Keith Donnellan
Keith Donnellan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Keith Sedgwick Donnellan June 25, 1931 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | February 20, 2015 (aged 83) Fairfax, California, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Max Black | |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| Analytic philosophy | |
| Institutions | UCLA |
Doctoral students | John Perry |
Main interests | Philosophy of language |
Notable works | "Reference and Definite Descriptions", "Proper Names and Identifying Descriptions", "Speaking of Nothing" |
Notable ideas | Causal-historical theory of reference The distinction between "referential" and "attributive use" |
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alma_mater which should be merged into education.Keith Sedgwick Donnellan (/ˈdɒnələn/; June 25, 1931 – February 20, 2015) was an American philosopher and professor of philosophy (later professor emeritus) at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Donnellan contributed to the philosophy of language, notably to the analysis of proper names and definite descriptions. He criticized Bertrand Russell's theory of definite descriptions for overlooking the distinction between referential and attributive use of definite descriptions.
Donnellan spent most of his career at UCLA, having also previously taught at the university where he had earned his PhD, Cornell University.