Ruth Millikan

Who is Ruth Millikan?

Ruth Garrett Millikan is a well-known American philosopher of biology, psychology, and language. She was awarded the Jean Nicod Prize and gave the Jean Nicod Lectures in Paris in 2002. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014.

Millikan earned her PhD from Yale University where she studied under Wilfrid Sellars. She and Paul Churchland are often considered leading proponents of "right wing" Sellarsianism.

Millikan taught at the University of Michigan and for many years at the University of Connecticut, where she is now professor emeritus. She is married to American psychologist and cognitive scientist Donald Shankweiler.