Abner Shimony is an American philosopher of science and physicist. He has done original work in both disciplines. He was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1928. Following graduation from high school Shimony attended Yale University, earning a B.A. in both mathematics and philosophy. He next went to the University of Chicago where he obtained an M.A. in philosophy. He then returned to Yale University where he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1953. He received a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton in 1962. The majority of his academic career was spent as a member of the faculty of Boston University where he had a dual appointment as a professor in both the Physics and the Philosophy departments.

Shimony has worked on projects in Quantum Mechanics and Relativity theory. He has contributed to an improved understanding of Bell’s Theorem by developing an empirically testable form of the Bell Inequality and wrote the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy On-line’s article on this topic. He has also worked extensively in the area of the foundation of quantum mechanics and has published articles examining problems that quantum mechanics raises for epistemological questions about the nature of physical particles and processes.

Shimony has won the Lakatos Award for his work in Philosophy of Science.