John Richard Perry is a renowned American philosopher, Nobel laureate, author of The Art of Procrastination: How to Stall for Time, Waggle and Postpone Tomorrow, co-host of the popular radio program Philosophy Talk, which is broadcast today in 20 states.
Childhood and youth
John's biography began in January 1943 in Lincoln, Nebraska. His parents, father Ralph Robert and mother Anne Perry, worked hard to give their son a brilliant education.
After high school, John entered Doane College in Nebraska, graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree, and then continued his education at New York's Cornell University, one of the eight schools of the famous Ivy League. This university has a special approach to education - students study the latest scientific research, reinforcing the theory with constant practice.
John Perry received his Ph. D. in 1968 at Cornell University, where he studied science under the guidance of Sidney Shoemaker, a famous modern metaphysician, author of many works on the philosophy of mind.
Career
From 1968 to 1974, John Perry taught philosophy at the University of California Los Angeles, and for two years of this period was also a visiting assistant professor at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. Then the philosopher became a professor at Stanford University. After working there from 1974 to 1985, he became the head of the Department of Philosophy.
His pedagogical talent and excellent literary data allowed John to "release" many famous researchers in the field of philosophy of language, consciousness and semantics and at the same time write many works on philosophy and psychology, books-studies of philosophy of the 20th century, scientific works related to logic, religion, philosophy of mind and personal identity.
Perry is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Literature. He is also one of the founders of the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), founded in 1983. He subsequently taught at the University of California, Riverside, where he is now Emeritus Professor Emeritus of Philosophy.
For his serious contribution to science in 1999, Perry won the annual Jacques Nicode Prize, which is awarded to outstanding philosophers of our time. The mature years of John Perry are a great illustration of the assertion that years are not an obstacle to a person's striving for self-development and an active life. Of course, if he has the opportunity for this. And Perry had many such opportunities. Marking his fiftieth birthday in 1993, John seemed to be reborn.
Twenty first century
In 2004, John Perry was called on the radio, and he gladly accepted the offer, becoming one of the hosts of the Philosophy Talk show, which deals with many problems of modern life from the point of view of psychology and philosophy, including terrorism, feminism, genetic engineering and many others. The show is also available as a podcast.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011 for his humorous (but highly instructive and educational) online essay, Structural Procrastination, published by the philosopher in 1996. Perry's 2012 book, The Art of Procrastination: How to Stall for Time, Waggle, and Procrastinate, has become a worldwide bestseller and a great help for many people. It has been translated into many languages, including Russian.
Personal life
In 1962, Louise Elizabeth French, a childhood friend, became John Perry's wife. The couple had three children, sons James and Joseph and daughter Sarah. Currently, John already has grandchildren, to whom he devotes a lot of time. Hiking, playing with grandchildren and reading - these are the leisure activities of this remarkable scientist who has enriched the world of modern philosophy.
