Michael Dummett

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Michael Dummett

Dummett in 2004
Born
Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett

(1925-06-27)27 June 1925
London, England
Died27 December 2011(2011-12-27) (aged 86)
Oxford, England
EducationChrist Church, Oxford
(1947–50;[1] B.A., 1950)
Spouse
Ann Dummett (m. 1951)
AwardsRolf Schock Prize (1995)
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic
Institutions
Doctoral studentsEva Picardi
Timothy Williamson
Main interests
Notable ideas

Sir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett[a] FBA (1925–2011) was an English academic. He was "among the most significant British philosophers of the last century and a leading campaigner for racial tolerance and equality".[5]

Dummett was, until 1992, Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford. He wrote on the history of analytic philosophy, and made original contributions in the philosophies of mathematics, logic, language and metaphysics.

He was known for his work on truth and meaning. In mathematical logic, he developed an intermediate logic, already studied by Kurt Gödel: the Gödel–Dummett logic.

Education[change | change source]

Dummett graduated in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University.

Career[change | change source]

Dummett was a Professor of Logic at Oxford. He taught philosophy at several other universities, such as Birmingham University, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Princeton University, and Harvard University.

Works[change | change source]

Here are some of his works in philosophy:

    • Thought and Reality (Oxford, 2006)
    • The Nature and Future of Philosophy (Columbia, 2010)
    • Voting Procedures (Oxford, 1984)
    • Principles of Electoral Reform (New York, 1997)

Awards[change | change source]

He won the Rolf Schock prize in 1995.[6] He also won the Lauener Prize in Analytical Philosophy in 2010.[7]

Notes[change | change source]

  1. Pronounced /ˈdʌmɪt/.

References[change | change source]

  1. Stuart Brown (ed.), Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Philosophers, Vol. 1, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005, p. 237.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Dummett, Michael – Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Michael Dummett, The Interpretation of Frege's Philosophy, Duckworth, 1981, p. xv.
  4. Michael Dummett, Origins of Analytical Philosophy, Bloombury, 2014, p. xiii; Anat Biletzki, Anat Matarp (eds.), The Story of Analytic Philosophy: Plot and Heroes, Routledge, 2002, p. 57: "It was Gilbert Ryle who, [Dummett] says, opened his eyes to this fact in his lectures on Bolzano, Brentano, Meinong, and Husserl."
  5. "Obituary for Professor Sir Michael Dummett". Telegraph. London. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  6. philosophy.su.se.
  7. Lauener Prize for an Outstanding Oeuvre in Analytical Philosophy

Other websites[change | change source]