Gabriel Nuchelmans (15 May 1922,

Oud Gastel Oud Gastel is a village situated in the municipality of Halderberge, in the north-west of the North Brabant province in the Netherlands. The village was first mentioned in 1278 as Gestele, and means "guest house". Oud (old) has been added to di ...

– 6 August 1996,

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a municipality and town located in the province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies north of that city on the N44/A44 highway near the Nort ...

) was a Dutch

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, focusing on the

history of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, especially philosophy of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, as well as

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

and

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, ...

Biography

After completing

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

at the Episcopal School of Roermond, Nuchelmans studied at the

Catholic University of Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

, where he earned his PhD in 1947. During the PhD he spent a year in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

with Olof Gigon and Joseph Maria Bocheński. In 1947/48 he attended courses by

Alfred Ayer Sir Alfred Jules "Freddie" Ayer (; 29 October 1910 – 27 June 1989), usually cited as A. J. Ayer, was an English philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books '' Language, Truth, and Logic'' (1936) a ...

and

Stuart Hampshire Sir Stuart Newton Hampshire (1 October 1914 – 13 June 2004) was an English philosopher, literary critic and university administrator. He was one of the antirationalist Oxford thinkers who gave a new direction to moral and political thought ...

, at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. He also heard, at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the cl ...

and O. J. Wisdom. After admission to the PhD Nuchelmans taught for fourteen years Latin and Greek in

Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known a ...

. From 1964 he taught Ancient Philosophy and Analytic Philosophy and its History at the Philosophical Institute of the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

until his retirement on 10 September 1987. In this occasion a volume of essays (Logos and Pragma) was dedicated to him to celebrate his scholarly achievements. Nuchelmans had since 1975 been a member of the

Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

. His great work in three volumes on the history of the theories of proposition (1973, 1980, 1983) will remain for a long time the standard work on the subject.

Selected publications

* ''Theories of the Proposition. Ancient and Medieval Conceptions of the Bearers of Truth and Falsity'', North-Holland, Amsterdan/London 1973, * ''Late-Scholastic and Humanist Theories of the Proposition'', North-Holland, Amsterdam/London 1980, * ''Judgement and proposition. From Descartes to Kant'', North-Holland, Amsterdam/London 1983, * ''Geulincx Containment Theory of Logic'', (Mededelingen Der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie Van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Sciences 1988, * ''Dilemmatic Arguments. Towards a History of Their Logic and Rhetoric'', North-Holland, Amsterdam/London 1991, * ''Secundum/Tertium Adiacens Vicissitudes of a Logical Distinction'', (Mededelingen Der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie Van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Sciences 1992, * ''Studies in the History of Logic and Semantics, 12th – 17th Century'', edited durch E.P. Bos, Variorum, Aldershot 1996 (reprint of 17 essays)
online
* ''Logic in the Seventeenth Century. Preliminary Remarks and the Constituents of the Proposition'', The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-century Philosophy. Edited by

Daniel Garber Daniel Garber (April 11, 1880 – July 5, 1958) was an American Impressionist landscape painter and member of the art colony at New Hope, Pennsylvania. He is best known today for his large impressionist scenes of the New Hope area, in which he o ...

and

Michael R. Ayers Michael Richard Ayers, (born 1935) is a British philosopher and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Oxford. He studied at St. John's College of the University of Cambridge, and was a member of Wadham College, Oxford from 1965 ...

. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998. pp. 103–117 * ''Proposition and Judgement'', The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-century Philosophy. Edited by

and

. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998. pp. 118–131 * ''Deductive Reasoning'', The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-century Philosophy. Edited by

and

. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998. pp. 132–146

References

Sources

* L. M. de Rijk, H. A. G. Braakhuis (eds.): ''Logos and Pragma. Essays on the Philosophy of Language in Honour of Professor Gabriel Nuchelmans'' Nijmegen, Ingenium Publishers, 1987 (with a bibliography of his works (1950–1987) * L. M. de Rijk
Biography
(in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuchelmans, Gabriel 1922 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Dutch philosophers Dutch logicians Dutch historians of philosophy Radboud University Nijmegen alumni Alumni of University College London Leiden University faculty Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Halderberge 20th-century Dutch historians Dutch expatriates in Switzerland Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom