David Savan (1916 – 1992) was an eminent

semiotician Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes (semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves Sign (semiotics), signs, where a sign is defined as anything that commun ...

and

Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for t ...

scholar. His works were focused on epistemological questions and

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

philosophy of language In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, ...

. He was a Professor in the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, Philosophy Department, 1943–1981. When he joined the faculty, Savan was immediately noted for evaluating George Sidney Brett's fourth-year modern philosophy course. He was the first recipient of the Thomas A. Sebeok fellowship. Savan has influenced several modern philosophers. These include Jean Fisette and his attempt to understand clinical data that are associated with the pathology of both linguistic and narrative competencies. His positions, however, also have their own critics. For instance, his notion of ''Ground'' and his interpretation of sign as a single concept have been challenged by T.L. Short.

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Semioticians 1916 births 1992 deaths {{semiotician-stub