b. 1946
Hartry Field is an American philosopher best known for his work in philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics, and epistemology. He is a leading proponent of mathematical fictionalism, arguing that mathematics can be useful without its entities being real, and has made major contributions to debates about truth, apriority, and indeterminacy.
Developed mathematical fictionalism in Science Without Numbers (1980)
Advanced a nominalist reconstruction of Newtonian gravitational theory
Authored Saving Truth from Paradox (2008) on semantic and logical paradoxes
Contributed influential work on deflationism about truth and reference
Silver Professor of Philosophy at New York University