Wilfrid Sellars

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Wilfrid Stalker Sellars (born May 20, 1912 in Michigan , † July 2, 1989 in Pittsburgh ) was an American philosopher who mainly taught in Pittsburgh. Sellars made contributions to the philosophy of mind , epistemology and metaphysics . He represented the position of naturalism .

Life

Wilfrid Sellars was the son of the philosopher Roy Wood Sellars . After studying at the University of Michigan and Oxford University , Sellars taught in Iowa , Minnesota and Yale before accepting a professorship at the University of Pittsburgh in 1963 . In 1971 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

His main areas of work were epistemology , the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of perception . In doing so, he mainly followed the work of Willard Van Orman Quine , whose criticism of classical empiricism he intensified. The dichotomy between perception and reasoning, which is one of its central aspects, was radically rejected.

His major students include Robert Brandom , Ruth Millikan , John McDowell , John Haugeland, and Jay Rosenberg . The best-known constructive Sellars reception, however, comes from Richard Rorty , who in his book Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature repeatedly refers to Sellars' attacks on the idea of ​​the "given", expands it and leads to radical consequences.

Works (selection)

  • Pure Pragmatics and Possible Worlds-The Early Essays of Wilfrid Sellars, [PPPW], ed. By Jeffrey F. Sicha, (Ridgeview Publishing Co; Atascadero, CA; 1980).
  • Science, Perception and Reality, [SPR], (Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd; London, and The Humanities Press: New York; 1963).
  • Philosophical Perspectives, [PP], (Charles C. Thomas: Springfield, IL; 1967). Reprinted in two volumes, Philosophical Perspectives: History of Philosophy and Philosophical Perspective: Metaphysics and Epistemology, (Ridgeview Publishing Co .; Atascadero, CA; 1977).
  • Science and Metaphysics: Variations on Kantian Themes. [S&M], (Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd; London, and The Humanities Press; New York; 1968).
  • Essays in Philosophy and Its History, [EPH], (D. Reidel Publishing Co .; Dordrecht, Holland; 1975).
  • Naturalism and Ontology, [N&O], (Ridgeview Publishing Co .; Atascadero, CA: 1979). [An expanded version of the 1974 John Dewey Lectures]
  • The Metaphysics of Epistemology, Lectures by Wilfrid Sellars, edited by Pedro Amaral, (Ridgeview Publishing Co .; Atascadero, CA; 1989).
  • Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind [EPM *], edited by Robert Brandom, (Harvard University Press .; Cambridge, MA; 1997).
  • Kant and Pre-Kantian Themes: Lectures by Wilfrid Sellars, edited by Pedro Amaral, (Ridgeview Publishing Co .; Atascadero, CA: 2002).
  • Kant's Transcendental Metaphysics: Sellars' Cassirer Lecture Notes and Other Essays, edited by Jeffrey F. Sicha, (Ridgeview Publishing Co .; Atascadero, CA: 2002).

In German is available:

  • Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (1999).

literature

Web links

Primary texts
Secondary literature
personal data
SURNAME Sellars, Wilfrid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sellars, Wilfrid Stalker
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Michigan
DATE OF DEATH July 2nd 1989
Place of death Pittsburgh