William Lycan
Encyclopedia
William G. Lycan is a noted American
philosopher teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
,where he is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor. He won the Class of 2001 Outstanding Faculty Award (in 2001) and a Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction in 2002. Before moving to UNC in 1982, Lycan taught for several years at Ohio State University
.
His principal interests include philosophy of mind
, philosophy of language
, philosophy of linguistics
, epistemology, and metaphysics
. The author of eight books and over 150 articles (and over 20 reviews) Lycan is an advocate of the version of functionalism
, known as homuncular functionalism. He is also an outspoken critic of epistemic minimalism
.
Along with Robert Adams, Lycan considers David Kellogg Lewis
's notion of possible worlds
to be metaphysically extravagant and suggests in its place an actualist
interpretation of possible worlds as consistent, maximally complete sets of descriptions or propositions about the world, so that a "possible world" is conceived of as a complete description (i.e. a set of maximally consistent set of propositions) of a way the world could be – rather than a world which is that way.
in 1966 while working as a teaching assistant
in the Music
department. His honors thesis was on "Noam Chomsky
's Investigation of Syntax
." He went on to receive his M.A. in 1967 and Ph.D. in 1970, both from the University of Chicago
. His doctoral dissertation was on "Persons, Criteria, and Materialism
."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
philosopher teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
,where he is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor. He won the Class of 2001 Outstanding Faculty Award (in 2001) and a Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction in 2002. Before moving to UNC in 1982, Lycan taught for several years at Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
.
His principal interests include philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
, 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...
, philosophy of linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, epistemology, and metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
. The author of eight books and over 150 articles (and over 20 reviews) Lycan is an advocate of the version of functionalism
Functionalism (philosophy of mind)
Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy, developed largely as an alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviourism. Its core idea is that mental states are constituted solely by their functional role — that is, they are causal relations to other mental...
, known as homuncular functionalism. He is also an outspoken critic of epistemic minimalism
Epistemic minimalism
Epistemic minimalism is the epistemological thesis that mere true belief is sufficient for knowledge. That is, the meaning of "Smith knows that it rained today" is accurately and completely analyzed by these two conditions:...
.
Along with Robert Adams, Lycan considers David Kellogg Lewis
David Kellogg Lewis
David Kellogg Lewis was an American philosopher. Lewis taught briefly at UCLA and then at Princeton from 1970 until his death. He is also closely associated with Australia, whose philosophical community he visited almost annually for more than thirty years...
's notion of possible worlds
Possible Worlds
Possible Worlds may refer to:* Possible worlds, a concept in philosophy* Possible Worlds , by John Mighton** Possible Worlds , by Robert Lepage, based on the Mighton play* Possible Worlds , by Peter Porter...
to be metaphysically extravagant and suggests in its place an actualist
Actualism
In contemporary analytic philosophy, actualism is a position on the ontological status of possible worlds that holds that everything that exists is actual. Another phrasing of the thesis is that the domain of unrestricted quantification ranges over all and only actual existents...
interpretation of possible worlds as consistent, maximally complete sets of descriptions or propositions about the world, so that a "possible world" is conceived of as a complete description (i.e. a set of maximally consistent set of propositions) of a way the world could be – rather than a world which is that way.
Education
William Lycan received his B.A. from Amherst CollegeAmherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
in 1966 while working as a teaching assistant
Teaching assistant
A teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school...
in the Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
department. His honors thesis was on "Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
's Investigation of Syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
." He went on to receive his M.A. in 1967 and Ph.D. in 1970, both from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. His doctoral dissertation was on "Persons, Criteria, and Materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
."
Publications
- Logical Form in Natural Language (Bradford Books / MIT Press, 1984), xii + 348 pp.
- Knowing Who (with Steven Boër) (Bradford Books / MIT Press, 1986), xiv + 212 pp.
- Consciousness (Bradford Books / MIT Press, 1987), ix + 165 pp.
- Judgement and Justification (Cambridge University Press, 1988), xiii + 230 pp.
- Modality and Meaning (Kluwer Academic Publishing, Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy series, 1994), xxii + 335 pp.
- Consciousness and Experience (Bradford Books / MIT Press, 1996), xx + 211 pp.
- Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Publishers, 1999), xvi + 243 pp.
- Real Conditionals (Oxford University Press, 2001), vii + 223 pp.