Paul Ziff

Robert Paul Ziff was an American artist and philosopher specializing in semantics and aesthetics. Born in New York City in 1920, he studied art at Columbia University and the Master Institute of Arts before serving in the United States Coast Guard. He continued his education at Cornell University, earning both a BFA and a PhD. Ziff held academic positions at the University of Michigan, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and finally the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he became the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor and later professor emeritus. His notable works include "Semantic Analysis" (1960), which applied linguistic theories to semantics, and "Antiaesthetics" (1984), which explored concepts of anti-art and anti-aesthetics. Ziff also published extensively in philosophy of language, philosophy of art, philosophy of mind, and epistemology. He passed away in 2003.