Richard Boyd

Richard Boyd
Richard Boyd
Born
Richard Newell Boyd

(1942-05-19)May 19, 1942
DiedFebruary 20, 2021(2021-02-20) (aged 78)
EducationMIT
SpouseBarbara Koslowski
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic
Scientific realism
Moral realism
philosophical naturalism[1]
ThesisA Recursion-Theoretic Characterization of the Ramified Analytical Hierarchy (1970)
Doctoral advisorRichard Cartwright[2]
Doctoral studentsPaul Horwich, J. D. Trout
Main interests
Philosophy of science
Notable ideas
Causal theory of reference-fixing for theoretical terms,[3] definition of biological natural kinds[4][1]
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Richard Newell Boyd (May 19, 1942 – February 20, 2021)[5][6] was an American philosopher, who spent most of his career teaching philosophy at Cornell University where he was Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy and Humane Letters. He specialized in epistemology, the philosophy of science, language, and mind.[7]

  1. ^ a b Boyd, Richard (2010). "Realism, natural kinds, and philosophical methods". In Beebee, Helen; Sabbarton-Leary, Nigel (eds.). The Semantics and Metaphysics of Natural Kinds. New York: Routledge. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978-1-136-97576-9.
  2. ^ "MIT philosophy dissertations"
  3. ^ Thomas S. Kuhn, The Road Since Structure, University of Chicago Press, 2000, p. 196.
  4. ^ a b Storm, Jason Ananda Josephson (2021). Metamodernism: The Future of Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 108–110. ISBN 978-0-226-78665-0.
  5. ^ Glaser, Linda B. (February 24, 2021). "Pioneering philosopher Richard Boyd dies at 78". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  6. ^ "RICHARD BOYD Obituary - (2021) - Cleveland, OH - The Plain Dealer". obits.cleveland.com. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  7. ^ "Richard Newell Boyd | Sage School of Philosophy Cornell Arts & Sciences". philosophy.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-23. Professor Boyd specializes in philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind. He is also interested in ethics, in social and political philosophy, especially Marxism, and in the philosophy of biology. He came to the Sage School faculty in 1972, after teaching at Harvard, the University of Michigan, and the University of California at Berkeley.