Peter Frederick Strawson (born November 23, 1919 in London) is a philosopher associated with the ordinary language philosophy movement within analytical philosophy. He was the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at the University of Oxford from 1968 to 1987. Strawson first became well known with his article “On Referring” (1950), a criticism of Russell’s Theory of Descriptions (see also Definite descriptions).

Strawson's important publications include: Introduction to Logical Theory, Individuals: An Essay in Descriptive Metaphysics, The Bounds of Sense: An Essay on Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and Entity and Identity.

Strawson was knighted in 1977, so he is also known as Sir Peter Strawson. His son, Galen Strawson, is also a philosopher.

References

• Richard Kirkham, "Theories of Truth", MIT Press: 1992. (Chapter 10 contains a detailed discussion of Strawson's performative theory of truth.)

External links

• Entry at The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy [1]: a short description of Strawson's 'performative theory of truth.'

Articles

• Freedom and resentment. Full text of his 1962 article. [2]