Jerrold Katz

Jerrold Jacob Katz (July 14, 1932 – February 7, 2002) was an American philosopher and linguist. He earned his PhD in philosophy from Princeton University in 1960. In 1961, he began his career as a research associate in linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was appointed assistant professor of philosophy in 1963 and became a full professor in 1969. From 1975 until his death, Katz held the position of Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Linguistics at the City University of New York. In linguistics, he is primarily recognized for his theory of semantics within generative grammar, which he termed the autonomous theory of sense (ATS). Katz was a strong proponent of rationalism, though not in the Cartesian or Fregean sense, and emphasized the metaphysical significance of "essences." He actively argued against the prevailing empiricist views and, contrary to W. V. O. Quine, maintained that the analytic-synthetic distinction could be grounded in the syntactical properties of sentences. His notable ideas include generative semantics, realistic rationalism, and the argument that analyticity entails apriority.