Voting Station

Willard Van Orman Quine

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Mathematician

The Resume

    (June 25, 1908-December 25, 2000)
    Wrote the books 'Word and Object,' 'Quiddities,' 'The Time of My Life: An Autobiography'
    Wrote the articles 'On what there is' and 'Two Dogmas of Empiricism'

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a pragmatist.
    Although he was an analytic philosopher, his work contributed to the death of analytic philosophy.
    A year after earning his Ph.D., he lectured at several European universities and returned to America with $7.00 to his name.
    He thought that the role of epistemology should explain how beliefs are taken in as a part of science by the scientific community at any given time, and not to answer any of the traditional questions of knowledge.
    All of his work since his dissertation was typed on the same 1927 Remington typewriter.
    He removed the '1,' '!,' and '?' keys on the typewriter, and had them replaced with mathematical symbols. When he was asked how he could write without using a question mark, he replied, 'Well, you see, I deal in certainties.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He is usually regarded as the greatest American philosopher of the century, if not the greatest American philosopher ever.
    It's a pretty safe bet that he will always be the greatest philosopher from Akron.
    In 1942 he was a Lieutenant Commander in US Navy Intelligence, working as a code breaker.
    He visited 118 different countries.
    He finished his Ph.D. in two years.
    He kept his mother's maiden name as part of his.
    He played the piano and also played banjo as part of a jazz group.

Credit: Nihilism Cynicism Sarcasm Orgasm


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 76.92% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 23 Votes: 65.22% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 29 Votes: 58.62% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 32 Votes: 40.62% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 64 Votes: 57.81% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 103 Votes: 46.60% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 185 Votes: 48.11% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 287 Votes: 44.60% Annoying
    In 2003, Out of 512 Votes: 42.38% Annoying
    In 2002, Out of 226 Votes: 49.56% Annoying