11 Facts About Michael Devitt

Michael Devitt is an Australian philosopher currently teaching at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in New York City.

Michael Devitt graduated in 1966 with First Class Honours and a University Medal in philosophy.

Michael Devitt continued on as a post-graduate research student until 1967, when he moved to Harvard University and studied under Quine.

Michael Devitt received his MA in 1970 and his PhD in 1972.

Michael Devitt was made a senior lecturer in 1977 and associate professor in 1982, and by 1985 was named as Head of Department of Traditional and Modern Philosophy.

Michael Devitt continued teaching at the University of Sydney until 1987, after which he returned to the United States and accepted an appointment of Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1988.

Michael Devitt remained in Maryland until 1999, when he became a Professor at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Michael Devitt continues to teach there as a Distinguished Professor as of 2012.

Michael Devitt was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1985.

Michael Devitt is a proponent of the causal theory of reference.

Michael Devitt, along with Georges Rey, is a critic of the transcendental argument against eliminativism, and defends this position against claims that it is self-refuting by invoking deflationary semantic theories that avoid analysing predicates like "x is true" as expressing a real property.