltimore, he did his undergraduate work at Oberlin, graduating in 1958, and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy at Princeton in 1964, working under Hilary Putnam.

After teaching at Swarthmore for one year, Larry joined the University of Michigan philosophy department in 1968 and retired in 2016 as Carl G. Hempel and William K. Frankena Distinguished University Professor. He held visiting positions at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, UCLA, and Wayne State University.

Larry aimed to make progress in philosophy by clarifying the questions at hand, investigating the dialectical resources available to partisans of various positions, and highlighting the extent to which apparently compelling appeals to empirical and mathematical considerations usually also rely crucially on underlying philosophical commitments.

His six books include Space, Time, and Spacetime (Matchette Prize), Physics and Chance (Lakatos Award), and Theory and Truth (based on his Locke Lectures).

A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Larry served as president of the American Philosophical Association and president of the Philosophy of Science Association.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; and daughter Jessica.

Graduate alumni memorials are prepared by the APGA.