William J. Rapaport | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Joseph Rapaport |
| Alma mater | University at Buffalo |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Analytic philosophy |
| Thesis | Intentionality and the Structure of Existence (1976) |
| Doctoral advisor | Héctor-Neri Castañeda |
| Doctoral students | Janyce Wiebe |
Main interests | Philosophy of language,ontology,philosophy of computer science |
Notable ideas | Dual copula strategy Technical objections toguise theory[1] "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" |
William Joseph Rapaport[2] is an American philosopher who is anassociate professoremeritus of theUniversity at Buffalo.
Rapaport has done research and written extensively onintentionality andartificial intelligence. He has research interests incomputer science, artificial intelligence (AI),computational linguistics,cognitive science,logic andmathematics, and published many scientific articles on them.
While a philosophy graduate student atIndiana University in 1972, he concocted the sentence: "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo". Throughout his career he developed this theme, and discussed it extensively.[3]
His early work onnonexistent objects was influenced byAlexius Meinong.[4][5]
Rapaport has written on the field of intentionality, influencing scientists and writers[citation needed] includingDaniel Dennett,Héctor-Neri Castañeda (who was his doctoral advisor[2]) andJohn Searle (with whom he disagrees).Rapaport is interested in science educational theory, and received the New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.[6]
In June 1988, Rapaport compiled a list of restaurants in the Buffalo area for attendees of anACL meeting atSUNY Buffalo. The list was continued, becoming interactive, with user reviews of restaurants.
Rapaport and his wife Mary, with whom he has a son Michael, are the principal donors to theLucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center[7] inJamestown, NY. The Desilu Playhouse, located in the Rapaport Center, contains memorabilia and other vintageI Love Lucy items. He and his wife have also purchased and renovatedLucille Ball's childhood home inCeloron, New York.[8]
