1926 – 2013
Herbert Hochberg (1926–2013) was an American analytic philosopher specializing in ontology, logic, and the history of analytic philosophy. He worked extensively on the metaphysics of facts, universals, particulars, and relations, defending a Russellian logical atomism against nominalist and trope-theoretic alternatives. His work offered sustained critiques of trope ontology, arguing it fails to adequately ground relational structure.
Developed detailed critiques of trope theory and nominalism from a realist ontological standpoint
Defended a Russellian logical atomism including irreducible facts and universals
Contributed to the metaphysics of relations, arguing for their ontological irreducibility
Authored Logic, Ontology, and Language (1984), a systematic treatment of analytic metaphysics
Advanced scholarship on Frege, Russell, and the foundations of analytic ontology