Bob Hale, FRSE (1945 – 12 December 2017) was a British philosopher, known for his contributions to the development of the neo-Fregean (neo-logicist)

philosophy of mathematics The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. It aims to understand the nature and methods of mathematics, and find out the place of mathematics in peop ...

in collaboration with

Crispin Wright Crispin James Garth Wright (; born 21 December 1942) is a British philosopher, who has written on neo-Fregean (neo-logicist) philosophy of mathematics, Wittgenstein's later philosophy, and on issues related to truth, realism, cognitivism, skep ...

, and for his works in modality and

philosophy of language In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, ...

Career

Hale obtained a BPhil in Philosophy in 1967 from

Linacre College Linacre College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the UK whose members comprise approximately 50 fellows and 550 postgraduate students. Linacre is a diverse college in terms of both the international composition of its m ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. From 2006 until his death, he was a professor of philosophy in the department of philosophy at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. Prior to that, he taught in the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

and the

University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = ...

. Hale produced the first published neo-Fregean

construction of the real numbers In mathematics, there are several equivalent ways of defining the real numbers. One of them is that they form a complete ordered field that does not contain any smaller complete ordered field. Such a definition does not prove that such a complete ...

. In his book (''Necessary Beings''), he argues for an essentialist theory of necessity and possibility.

Notable positions

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

Research Reader (1997–9) * Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (from 2000) * President of the Aristotelian Society (2002–3) *

Leverhulme The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...

Senior Research Fellow (2009–11)

Selected works

* (1987) ''Abstract Objects''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. * (1997) Co-editor with Crispin Wright. ''The Blackwell Companion to the Philosophy of Language''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. * (2001) With Crispin Wright. ''The Reason's Proper Study: Essays towards a Neo-Fregean Philosophy of Mathematics''. Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * (2013) "Necessary Beings: An Essay on Ontology, Modality, and the relations between them" Oxford:

.Reviews of ''Necessary Beings: An Essay on Ontology, Modality, and the relations between them'': * *

References

External links

Interview
at 3:AM Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Bob 1945 births 2017 deaths 20th-century British philosophers 21st-century British philosophers Philosophers of language Philosophers of mathematics Academics of the University of Sheffield Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presidents of the Aristotelian Society