b. 1943
John Perry (born 1943) is an American analytic philosopher at Stanford University, renowned for his contributions to philosophy of language, personal identity, and the theory of indexicals. He is best known for his analysis of essential indexicals and self-locating belief, as well as his influential work on Russellian singular propositions and their relationship to possible worlds semantics.
Developed the theory of essential indexicals in 'The Problem of the Essential Indexical' (1979), showing that first-person beliefs cannot be replaced by objective descriptions
Authored 'A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality', a widely taught introduction to personal identity debates
Advanced the Russellian view of singular propositions and their modal properties, including constraints on propositional existence across possible worlds
Contributed to the theory of self-locating belief and its role in rational agency
Co-founded Philosophy Talk, a widely distributed public philosophy radio program