Mark Sainsbury (philosopher)
Encyclopedia
R. Mark Sainsbury is a philosopher from the United Kingdom
who has worked in the areas of philosophical logic
, philosophy of language
, and the philosophies of Bertrand Russell
and Gottlob Frege
.
Sainsbury taught for many years at King's College London
, and became professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin
in 2002. (He still teaches in the summer months in London.) He was editor of the leading philosophy journal Mind
from 1990 to 2000. He is also a Fellow of the British Academy
.
His first book was on Bertrand Russell
(Routledge, 1979). His most recent book, Fiction and Fictionalism (Routledge, 2009) concerns the semantic and ontological status of fictions. Reference Without Referents (Oxford, 2005), is on the semantics of referring expression
s. His book Departing From Frege (2002) is on the philosophy of Gottlob Frege
. He has also written about paradox
es (Paradoxes Cambridge, 1988, 1995, and Tolerating Vagueness, published in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1989-9).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
who has worked in the areas of philosophical logic
Philosophical logic
Philosophical logic is a term introduced by Bertrand Russell to represent his idea that the workings of natural language and thought can only be adequately represented by an artificial language; essentially it was his formalization program for the natural language...
, philosophy of language
Philosophy of language
Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language. As a topic, the philosophy of language for analytic philosophers is concerned with four central problems: the nature of meaning, language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language...
, and the philosophies of Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
and Gottlob Frege
Gottlob Frege
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege was a German mathematician, logician and philosopher. He is considered to be one of the founders of modern logic, and made major contributions to the foundations of mathematics. He is generally considered to be the father of analytic philosophy, for his writings on...
.
Sainsbury taught for many years at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, and became professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
in 2002. (He still teaches in the summer months in London.) He was editor of the leading philosophy journal Mind
Mind (journal)
Mind is a British journal, currently published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Mind Association, which deals with philosophy in the analytic tradition...
from 1990 to 2000. He is also a Fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
.
His first book was on Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
(Routledge, 1979). His most recent book, Fiction and Fictionalism (Routledge, 2009) concerns the semantic and ontological status of fictions. Reference Without Referents (Oxford, 2005), is on the semantics of referring expression
Referring expression
A referring expression , in linguistics, is any noun phrase, or surrogate for a noun phrase, whose function in a text is "pick out" someone an individual person, place, object, or a set of persons, places, objects, etc. The technical terminology for "pick out" differs a great deal from one...
s. His book Departing From Frege (2002) is on the philosophy of Gottlob Frege
Gottlob Frege
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege was a German mathematician, logician and philosopher. He is considered to be one of the founders of modern logic, and made major contributions to the foundations of mathematics. He is generally considered to be the father of analytic philosophy, for his writings on...
. He has also written about paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
es (Paradoxes Cambridge, 1988, 1995, and Tolerating Vagueness, published in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1989-9).