Arthur Prior
| Arthur Norman Prior | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 December 1914 Masterton, New Zealand |
| Died | 6 October 1969 Trondheim, Norway |
| Alma mater | University of Otago |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School | Analytic philosophy |
|
Main interests
|
Temporal logic, modal logic |
|
Notable ideas
|
Tense logic |
|
Influenced
|
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Arthur Norman Prior (4 December 1914 – 6 October 1969), usually cited as A. N. Prior, was a noted logician and philosopher. Prior (1957) founded tense logic, now also known as temporal logic, and made important contributions to intensional logic, particularly in Prior (1971).
Prior was born in Masterton, New Zealand, on 4 December 1914, the only child of Australian-born parents: Norman Henry Prior (1882-1967) and his wife born Elizabeth Munton Rothesay Teague (1889-1914). His mother died less than 3 weeks after his birth and he was cared for by his father's sister. His father, a medical practitioner in general practice, remarried in 1920 and there were three more children.
Prior was educated entirely in New Zealand, where he was fortunate to have come under the influence of John Niemeyer Findlay. Despite knowing only modest mathematics, he began teaching philosophy and logic at Canterbury University College in 1946, filling the vacancy created by Karl Popper's resignation. He became Professor in 1953. Thanks to the good offices of Gilbert Ryle, who had met Prior in New Zealand in 1954, Prior spent the year 1956 on leave at the University of Oxford, where he gave the John Locke lectures in philosophy. These were subsequently published as Time and Modality (1957). This is a seminal contribution to the study of tense logic and the metaphysics of time, in which Prior championed the A-theorist view that the temporal modalities past, present and future are basic ontological categories of fundamental importance for our understanding of time and the world. During his time at Oxford, Prior met Peter Geach and William Kneale, influenced John Lemmon, and corresponded with the adolescent Saul Kripke. Logic in the United Kingdom was then in a rather low state, and Prior's enthusiasm is believed to have contributed materially to its revival. From 1959 to 1966, he was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Manchester, having taught Osmund Lewry. From 1966 until his death he was Fellow and Tutor in philosophy at Balliol College, Oxford. His students include Max Cresswell, Kit Fine, and Robert Bull.
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