Deirdre Wilson

Deirdre Wilson
Wilson's books: Relevance: Communication and Cognition and Meaning and Relevance
Born1941
England, UK
Known forDeveloper of relevance theory
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Doctoral advisorNoam Chomsky
InfluencesH. P. Grice
Noam Chomsky
Jerry Fodor
Academic work
DisciplineLinguistics
Sub-disciplinePragmatics
Relevance theory
Philosophy of language
Notable studentsStephen Neale
Robyn Carston
Tim Wharton

Deirdre Susan Moir Wilson, FBA (born 1941)[1] is a British linguist and cognitive scientist. She is emeritus professor of Linguistics at University College London and research professor at the Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature at the University of Oslo. Her most influential work has been in linguistic pragmatics—specifically in the development of Relevance Theory with French anthropologist Dan Sperber.[2] This work has been especially influential in the Philosophy of Language. Important influences on Wilson are Noam Chomsky, Jerry Fodor, and Paul Grice. Linguists and philosophers of language who have been students of Wilson include Stephen Neale (CUNY Graduate Center), Robyn Carston (University College London) and Tim Wharton (University of Brighton).

  1. ^ "Wilson, Prof. Deirdre Susan Moir", Who's Who (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2017). Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Deirdre Wilson". uio.no.