David Malet Armstrong
contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy, Australian Realism1926 – 2014
David Malet Armstrong (1926–2014) was an Australian philosopher and one of the most influential analytic metaphysicians of the twentieth century. He held a chair at the University of Sydney for most of his career and was a leading defender of naturalism, physicalism, and a realist theory of universals. His systematic work on properties, laws of nature, and truthmakers shaped the landscape of contemporary metaphysics.
Notable Achievements
1
Developed an immanent realist theory of universals, arguing they exist only in their instances
2
Defended a necessitation-based account of laws of nature as relations between universals
3
Articulated a combinatorial theory of possibility grounded in actual particulars and universals
4
Advanced a truthmaker theory requiring that every truth be made true by some existing entity
5
Championed a functionalist, physicalist account of the mind throughout his career