George Edward Hughes was a philosopher and logician whose principal scholarly works were concerned with modal logic

Modal logic

Modal logic is a type of formal logic that extends classical propositional and predicate logic to include operators expressing modality. Modals — words that express modalities — qualify a statement. For example, the statement "John is happy" might be qualified by saying that John is...

 and medieval philosophy

Medieval philosophy

Medieval philosophy is the philosophy in the era now known as medieval or the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD to the Renaissance in the sixteenth century...

.

He was born on 8 June 1918 in Waterford

Waterford

Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...

, Ireland. His parents, who were English, moved to Scotland in the early 1920s, in response to The Troubles

The Troubles

The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...

. George graduated MA with First Class Honours in Philosophy and English, and then in pure Philosophy, from the University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

. He then studied for a year at the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

, before being called back to Glasgow as an assistant lecturer. Subsequently he held lectureships

Lecturer

Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...

 at the University College of South Wales

Cardiff University

Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...

 at Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, and then the University College of North Wales

Bangor University

Bangor University is a university based in the city of Bangor in the county of Gwynedd in North Wales-United Kingdom.It was officially known for most of its history as the University College of North Wales...

 at Bangor

Bangor, Gwynedd

Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...

. In 1951 he was appointed to the first Chair in Philosophy at the Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...

 in New Zealand, a position from which he retired in 1984. He died in Wellington on 4 March 1994.

Career

Notable influences on his philosophical development included John Wisdom

John Wisdom

Arthur John Terence Dibben Wisdom was a leading British philosopher considered to be an ordinary language philosopher, a philosopher of mind and a metaphysician. He was influenced by G.E...

 and Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...

, from whom he took classes at Cambridge; J. L. Austin

J. L. Austin

John Langshaw Austin was a British philosopher of language, born in Lancaster and educated at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford University. Austin is widely associated with the concept of the speech act and the idea that speech is itself a form of action...

, a leading exponent of ordinary language philosophy

Ordinary language philosophy

Ordinary language philosophy is a philosophical school that approaches traditional philosophical problems as rooted in misunderstandings philosophers develop by distorting or forgetting what words actually mean in everyday use....

; and Arthur Prior

Arthur Prior

Arthur Norman Prior was a noted logician and philosopher. Prior founded tense logic, now also known as temporal logic, and made important contributions to intensional logic, particularly in Prior .-Biography:Prior was entirely educated in New Zealand, where he was fortunate to have come under the...

, with whom he found much in common when they met in New Zealand.

Hughes was a gifted and revered teacher who played a prominent role in academic affairs at Victoria University. He is well remembered for his passion for clarity, his uncompromising intellectual honesty, and his humanity and gentleness.

His early interests were in ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 and the philosophy of religion

Philosophy of religion

Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of religious language and texts, and the relationship of religion and science...

, but he is most widely known for books on modal logic co-authored with his colleague and former student Max Cresswell. In 1968 they published An Introduction to Modal Logic, the first modern textbook in the area. This book, which has been translated into German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish, was influential in introducing many generations of students and researchers to Kripke semantics

Kripke semantics

Kripke semantics is a formal semantics for non-classical logic systems created in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Saul Kripke. It was first made for modal logics, and later adapted to intuitionistic logic and other non-classical systems...

, a mathematical theory of meaning that revolutionised the study of modal logics and led to applications ranging from the semantics of natural languages to reasoning about the behaviour of computer programs. Vaughan Pratt, the creator of dynamic logic

Dynamic logic (modal logic)

Dynamic logic is an extension of modal logic originally intended for reasoning about computer programs and later applied to more general complex behaviors arising in linguistics, philosophy, AI, and other fields.-Language:...

, has written in reference to his own motivation that "a weekend with Hughes and Cresswell convinced me that a most harmonious union between modal logic and programs was possible".

Hughes' other special interest was in medieval philosophical logic, where his main projects were the preparation of philosophical commentaries on Latin manuscripts of John Buridan

Jean Buridan

Jean Buridan was a French priest who sowed the seeds of the Copernican revolution in Europe. Although he was one of the most famous and influential philosophers of the late Middle Ages, he is today among the least well known...

 and Paul of Venice

Paul of Venice

Paul of Venice was a Roman Catholic Scholastic philosopher, theologian, and logician of the Hermits of the Order of Saint Augustine.-Life:...

