Ruth Barcan Marcus | |
|---|---|
 Marcus in 2005 | |
| Born | August 2, 1921 |
| Died | February 19, 2012 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | New York University (B.A. 1941) Yale University (M.A. 1942) Yale University (Ph.D. 1946) |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Analytic |
| Institutions | Northwestern University Yale University |
| Thesis | Strict Functional Calculus (1946) |
| Doctoral advisor | Frederic Fitch |
Main interests | Formal logic |
Notable ideas | Quantified modal logic,[1] Barcan formula, necessity of identity, tag theory of names |
Ruth Barcan Marcus (/ˈbɑːrkən ˈmɑːrkəs/; born Ruth Charlotte Barcan; 2 August 1921[2][3] – 19 February 2012[3]) was an American academic philosopher and logician best known for her work in modal and philosophical logic.[4] She developed the first formal systems of quantified modal logic[5] and in so doing introduced the schema or principle known as the Barcan formula.[2][3][5] (She would also introduce the now standard "box" operator for necessity in the process.)[4] Marcus, who originally published as Ruth C. Barcan,[5] was, as Don Garrett notes[2] "one of the twentieth century's most important and influential philosopher-logicians". Timothy Williamson, in a 2008 celebration of Marcus' long career, states that many of her "main ideas are not just original, and clever, and beautiful, and fascinating, and influential, and way ahead of their time, but actually – I believe – true".[6]
- ^ Dagfinn Føllesdal, Referential Opacity and Modal Logic, Routledge, 2014, p. 19.
- ^ a b c The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers. Thoemmes. 2005. doi:10.5040/9781350052444-0636. ISBN 9781350052444.
- ^ a b c Fox, Margalit (2012-03-13). "Ruth Barcan Marcus, Philosopher and Logician, Dies at 90". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
- ^ a b "Marcus, Ruth Barcan | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
- ^ a b c Williamson, Timothy (2013). "In Memoriam: Ruth Barcan Marcus 1921–2012" (PDF). Bulletin of Symbolic Logic. 19 (1): 123–126. doi:10.2178/bsl.1901070. ISSN 1079-8986. S2CID 124592216.
- ^ "Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog: Timothy Williamson's Tribute to Ruth Barcan Marcus on the Occasion of Her Receipt of the Lauener Prize". leiterreports.typepad.com. Retrieved August 19, 2016.