Max Black (February 24, 1909 – August 27, 1988) was a Russian-born British-American philosopher who was a leading figure in

analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...

in the years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He made contributions to the

philosophy of language Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), me ...

, the

philosophy of mathematics Philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of mathematics and its relationship to other areas of philosophy, particularly epistemology and metaphysics. Central questions posed include whether or not mathem ...

and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, and the philosophy of art, also publishing studies of the work of philosophers such as Frege. His translation (with Peter Geach) of Frege's published philosophical writing is a classic text.

Early life and education

Black was born, with the surname Tcherny, on February 24, 1909, in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, then within the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and now the capital of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. As the family were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

was then prevalent in Russia, they left Baku whilst he was very young. After a short time in Paris, the family emigrated to England in 1912. The family name was changed to Black in 1911–1912. He first attended a free school in north London, but aged nine was awarded a scholarship to Dame Alice Owen's School, where he remained until the age of eighteen. He studied mathematics at Queens' College 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 ...

, where he developed an interest in the

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

G. E. Moore George Edward Moore (4 November 1873 – 24 October 1958) was an English philosopher, who with Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein and earlier Gottlob Frege was among the initiators of analytic philosophy. He and Russell began de-emphasizing ...

, and

Frank P. Ramsey Frank Plumpton Ramsey (; 22 February 1903 – 19 January 1930) was a British people, British philosopher, mathematician, and economist who made major contributions to all three fields before his death at the age of 26. He was a close friend of ...

were all at Cambridge at that time, and their influence on Black may have been considerable. He graduated in 1930, and was awarded a fellowship to study at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

for a year.

Career

From 1931 to 1936, Black was mathematics master at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle. His first book was ''The Nature of Mathematics'' (1933), a critical exposition of ''

Principia Mathematica The ''Principia Mathematica'' (often abbreviated ''PM'') is a three-volume work on the foundations of mathematics written by the mathematician–philosophers Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell and published in 1910, 1912, and 1 ...

'' and critical analysis of the formalist and intuitionist schools of mathematics. Black made notable contributions to the metaphysics of identity. In a 1952 paper, Black presents an objection to Leibniz' Law – the principle of the identity of indiscernibles that states that no two distinct things can exactly resemble each other. He does so, as Peter Forrest notes, by suggesting "there could be a universe containing nothing but two exactly resembling spheres" and that in "such a completely symmetrical universe the two spheres would be indiscernible". Black lectured in mathematics at the Institute of Education in London from 1936 to 1940. During this time he also undertook graduate work at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, being awarded a Ph.D. in 1939 for his dissertation on theories of logical positivism. M.H. Abrams, Sydney S. Shoemaker, Benjamin M. Siegel, Milton E. Konvitz
"Max Black"
Cornell University Memorial Statement (1998) In 1940 he moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and joined the Philosophy Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In 1946, he accepted a professorship in philosophy at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. In 1948, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Black advised the philosophy dissertation of American novelist William H. Gass. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1963.

Death and family

Black was the elder brother of the architect Misha Black and the public relations manager Sam Black. In 1933 he married Michal (or Mabel) Landesberg (1911–1985) with whom he had a daughter and a son. Black died in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

age 79, from a heart attack that followed surgery for cancer.

Works

* (1933) '' The Nature of Mathematics: A Critical Survey'' (2nd edition, 1950) * (1937). "Vagueness: An exercise in logical analysis". ''Philosophy of Science'' 4: 427–55. Reprinted in R. Keefe, P. Smith (eds.): ''Vagueness: A Reader'', MIT Press 1997, * (1938). "The Evolution of Positivism" '' Modern Quarterly'', Vol. 1. No. 1. * (1946). '' Critical Thinking, An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method'', Prentice-Hall Inc. Publishers, Prentice-Hall Philosophy Series, New York (revised edition, 1952) * (1949). ''Language and philosophy: Studies in method'', Ithaca:

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. It is currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, maki ...

. * (1954). "Metaphor", ''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society'', 55, pp. 273–94. * (1954). ''Problems of Analysis: Philosophical Essays'', Cornell University Press * (1959) "Linguistic relativity: The views of benjamin lee whorf", ''The Philosophical Review.'' Vol. 68, No. 2, (April 1959). pp. 228–38. * (1962). ''Models and metaphors: Studies in language and philosophy'', Ithaca: Cornell University Press. * (1964). ''A Companion to Wittgenstein's Tractatus'', Cornell University Press * (1968). ''The Labyrinth of Language'', Praeger * (1970). ''Margins of Precision: Essays in Logic and Language'', Cornell University Press * (1975). ''Caveats and Critiques: Philosophical Essays in Language, Logic, and Art'', Cornell University Press * (1977). “More about Metaphor.” ''Dialectica'', vol. 31, no. 3/4, 1977, pp. 431–57. Reprinted in: A. Ortony (ed): '' Metaphor and Thought''. (1979) * (1981). ''Language and Philosophy: Studies in Method'', Praeger * (1985). ''The Prevalence of Humbug and Other Essays'', Cornell University Press * (1990). ''Perplexities: Rational Choice, the Prisoner's Dilemma, Metaphor, Poetic Ambiguity, and Other Puzzles'', Cornell University Press

References

External links

Biography
at the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive

Cornell University Library

The Prevalence of Humbug and Other Essays (Cornell University Press, 1983). {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Max 1909 births 1988 deaths Academics of the UCL Institute of Education Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Analytic philosophers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom British emigrants to the United States British Jews Naturalized citizens of the United States Cornell University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Jewish philosophers University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Philosophers of language Philosophers of science Metaphor theorists Writers from Baku