, as well as English translations of the originals.

He was also a priest in the Anglican (Episcopal

Scottish Episcopal Church

The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....

) Church, having been ordained in Bangor Cathedral

Bangor Cathedral

Bangor Cathedral is an ancient place of Christian worship situated in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol....

 in 1950. At that time there was a need for clergy who could conduct services in both Welsh and English, so the then Bishop of Bangor ordained several men whom he considered suitable, but who had not had the usual theological training. Hughes had a flair for languages that enabled him to quickly learn how to pronounce the set words of the service even though he was not a Welsh speaker.

He was married with five children. His wife Beryl Hughes (1920 - ), an historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

, taught in the History Department of Victoria University for 25 years, and was one of the founders of the Women's Studies

Women's studies

Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...

 programme there.

Books

• The Elements of Formal Logic, by G. E. Hughes and D. G. Londey, Methuen 1965.
• An Introduction to Modal Logic, by G. E. Hughes and M. J. Cresswell, Methuen 1968.
• John Buridan on Self-Reference: Chapter Eight of Buridan's 'Sophismata', with a Translation, an Introduction, and a Philosophical Commentary, by G. E. Hughes, Cambridge University Press, 1982.
• A Companion to Modal Logic, by G. E. Hughes and M. J. Cresswell, Methuen 1984.
• Paul of Venice. Logica magna, Part II, Fascicule 4, Capitula De Conditionali et De Rationali. Edited with an English Translation and Notes by G. E. Hughes. The British Academy Classical and Medieval Logic Texts, VI. Published for The British Academy by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1990.
• A New Introduction to Modal Logic, by G. E. Hughes and M. J. Cresswell, Routledge, 1996.

Selected Papers

• Motive and Duty, by George E. Hughes. Mind, New Series, Vol. 53, No. 212, (Oct., 1944), pp. 314-331.
• An Examination of the Argument from Theology to Ethics, by George E. Hughes. Philosophy, Vol. 22, No. 81, (Apr., 1947), pp. 3-24.
• The Ethical Relevance of Consequences, by George E. Hughes. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, New Series, Vol. 48, (1947 - 1948), pp. 59-74.
• Has God's Existence Been Disproved?: A Reply to Professor J. N. Findlay
  John Niemeyer Findlay
  John Niemeyer Findlay, known as J. N. Findlay, was a South African philosopher.-Education and Career:...
  
  , by George E. Hughes. Mind, New Series, Vol. 58, No. 229, (Jan., 1949), pp. 67-74.
• Symposium: Is There Knowledge by Acquaintance?, by H. L. A. Hart
  H. L. A. Hart
  Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart was an influential legal philosopher of the 20th century. He was Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University and the Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford. He authored The Concept of Law....
  
  , G. E. Hughes, and J. N. Findlay. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes, Vol. 23, Politics, Psychology and Art, (1949), pp. 69-128.
• Moral Condemnation, by G. E. Hughes. In Essays in Moral Philosophy, edited by A. I. Melden, University of Washington Press, 1958, pp. 108-134.
• Plantinga on the Rationality of God's Existence, by G. E. Hughes. The Philosophical Review, Vol. 79, No. 2, (Apr., 1970), pp. 246-252.
• Omnitemporal Logic and Converging Time, by G. E. Hughes and M. J. Cresswell. Theoria, 41 (1975), no. 1, 11-34.
• Modal Systems With No Minimal Proper Extensions, by G. E. Hughes. Reports on Mathematical Logic, No. 6 (1976), pp. 93-98.
• Omnitemporal Logic and Nodal Time, by George E. Hughes. Reports on Mathematical Logic, No. 8 (1977), pp. 41-61.
• Equivalence Relations and S5, by G. E. Hughes. Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 21 (1980), no. 3, pp. 577-584.
• Some Strong Omnitemporal Logics, by G. E. Hughes. Synthese, 53 (1982), no. 1, pp. 19-42.
• The Modal Logic of John Buridan, by G. E. Hughes. In Atti del Convegno internazionale di storia della logica: la teoria delle modalità, ed. G. Corsi, C. Mangione, and M. Mugnani, CLUEB, Bologna, 1989, pp. 93-111.
• Every World Can See a Reflexive World, by G. E. Hughes. Studia Logica, 49 (1990), no. 2, 175-181.