Charles Travis

Charles Travis
Born	1943 (age 81–82)
Education	University of California (1963) University of California (PhD, 1967)
Institutions	University of Stirling, Northwestern University, King's College London, University of Porto
Main interests	Metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, epistemology, thought, mental representation, experience

Charles Travis (born in 1943)[1] is a contemporary American-Portuguese philosopher. His main interests in philosophy center around philosophy of language, metaphysics, and epistemology.[2][3]

Travis received his Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of California, respectively in 1963 and 1967. Over the years, Travis has taught at multiple universities, such as the University of Michigan and Harvard University, before he settled as emeritus professor at King's College London and Professor Afiliado ('affiliate Professor') at the University of Porto.[3][4]

He has been influenced by numerous philosophers, mainly in the sphere of ordinary language philosophy, such as Hilary Putnam, Ludwig Wittgenstein, J. L. Austin, Noam Chomsky and John McDowell.[3]

Travis is commonly considered one of the main proponents of radical contextualism.[5] He is also accredited with coining the influential notion of occasion-sensitivity.[6] On top of that, the philosophical concept of Travis's examples carries his name.[7]

Notable works

• Meaning's Role in Truth (1996)
• The silence of the senses (2004)
• The face of perception (2005)
• Occasion-Sensitivity: Selected Essays (2008)
• Objectivity and the parochial (2011)
• As A Matter of Fact (2013)

References

1. DiscoverEd: "Author/Creator Travis, Charles, 1943–". 2024 Catalogue entry for the work:
   • Travis, Charles, ed. (1986). Meaning and interpretation. Oxford: Blackwell.
2. "Charles Travis". PhilPeople. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
3. "Professor Charles Travis". King's College London. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
4. "FULL NAME: Charles Travis". Instituto de Filosofia. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
5. Lynch, Greg (January 2018). "Meaning for Radical Contextualists: Travis and Gadamer on Why Words Matter". Philosophical Investigations. 41 (1): 22–41. doi:10.1111/phin.12182.
6. Travis, Charles (2008). "Occasion-Sensitivity: Selected Essays". New York: Oxford University Press.
7. Hansen, Nat (2018). "Just What Is It That Makes Travis's Examples So Different, So Appealing?". In Dobler, Tamara; Collins, John (eds.). The Philosophy of Charles Travis: Language, Thought, and Perception. Oxford: Oxford University Press – via PhilPapers.