He was born in
Ann Arbor,
Michigan. In 1948, he served in the
Navy for a year. He then proceeded in 1949 to earn a bachelor's degree from
Swarthmore College. He got his master's degree as well as ph.D in Philosophy from Harvard University in 1951 and 1954 respectively. While at Harvard, he won the
Bechtel Prize in 1951 for his essay, "A Study of Phenomenalism".[7][4]
Barker was not just a Professor or a Professor Emeritus, he was also a
Sheldon Traveling Fellow in England in 1952–53. Harvard awarded him the George Santayana Fellowship for the academic year 1955–56. In addition, he became a
Guggenheim Fellow in 1964–65.[4]
Barker was married to Evelyn Barker who was also a Philosopher and died in 2003. Baker himself eventually died at Roland Park Place at 92 years of age after living an exceptionally brilliant life.
Books
Barker is the author of:
Induction and hypothesis: a study of the logic of confirmation (Cornell University Press, 1957). This study of theories of informal reasoning is structured in four parts: an investigation of the
problem of induction, a rejection of explanations based on overriding premises (such as the uniformity of nature) as a form of
begging the question, an overview of
positivist approaches to the problem, and finally a resolution to the problem based on theories of
John George Kemeny involving the selection of the most likely hypothesis to fit a set of observations.[8]
Philosophy of mathematics (Prentice-Hall, 1964). Part of a series of books (edited by Elizabeth and
Monroe Beardsley) overviewing the main areas of philosophy, this book describes the main problems in the
philosophy of mathematics and evaluates their proposed solutions. Its five chapters concern
Euclidean and
non-Euclidean geometry, and literalist and non-literalist views on the meaning of numbers.[9][10]
The elements of logic (McGraw Hill, 1965)
Thomas Reid critical interpretations (with Tom L. Beauchamp, Philosophical monographs, 1976)
In addition, he edited
John Wisdom's Proof and explanation: the Virginia lectures (University Press of America, 1991), co-edited The Legacy of logical positivism; studies in the philosophy of science with
Peter Achinstein (Johns Hopkins Press, 1969),[11]