Timothy Smiley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Timothy John Smiley 13 November 1930 London, England |
| Died | 21 October 2026 (aged 95) |
| Education | |
| Education | Clare College, Cambridge |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| Analytic philosophy | |
| Institutions | Clare College, Cambridge |
Main interests | Logic Philosophy of logic Philosophy of mathematics |
Notable ideas | Multiple-conclusion logic, plural logic |
Timothy John Smiley (13 November 1930 — 2026) was a British philosopher who served as Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at Clare College, Cambridge (1980–1998) until his retirement as emeritus. He worked primarily in philosophy of mathematics and logic.
Timothy Smiley was born in London, the son of M. T. Smiley and T. M. Smiley (née Browne). He was educated at Ardwyn Grammar School, Aberystwyth, followed by Ampleforth College (1943–1948). He then spent the year of 1948–1949 at the University of Fribourg, where his interest in logic was inspired by I.M. Bocheński. He then went up to Clare College, Cambridge to read Mathematics in 1949. He obtained his BA degree in 1952 followed by a PhD in 1956 on "Natural Systems of Logic".
After completing his PhD, he remained at Cambridge on a Research Fellowship at Clare (1955–59), then as a tutor and lecturer in philosophy. He also qualified as a pilot in the Air Ministry and was called to the bar at Gray's Inn.
In 1980 he was appointed Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy, a post he held until his retirement in 1998. In 1982–83 he was President of the Aristotelian Society and in 1984 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.
He was the father of the author Sophie Smiley.[citation needed]
Timothy Smiley published in a wide range of philosophical areas, including Aristotle, definite descriptions, modal logic, multiple conclusion logic, negation and denial, plurals, set-theoretic foundations for mathematics and validity. He collaborated on a number of articles on plural descriptions with Alex Oliver.
Essays reflecting on Smiley's philosophical contributions were edited in The Force of Argument: Essays in Honor of Timothy Smiley (T. J. Smiley, Jonathan Lear and Alex Oliver, Routledge, 2010)
He edited and contributed to numerous papers and publications. A full bibliography of his work is included in his Festschrift, The Force of Argument: Essays in Honor of Timothy Smiley.
Books
Selected papers
