John Perry (philosopher) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John R. Perry
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| Born | January 16, 1943 Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
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| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Analytic philosophy |
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| Doctoral students | John Etchemendy |
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Main interests
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Notable ideas
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Situation semantics Slingshot argument |
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Influences
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Influenced
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John Richard Perry (born January 16, 1943) is a well-known professor of philosophy. He taught at Stanford University and the University of California, Riverside. Perry has made important contributions to how we understand language, reality, and our own minds. He is famous for his ideas on situation semantics, how we refer to ourselves (like saying "I"), and what makes us who we are.
About John Perry
John Perry was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on January 16, 1943. He studied philosophy at Doane College, earning his first degree in 1964. Later, he received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Cornell University in 1968. His main project for his Ph.D. was about Identity.
He taught philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles. After that, he joined Stanford University. He became a respected professor there. Later, he also taught at the University of California, Riverside.
In 1999, he won the Jean Nicod Prize. This is a very important award in philosophy. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He belongs to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters too.
John Perry also helped create a radio show called Philosophy Talk. He started it in 2004 with Ken Taylor. The show shared philosophical ideas with many people. He also works with the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI). This center studies language and how we get information.
His Philosophical Ideas
Perry has explored many areas of philosophy. These include logic, the philosophy of language, metaphysics (the study of reality), and the philosophy of mind.
One of his books, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality (1978), talks about what makes a person "them." It's written like a conversation between friends. They discuss ideas from other famous thinkers. The book explores if our identity stays the same over time.
With Jon Barwise, Perry also discussed the slingshot argument in logic. This argument tries to show that all true sentences refer to the same thing.
In his 2001 book, Knowledge, Possibility and Consciousness, Perry talks about "antecedent physicalism." This idea suggests that everything is physical. He argues against ideas that say the mind is separate from the body. He uses logic to explain why physicalism makes sense.
Perry also writes for a wider audience. He wrote a funny essay in 1996 called "Structured Procrastination." In this essay, he jokes about how to get things done. He says that if you want to be a high achiever, you should always work on something important. You can use it to avoid doing something even more important. He won an Ig Nobel Prize in Literature for this essay in 2011.
The Problem of the Essential Indexical
In 1979, Perry wrote an important paper. It was called "The Problem of the Essential Indexical." This paper combined his ideas about language and the mind.
"Essential indexicals" are words like "I," "here," and "now." They are special because you cannot easily change them into other words. They help us understand our own beliefs. They are also important for causing us to act.
Perry shared a famous example to explain this:
"I once followed a trail of sugar on a supermarket floor, pushing my cart down the aisle on one side of a tall counter and back the aisle on the other, seeking the shopper with the torn sack to tell him he was making a mess. With each trip around the counter, the trail became thicker. But I seemed unable to catch up. Finally it dawned on me. I was the shopper I was trying to catch."
In this story, the word "I" is an essential indexical. When Perry realized "I" was making the mess, he changed his actions. If he had said, "Perry realized that Perry was making a mess," it wouldn't have had the same effect. He would still need to figure out that "Perry" meant himself. The word "I" directly connects the belief to the person. This connection makes us act.
See also
- List of Jean Nicod Prize laureates
- Slingshot argument
