Richard Merritt Montague (September 20, 1930 – March 7, 1971) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
and
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 ...
who made contributions to
mathematical logic
Mathematical logic is the study of logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory. Research in mathematical logic commonly addresses the mathematical properties of for ...
and the
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 is known for proposing
Montague grammar to formalize the semantics of
natural language
In neuropsychology, linguistics, and philosophy of language, a natural language or ordinary language is any language that has evolved naturally in humans through use and repetition without conscious planning or premeditation. Natural languages ...
. As a student of
Alfred Tarski
Alfred Tarski (, born Alfred Teitelbaum;School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews ''School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews''. January 14, 1901 – October 26, 1983) was a Polish-American logician a ...
, he also contributed early developments to
axiomatic set theory (
ZFC). For the latter half of his life, he was a professor at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
until his early death, believed to be a
homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
, at age 40.
Career
At the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, Montague earned a BA in Philosophy in 1950, an MA in Mathematics in 1953, and a
PhD in Philosophy in 1957, the latter under the direction of the mathematician and logician
Alfred Tarski
Alfred Tarski (, born Alfred Teitelbaum;School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews ''School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews''. January 14, 1901 – October 26, 1983) was a Polish-American logician a ...
. Montague spent his entire career teaching in the
UCLA Department of Philosophy
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, where he supervised the dissertations of
Nino Cocchiarella and
Hans Kamp
Johan Anthony Willem "Hans" Kamp (born 5 September 1940) is a Dutch philosopher and Linguistics, linguist, responsible for introducing discourse representation theory (DRT) in 1981.
Kamp was born in Den Burg. He received a Ph.D. in UCLA Departmen ...
.
Montague wrote on the foundations of
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
set theory
Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly conce ...
, as would befit a student of Tarski. His PhD dissertation, titled ''Contributions to the Axiomatic Foundations of Set Theory'',
contained the first proof that all possible axiomatizations of the standard
axiomatic set theory ZFC must contain infinitely many axioms. In other words, ZFC cannot be finitely axiomatized.
He pioneered a logical approach to natural language
semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy
Philosophy (f ...
that became known as
Montague grammar. This approach to language has been especially influential among certain
computational linguist
Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the computational modelling of natural language, as well as the study of appropriate computational approaches to linguistic questions. In general, computational linguistics ...
s—perhaps more so than among more traditional
philosophers of language
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 ...
. In particular, Montague's influence lives on in grammar approaches like
categorial grammar
Categorial grammar is a family of formalisms in natural language syntax that share the central assumption that syntactic constituents combine as functions and arguments. Categorial grammar posits a close relationship between the syntax and seman ...
(such as Unification Categorial Grammar, Left-Associative Grammar, or
Combinatory Categorial Grammar
Combinatory categorial grammar (CCG) is an efficiently parsable, yet linguistically expressive grammar formalism. It has a transparent interface between surface syntax and underlying semantic representation, including predicate–argument structur ...
), which attempt a derivation of syntactic and semantic representation in tandem and the semantics of quantifiers, scope and discourse (
Hans Kamp
Johan Anthony Willem "Hans" Kamp (born 5 September 1940) is a Dutch philosopher and Linguistics, linguist, responsible for introducing discourse representation theory (DRT) in 1981.
Kamp was born in Den Burg. He received a Ph.D. in UCLA Departmen ...
, a student of Montague's, co-developed
Discourse Representation Theory
In formal linguistics, discourse representation theory (DRT) is a framework for exploring meaning under a formal semantics approach. One of the main differences between DRT-style approaches and traditional Montagovian approaches is that DRT inclu ...
).
Montague was an accomplished organist and a successful real estate investor. He died violently in his own home; the crime is unsolved to this day.
Anita Feferman and
Solomon Feferman
Solomon Feferman (December 13, 1928 – July 26, 2016) was an American philosopher and mathematician who worked in mathematical logic.
Life
Solomon Feferman was born in The Bronx in New York City to working-class parents who had immigrated to th ...
argue that he usually went to bars "cruising" and bringing people home with him.
[Feferman and Feferman 2004: 332-3] On the day that he was murdered, he brought home several people "for some kind of soirée", but they strangled him.
In popular culture
Three novels have been inspired by the life and death of Richard M. Montague:
*''
The Mad Man'' by American science fiction author
Samuel R. Delany
Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His ...
(1994)
* ''Less Than Meets the Eye'' by American philosopher
David Berlinski
David Berlinski (born 1942) is an American author who has written books about mathematics and the history of science as well as fiction. An opponent of evolution, he is a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture ...
(1994)
* ''The Semantics of Murder'' by Irish writer
Aifric Campbell (2008)
See also
*
American philosophy
*
List of American philosophers
This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States.
{, border="0" style="margin:auto;" class="toccolours"
, -
! {{MediaWiki:Toc
, -
, style="text-al ...
*
List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of u ...
Notes
References
*
Feferman, Anita, and
Solomon Feferman
Solomon Feferman (December 13, 1928 – July 26, 2016) was an American philosopher and mathematician who worked in mathematical logic.
Life
Solomon Feferman was born in The Bronx in New York City to working-class parents who had immigrated to th ...
, 2004. ''
Alfred Tarski
Alfred Tarski (, born Alfred Teitelbaum;School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews ''School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews''. January 14, 1901 – October 26, 1983) was a Polish-American logician a ...
: A Life''. Cambridge Univ. Press.
*
Donald Kalish, and Montague, Richard, 1964. ''Logic: Techniques of Formal Reasoning''. Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich.
* Donald Kalish, and Montague, Richard, and
Mar, Gary, 1980. ''Logic: Techniques of Formal Reasoning (second edition)''. Oxford University Press.
* Montague, Richard, 1974. ''
Formal philosophy : selected papers of Richard Montague'' / ed. and with an introd. by Richmond H. Thomason. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. (1979 printing: )
*
Partee, Barbara H., 2006,
Richard Montague (1930 - 1971) in Brown, Keith, ed., ''
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics
The ''Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics'', first published in 1994 (edited by Ronald E. Asher), with a 2nd edition in 2006 (edited by Keith Brown), is an encyclopedia of all matters related to language and linguistics.
Reception
The ''Jo ...
'', Vol. 8, 2nd ed. Oxford: Elsevier: 255–57. Includes a bibliography of the secondary literature on Montague and his eponymous grammar.
External links
*
"Montague, Richard (1930–1971) ."Encyclopedia of Philosophy
'' The Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' is one of the major English encyclopedias of philosophy.
The first edition of the encyclopedia was edited by philosopher Paul Edwards (1923–2004), and it was published in two separate printings by Macmil ...
, ''
Encyclopedia.com
Encyclopedia.com (also known as HighBeam Encyclopedia) is an online encyclopedia. It aggregates information from other published dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference works including pictures and videos.
History
The website was launched by ...
.''
Montague Semanticsat
Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyRICHARD MONTAGUE 1930-1971memorial page by Ivano Caponigro published on the fiftieth anniversary of his death
That’s Just Semantics! (or, the Proper Treatment of Richard Montague in Literary Fiction)(Archived by
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montague, Richard
1930 births
1971 deaths
1971 murders in the United States
20th-century American mathematicians
20th-century American philosophers
American logicians
LGBT academics
LGBT people from California
LGBT scientists from the United States
Male murder victims
People from Stockton, California
Philosophers of language
Semanticists
Unsolved murders in the United States
LGBT mathematicians
Deaths by strangulation in the United States
People murdered in Los Angeles
20th-century LGBT people