Robert Stalnaker
Encyclopedia
Robert C. Stalnaker is Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Philosophy
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. In 2007, he delivered the John Locke Lectures
at Oxford University on the topic of Our Knowledge of the Internal World. http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/misc/johnlocke/index.shtml
His work concerns, among other things, the philosophical foundations of semantics
, pragmatics
, philosophical logic, decision theory
, game theory
, the theory of conditional
s, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind
. But all of these interests are in the service of addressing the problem of intentionality, "what it is to represent the world in both speech and thought".http://www.pyke-eye.com/view/phil_II_19.html In his work, he seeks to provide a naturalistic account of intentionality, characterizing representation in terms of causal and modal notions.
Along with Saul Kripke
, David Lewis
, and Alvin Plantinga
, Stalnaker has been one of the most influential theorists exploring philosophical aspects of possible world semantics. According to his view of possible worlds, they are ways this world could have been, which in turn are maximal properties that this world could have had. This view distinguishes him from the influential modal realist David Kellogg Lewis
, who argued that possible worlds are concrete entities just like this world, but lacking the property of being actual.
In addition to his contributions to the metaphysics of possible worlds, he has used the apparatus of possible worlds semantics to explore many issues in the semantics of natural language, including counterfactual and indicative conditionals, and presupposition. His view of assertion as narrowing the conversational common ground to exclude situations in which the asserted content is false was a major impetus in recent developments in semantics and pragmatics, in particular, the so-called "dynamic" turn.http://jarda.peregrin.cz/mybibl/PDFTxt/238.pdf
Stalnaker is the author of four books and dozens of articles in major philosophical journals. He earned his BA from Wesleyan University
and earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University
in 1965. His thesis advisor was Stuart Hampshire
, though it is said that he was more influenced by another faculty member, Carl Hempel. Stalnaker taught briefly at Yale University and the University of Illinois, and then for many years at the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University
before joining the MIT faculty in the late 1980s. His many students include Jason Stanley
and Delia Graff Fara.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. In 2007, he delivered the John Locke Lectures
John Locke lectures
The John Locke Lectures are a series of annual lectures in philosophy given at the University of Oxford. They are one of the world's most prestigious academic lecture series, comparable to the Gifford Lectures given in Scottish universities...
at Oxford University on the topic of Our Knowledge of the Internal World. http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/misc/johnlocke/index.shtml
His work concerns, among other things, the philosophical foundations of semantics
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
, pragmatics
Pragmatics
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behavior in philosophy, sociology, and linguistics. It studies how the...
, philosophical logic, decision theory
Decision theory
Decision theory in economics, psychology, philosophy, mathematics, and statistics is concerned with identifying the values, uncertainties and other issues relevant in a given decision, its rationality, and the resulting optimal decision...
, game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
, the theory of conditional
Conditional sentence
In grammar, conditional sentences are sentences discussing factual implications or hypothetical situations and their consequences. Languages use a variety of conditional constructions and verb forms to form such sentences....
s, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
. But all of these interests are in the service of addressing the problem of intentionality, "what it is to represent the world in both speech and thought".http://www.pyke-eye.com/view/phil_II_19.html In his work, he seeks to provide a naturalistic account of intentionality, characterizing representation in terms of causal and modal notions.
Along with Saul Kripke
Saul Kripke
Saul Aaron Kripke is an American philosopher and logician. He is a professor emeritus at Princeton and teaches as a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center...
, David Lewis
David Kellogg Lewis
David Kellogg Lewis was an American philosopher. Lewis taught briefly at UCLA and then at Princeton from 1970 until his death. He is also closely associated with Australia, whose philosophical community he visited almost annually for more than thirty years...
, and Alvin Plantinga
Alvin Plantinga
Alvin Carl Plantinga is an American analytic philosopher and the emeritus John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He is known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics, and Christian apologetics...
, Stalnaker has been one of the most influential theorists exploring philosophical aspects of possible world semantics. According to his view of possible worlds, they are ways this world could have been, which in turn are maximal properties that this world could have had. This view distinguishes him from the influential modal realist David Kellogg Lewis
David Kellogg Lewis
David Kellogg Lewis was an American philosopher. Lewis taught briefly at UCLA and then at Princeton from 1970 until his death. He is also closely associated with Australia, whose philosophical community he visited almost annually for more than thirty years...
, who argued that possible worlds are concrete entities just like this world, but lacking the property of being actual.
In addition to his contributions to the metaphysics of possible worlds, he has used the apparatus of possible worlds semantics to explore many issues in the semantics of natural language, including counterfactual and indicative conditionals, and presupposition. His view of assertion as narrowing the conversational common ground to exclude situations in which the asserted content is false was a major impetus in recent developments in semantics and pragmatics, in particular, the so-called "dynamic" turn.http://jarda.peregrin.cz/mybibl/PDFTxt/238.pdf
Stalnaker is the author of four books and dozens of articles in major philosophical journals. He earned his BA from Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
and earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1965. His thesis advisor was Stuart Hampshire
Stuart Hampshire
Sir Stuart Newton Hampshire was an Oxford University philosopher, literary critic and university administrator. He was one of the antirationalist Oxford thinkers who gave a new direction to moral and political thought in the post-World War II era.Hampshire was educated at Repton School and at...
, though it is said that he was more influenced by another faculty member, Carl Hempel. Stalnaker taught briefly at Yale University and the University of Illinois, and then for many years at the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
before joining the MIT faculty in the late 1980s. His many students include Jason Stanley
Jason Stanley
Jason Stanley is an American philosopher currently teaching at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. His primary interests include linguistics, cognitive science, philosophy of language, and epistemology...
and Delia Graff Fara.
Selected bibliography
- Inquiry (MIT Press, 1987). ISBN 0-262-69113-2
- Context and Content: Essays on Intentionality in Speech and Thought (Oxford University Press, 1999). ISBN 0-19-823707-3.http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Philosophy/Epistemology/?ci=0198237073&view=usa
- Our Knowledge of the Internal World (Oxford University Press, 2008). ISBN 0-19-954599-5