Science & invention
Héctor-Neri Castañeda
1924–1991 · philosopher
Guatemalan-born philosopher who taught at Wayne State University from 1957 to 1969 and founded the leading journal Noûs there in 1967.
- Born
San Vicente, Zacapa, Guatemala- Died
aged 66- Birth name
- Héctor-Neri Castañeda Calderón
- Also known as
- Hector-Neri Castaneda
- Detroit years
- 1957–1969
- Field
- Science & invention
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Castañeda was born in Guatemala in 1924 and came to the United States in 1948 to study philosophy at the University of Minnesota under Wilfrid Sellars, earning his doctorate in 1954. After a year at Oxford and a short stint at Duke, he took his first full-time post in 1957 in the philosophy department at Wayne State University in Detroit. He stayed twelve years, as part of an unusually strong department that also included Alvin Plantinga and Edmund Gettier, and in 1967 he founded the journal Noûs there, which became one of the most respected publications in the field. His work on how we refer to ourselves in thought, and his 'guise theory' of the objects of thought, drew wide attention. In 1969 he moved to Indiana University, where he also became its first dean of Latino affairs. He died in 1991.
Highlights
- Professor of philosophy at Wayne State University, 1957–1969
- Founded the journal Noûs at Wayne State in 1967
- Developed guise theory and the analysis of self-reference ('quasi-indicators')
- First dean of Latino affairs at Indiana University, 1978–1981
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1957–1969
Wayne State University
His first full-time academic post; he founded the journal Noûs here in 1967.