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John Perry, the Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, will deliver the University of Delaware’s annual David Norton Lecture at 7 p.m., Monday, April 21, in Clayton Hall, on the University’s Laird Campus, Route 896, north of Newark. The presentation, “Is There Hope for Compatibilism?” is free and open to the public.

According to Perry, compatibilism holds that acts can be both free and determined by laws of nature and past events. It is a philosophy that has been defended by great philosophers such as Locke, Hume, Ayer and Schlick and one that has come under attack over the past 20 years by philosophers like Peter van Inwagen, Carl Ginet and others.

Perry provides a limited defense of compatibilism by claiming the compatibilist can adopt either a weak theory of laws or a weak theory of ability. He explains both options and develops and argues for a weak theory of ability.

Perry is the co-founder of Stanford University’s Center for the Study of Language and Information and has served as its director. He also has served as chairperson of Stanford’s Department of Philosophy. He is the author of nine books, including most recently, “Reference and Reflexivity” and “Identity, Personal Identity and the Self.”

In addition he has published more than 70 articles, including some of the most influential and important papers in the philosophy of mind and language, including: “The Problem of the Essential Indexical,” “Situations and Attitudes,” “Cognitive Significance and New Theories of Reference” and many, more.

The lecture is supported by the David Norton Memorial Fund honoring the late UD philosophy professor, and by the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, the Department of Philosophy and the Class of 1955 Ethics Endowment Fund. For more information, call (302) 831-2359.

Contact: Kristi Hook, (302) 831-8749
April 10, 2003