How to resign from the British Academy: ask Dummett

Speranza


Professor Sir Michael Dummett
Published on 3 January 2012
Alasdair Steven
Philosopher;
Born: June 27, 1925; Died: December 27, 2011.

"Professor Sir Michael Dummett, who has died aged 86, was a philosopher with one of the most original academic minds in Britain."

---- Also a body. Cfr. obituary for Grice, "Professional philosopher and amateur cricketer", Times obituary, "His movements were forceful if inelegant."

"Logic, language and mathematics were Dummett's principal philosophical preoccupations and he was widely respected for his writings, research and his ability to enthuse students."

"Professor Dummett was an authority on the writings of the 19th-century German mathematician/philosopher Gottlob Frege but confessed to a certain disillusionment years later, on finding anti-Semitic and fascist opinions in Frege's diaries."

--- "a virulent racist," "but a rational man".

---- Prologue to "Frege".

"Prof. Dummett was especially recognised for his work on truth and meaning and their implications for the debates between realism and anti-realism – theories about which he often lectured."

"Other particular interests were the history of tarot cards and playing cards."

"Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett was a first scholar at Winchester College and then won a major scholarship to study HISTORY at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1943."

"He was called up that year and served with the Royal Artillery before joining the Intelligence Corps, doing some of his training outside Edinburgh."

"His time in Scotland proved important, as he took instruction at the Catholic Chaplaincy at Edinburgh University."

"He was received into the Catholic Church there in 1944."

"He remained a devout Catholic all his life and looked back on his instruction at Edinburgh as one of the most constructive experiences of his life."

"After service in India and Malaya, he returned to Oxford to read PHILOSOPHY, politics and economics – gaining a first in 1950 and being awarded a fellowship at All Souls."

"In 1979, he was appointed Wykeham Professor of Logic – a position he retained until his retirement in 1992."

"He also held visiting professorships at Stanford, Minnesota, and Princeton and was William James Lecturer in Philosophy at Harvard."

"All his writings and teaching were presented lucidly and forcibly."

"They reflected his own personal desire to pose questions and search for answers."

"He involved his powerful intellect and his arguments were concise, clear-headed and reasoned."

"But nothing was ever straightforward and he delighted in pursuing philosophical theories at length."

"Conclusions he often told his students only raised more questions."

"He insisted his students argue their case with cogent reasoning."

"Both Prof Dummett and his wife Ann Chesney worked tirelessly for racial equality."

"In 1958 they co-founded the Institute of Race Relations and in the 1960s used to drive a battered van to Heathrow Airport to support Asian and West Indian immigrants threatened with deportation."

"On one occasion they were arrested but the police dropped the charges when the then Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, apologised."

"It was this fervour that typified Prof Dummett in his professional and personal life."

"His ability to stand by his principles was demonstrated in 1984 when he resigned from the British Academy as he considered it had not defended the universities against funding cuts."

"His first book, Frege: Philosophy of Language – published as he approached 50 – was hailed by colleagues for its research and scholarship."

"But, typical of his desire to comprehensively cover all aspects of a subject, when his publisher asked for an introduction for the reprint in 1981, he supplied 500 pages of material."

"He loved science fiction novels and

JAZZ."

"Throughout his life, he campaigned that correct English grammar be taught and used."

""People frequently remark that they see no point in observing grammatical rules, so long as they convey their meaning. This is like saying that there is nothing wrong with using a razor blade to cut string, so long as the string is cut. By violating the rules, they make it difficult for others to express their meaning without ambiguity.""

"He was highly regarded by academic colleagues."

"He was an erudite, scholarly, modest man blessed with an infectious sense of humour and was respected by generations of students."

"He retired in 1992 and was knighted in 1999 for "services to philosophy and to racial justice"."

"He is survived by Ann, whom he married in 1951, and by three sons and two daughters. A son and daughter predeceased him."