Colin John Radford (27 February 1935 – 9 April 2001) was an English philosopher who worked primarily in aesthetics but had interests in a wide variety of philosophical topics. He is best known for describing the paradox of fiction in the 1975 essay "How Can We Be Moved by the Fate of Anna Karenina?" and developing the paradox in a number of subsequent essays.[1][2]

Colin Radford
Born
Colin John Radford

(1935-02-27)27 February 1935
England
Died9 April 2001(2001-04-09) (aged 66)
Alma mater
Notable work"How Can We Be Moved by the Fate of Anna Karenina?" (1975)
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic philosophy
InstitutionsUniversity of Kent
ThesisThe Synthetic A Priori (1964)
Doctoral advisorGilbert Ryle
Main interests
Aesthetics
Notable ideas
Paradox of fiction

Radford was a pupil at Thornbury Grammar School, then studied at London School of Economics and the University of Bristol. He studied for a doctorate under Gilbert Ryle at the University of Oxford before taking a position at the University of Kent, where he taught until his retirement in 1992. He was a visiting lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Illinois, and Queensland University.[3]

References

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  1. ^ The Paradox of Fiction, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  2. ^ Colin Radford Remembered Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Bob Sharpe, Aesthetics Online
  3. ^ Tony Skillen (22 May 2001). "Colin Radford". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
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