Nicholas Rescher (/ˈrɛʃər/; German: [ˈʁɛʃɐ]; 15 July 1928 – 5 January 2024) was a German-born American philosopher, polymath, and author, who was a professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh from 1961.

[9] In 1949 he obtained a degree in mathematics at Queens College, New York,[10][11] thereafter attending Princeton University and graduating with a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1951 at the age of 22, the youngest person to earn a Ph.D. in that department.

[3][4] From 1952 to 1954 during the Korean War he served a term in the United States Marine Corps, and then from 1954 to 1957 he worked for the Rand Corporation's mathematics division.

The elaboration of this project represents a many-sided approach to fundamental philosophical issues that weaves together threads of thought from the philosophy of science, and from continental idealism and American pragmatism.In the mid and late 1960s, his studies were focused on medieval Arabic logic, but he soon broadened his areas of inquiry in metaphysics and epistemology, moving toward the methodological pragmatism he would define.

[20] Rescher had contributed to futuristics, and with Olaf Helmer[21] and Norman Dalkey [sk], invented the Delphi method of forecasting.

Rescher was also responsible for two further items of historical rediscovery and reconstruction: the model of cosmic evolution in Anaximander,[22] and the medieval Islamic theory of modal syllogistic.

Having held visiting lectureships at Oxford, Konstanz, Salamanca, Munich, and Marburg, he has been awarded fellowships by the Ford, Guggenheim, and National Science Foundations.

[3] In April 2021, University of Tehran held a session in his honor where Nadia Maftouni[24] asserted: Rescher's A Journey through Philosophy in 101 Anecdotes is a successful framework to reach a broader audience in the field.

Later awardees have included Alvin Plantinga, Jürgen Mittelstraß, Hilary Putnam, Ruth Millikan, and Thomas Nagel.