- Virgil Aldrich
Virgil Charles Aldrich, (born on
September 13 1903 , inNarsinghpur ,India - diedMay 28 1998 , inSalt Lake City ,Utah ), was an Americanphilosopher of art, language, and religion.Early Life and Education
The son of Floyd Clement Aldrich and his wife Ann Hanley, Virgil Aldrich earned his
bachelor of arts degree atOhio Wesleyan University in 1925. He studied atOxford University in 1927 and then went on to earn a "Diplôme d'Études Supérieures de Philosophie" at theSorbonne in 1928 before completing hisPh.D. at theUniversity of California Berkeley in 1931. He married Louise Hafliger on 3 September 1927 and they had one son, David Virgil Aldrich.Academic career
Aldrich's first academic appointment was his appointment as an
instructor inphilosophy atRice University in 1931 and Sterling Fellow atYale University in 1931-32. Promoted toassistant professor , he remained at Rice until 1942, when he was appointed visiting professor atColumbia University from 1942 to 1946. Appointedprofessor of philosophy atKenyon College in 1946, he remained there until 1965, serving as visiting professor atBrown University in 1962-63. In 1965, he became professor of philosophy at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , where he remained until his retirement in 1972. On his retirement, he moved toSalt Lake City, Utah , where he became an adjunct professor at theUniversity of Utah .Aldrich served as Director of the
Kyoto American Studies Institute inJapan and for short periods was visiting professor atHarvard University , theUniversity of Michigan , andthe University of Texas . He served as trustee and president of theAmerican Society of Aesthetics and president ofAmerican Philosophical Association .ome Meanings of Vague (1937)
In his article Some Meanings of Vague [Analysis, Vol. 4, No. 6 (Aug., 1937), pp. 89-95 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Analysis Committee] , Aldrich puts forth a series of definitions of vague objects and
sensum , and then argues that any empiricist must account for vague sensum every bit as much as clear sensum, without skirting the issue. He takes there to be many kinds of vagueness--importantly, there is vagueness of symbols and vagueness of senses. Here symbols are anything which is used to refer, including verbal words, signs, pictures, and more. Vagueness regarding symbols can be the same as the vagueness which regards the senses. There can, additionally, be vagueness of the practices surrounding the use of the symbol to refer. These, he suggests, should be avoided.Honors
*
L.H.D. ,Ohio Wesleyan University , 1963*
L.H.D. ,Kenyon College , 1972Writings
Books:
* "Language and philosophy" ( [Kyoto] : Kyoto American Studies Seminar, 1955)
* "Philosophy of Art", (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1963)
* "The Body of a Person", (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1988)Contributions:
* "Readings in Philosophical Analysis" (1951)
* "Reflections on Art" (1958)
* "Religious Experience and Truth" (1961)
* "Faith and the Philosophers" (1962)
* "World Perspectives on Philosophy" (1967)
* [http://www.compilerpress.atfreeweb.com/Anno%20Aldrich%20Design,%20Composition,%20and%20Symbol%20JAAC%201969.htm "Design, Composition, and Symbol"] , "The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism" (Vol. 27, No. 4, Summer, 1969), pp. 379-388.
* "Studies in philosophy: a symposium on Gilbert Ryle", Edited by Konstantin Kolenda. (Houston, Tex. : William Marsh Rice University, 1972)
* "Pictures and Persons" in "Review of Metaphysics" (1975)
* "Description and expression: Physicalism restricted," "Inquiry" vol. 20 (1977), pp. 149—164.
* "Falling in love with wisdom: American philosophers talk about their calling," edited by David D. Karnos, Robert G. Shoemaker. (New York : Oxford University Press, 1993Festschrift
* "Body, mind, and method: essays in honor of Virgil C. Aldrich" edited by Donald F. Gustafson and Bangs L. Tapscott. (Dordrecht and Boston: D. Reidel Pub. Co., 1979)References
ources
* University of Utah Library
* "Who's Who "External links
* [http://www1.kenyon.edu/publications/bulletin/21_3/deaths.htm Kenyon College Obituary]
* [http://db3-sql.staff.library.utah.edu/lucene/Manuscripts/null/Accn1726.xml/ContainerList | Inventory of the Vigil Aldrich Papers, Marriott Library, University of Utah]
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