b. 1933
David Wiggins is a British analytic philosopher known for his work on metaphysics, personal identity, and meta-ethics. His influential sortal theory of identity argues that identity statements presuppose a sortal concept specifying what kind of thing is being identified, and he has defended a form of ethical cognitivism rooted in neo-Aristotelian thought.
Developed the sortal-dependent theory of identity in Sameness and Substance
Authored Sameness and Substance Renewed (2001), a major work on identity and individuation
Advanced neo-Aristotelian meta-ethics in Needs, Values, Truth
Held the Wykeham Chair of Logic at Oxford University
Contributed influential critiques of bundle theory and Lockean accounts of personal identity