Catherine Z. Elgin (born 1948) is a philosopher working in epistemology and the philosophies of art and science. She is currently a professor of philosophy of education at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Education and career

She holds a Ph.D. from Brandeis University where she studied with Nelson Goodman. She has held tenure-track and visiting positions at many universities, including Michigan State University, Vassar College, Princeton University, and MIT. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Philosophical work

Elgin's work has considered such questions as "what makes something cognitively valuable?" As an epistemologist, she considers the pursuit of understanding to be of higher value than the pursuit of knowledge. In Considered Judgment, Elgin argues for "a reconception that takes reflective equilibrium as the standard of rational acceptability."

Works