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My Take
Lewis is one of those thinkers whose ideas sound like science fiction until you realize he meant every word. Modal realism, the claim that every possible world genuinely exists, is the kind of bold metaphysical commitment most philosophers flinch from, and he defended it with relentless rigor and a famously clear prose style. What I admire most is the breadth: counterfactuals, conventions of language, the mind, possibility itself, all handled with the same precision. He made systematic metaphysics respectable again in an era skeptical of grand theorizing, and you still cannot get through a serious metaphysics seminar without running into his name.
Overview
David Kellogg Lewis (1941-2001) was an American philosopher widely regarded as one of the most important analytic philosophers of the 20th century. He is best known for his defense of modal realism, the view that all possible worlds are as real and concrete as the actual world, set out in his book On the Plurality of Worlds. He held a professorship at Princeton University and contributed influential work across metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of probability.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- David Lewis
- Name (Japanese)
- デイヴィド・ルイス
- Reading
- でいゔぃど・るいす
- Born
- September 28, 1941 – October 14, 2001
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Snake
- Origin
- Oberlin, Ohio, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- Philosopher
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Harvard University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Philosopher — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.