PHILOSOPHER

William Alston

1921 - 2009

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William Payne Alston (November 29, 1921 – September 13, 2009) was an American philosopher. He is widely considered to be one of the most important epistemologists and philosophers of religion of the twentieth century, and is also known for his work in metaphysics and the philosophy of language. His views on foundationalism, internalism and externalism, speech acts, and the epistemic value of mystical experience, among many other topics, have been very influential. He earned his PhD from the University of Chicago and taught at the University of Michigan, Rutgers University, University of Illinois, and Syracuse University. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. William Alston is the 1,196th most popular philosopher (down from 1,194th in 2019), the 9,139th most popular biography from United States (down from 8,431st in 2019) and the 67th most popular American Philosopher.

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, William Alston ranks 1,196 out of 1,267. Before him are Max Black, Dariush Shayegan, Philip Pettit, Alexander Berzin, Walter Kaufmann, and Victor Basch. After him are Marshall Berman, Robert Brandom, Bernard Lonergan, John Peckham, James Burnham, and Hermann Lietz.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1921, William Alston ranks 387. Before him are Josef Holeček, Patricia Wrightson, Rufina Gasheva, Walter Kaufmann, Giuseppe Moro, and Franz Gabl. After him are Alexis Smith, Cliff Bourland, Seymour Benzer, Roman Abelevich Kachanov, Julia Hartwig, and Gordon Thomas. Among people deceased in 2009, William Alston ranks 306. Before him are Francisco Valdés, Sitara Achakzai, Alan A'Court, Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro, Guillermo Ortiz, and Shōichi Nakagawa. After him are Jaime Belmonte, Takashi Ishimoto, Klára Fried-Bánfalvi, Dell Hymes, Igor Starygin, and Yevgeny Vesnik.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, William Alston ranks 9,141 out of 20,380. Before him are Joseph P. Allen (1937), Kaʻiulani (1875), Serenity (1969), Thomas Massie (1971), Barton MacLane (1902), and Wendell Pierce (1963). After him are Aubrey Plaza (1984), Gouverneur Morris (1752), Marsha Ivins (1951), Marshall Berman (1940), Peter Friedman (1949), and Tabitha Babbitt (1779).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In United States

Among philosophers born in United States, William Alston ranks 67. Before him are Richard Posner (1939), Michael Hardt (1960), William Chittick (1943), Iris Marion Young (1949), Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (1787), and Alexander Berzin (1944). After him are Marshall Berman (1940), Robert Brandom (1950), James Burnham (1905), Judith Jarvis Thomson (1929), Michael Novak (1933), and R. C. Sproul (1939).

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