born April 12, 1883, Stoneham, Mass., U.S.
died Feb. 3, 1964, Cambridge, Mass.
U.S. philosopher.
He taught primarily at Harvard University (192053). His best-known works are Mind and the World Order (1929), Symbolic Logic (1932), An Analysis of Knowledge and Valuation (1947), and The Ground and Nature of the Right (1955). He maintained that knowledge is possible only where there is also a possibility of error. His position in epistemology represents a synthesis of empiricism and pragmatism .