Barbara Jane Heal (''née'' Kneale, born 21 October 1946) is a British philosopher, and since 2012, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Biography

Heal is daughter of a pair of notable Oxford philosophers William Calvert Kneale and Martha Kneale (née Hurst). She was educated at Oxford High School for Girls and

New Hall, Cambridge New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, where she read first History before changing to Philosophy (Moral Sciences) after two years. She also took her PhD at Cambridge, working on problems in the philosophy of language. After two years of post-doctoral study in the US, at Princeton and Berkeley, she was appointed to a Lectureship at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

. After ten years at Newcastle, she returned to the

as a lecturer in 1986. She was awarded her personal professorship in 1999. In the same year she became the first female President of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

serving between 1 October 1999 and 2003. She was elected a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies 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 sa ...

in 1997. She was also President of the

Aristotelian Society The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, more generally known as the Aristotelian Society, is a philosophical society in London. History Aristotelian Society was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Squar ...

from 2001 to 2002. Heal has written extensively on the philosophy of mind and language. Her work in the philosophy of mind came to be known as 'simulation' or 'co-cognition'- that our understanding of other people is achieved by, so far as we are able, placing ourselves inwardly in their situation and then allowing our thoughts and emotions to run forwards in a kind of imaginative experiment.

Publications

*''Fact and Meaning'', 1989 *''Mind, Reason and Imagination'', 2003

References

Sources

* "Heal, Prof. (Barbara) Jane," ''Who's Who 2012'', A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 25 Jan 2012

Biography

Publications

References

Sources

Further reading