Philosophy Workshop Honors Michael Dummett
As one of most original and profound analytic philosophers to have ever lived, Sir Michael Dummett (1925-2011) wrote extensively on the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of logic, the philosophy of language, and on metaphysics. He held the position of Wykeham Professor of Logic at Oxford University from 1979 until his retirement in 1992. Dummett is especially celebrated for his work on the realism/anti-realism debate. He also wrote on immigration law, Roman Catholic doctrine, and the history of the tarot. Hilary Putnam, professor emeritus at Harvard University, remembered him thus: "Apart from realism and antirealism, our discussions touched on many topics, including the importance of fighting racism, an area in which Michael was exemplary, not just as a thinker, but as a human being. In addition to our philosophical conversations, Michael's loving nature, and his total informality are what I best remember. Michael Dummett cared about ideas, he cared about people, he cared about society, and he rightly connected caring about any one of the three and caring about the other two."
A two-day workshop, organized by the Department of Philosophy and centering on Dummett's work, will take place on September 27-28 (see the Calendar of Events on page 8). The keynote speech and talks presented during the workshop will focus on Dummett's legacy in depth, with plenty of time for discussion. Speakers include Anita Avramides (Oxford University), who will give the keynote; Bilkent faculty members István Aranyosi, Sandrine Berges, Sandy Berkovski, Lars Vinx, Simon Wigley and Bill Wringe; and David Grünberg (Middle East Technical University).