Rebecca Goldstein

Rebecca Goldstein
Born	Rebecca Newberger (1950-02-23) February 23, 1950 (age 74) White Plains, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Barnard College (BA) Princeton University (PhD)
Spouses	Sheldon Goldstein ​ ​ (m. 1969; div. 1999)​ Steven Pinker ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	Yael Goldstein Love (novelist) Danielle Blau (poet)[2][3][4]
Institutions	Columbia University Rutgers University Trinity College Harvard University New York University[1]

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (born February 23, 1950) is an American philosopher, novelist, and public intellectual. She has written ten books, both fiction and non-fiction. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of science from Princeton University, and is sometimes grouped with novelists such as Richard Powers and Alan Lightman, who create fiction that is knowledgeable of, and sympathetic toward, science.^[5][6]

In her three non-fiction works, she has shown an affinity for philosophical rationalism, as well as a conviction that philosophy, like science, makes progress,^[7] and that scientific progress is itself supported by philosophical arguments.^[8]

Increasingly, in her talks and interviews, she has been exploring what she has called "mattering theory" as an alternative to traditional utilitarianism.^[9][10] This theory is a continuation of her idea of "the mattering map", first suggested in her novel The Mind–Body Problem. The concept of the mattering map has been widely adopted in contexts as diverse as cultural criticism,^[11][12] psychology,^[13] and behavioral economics.^[14]

Goldstein is a MacArthur Fellow, and has received the National Humanities Medal^[15] and the National Jewish Book Award.