Richard Sylvan

Richard Sylvan, born Francis Richard Routley on December 13, 1935, in Levin, New Zealand, was a philosopher, logician, and environmentalist. His early work is often cited under his birth name. Sylvan was educated at Victoria University College and Princeton University. He held positions at several Australian institutions, including the Australian National University from 1971 until his death. He was married to philosopher Val Plumwood for twenty years before their separation in 1982. In 1983, he married Louise Mirlin and adopted the surname Sylvan. He died on June 16, 1996, in Bali, Indonesia. Sylvan made significant contributions to the development of relevance logic and proposed semantics for various relevant logics. He also defended a Meinong-inspired ontology called 'noneism', dealing with nonexistent objects. Beyond logic and metaphysics, Sylvan was a proponent of deep environmental ethics, advocating for the intrinsic value of the natural world. He also had interests in anarchism and contributed to discussions on political philosophy. His extensive papers are held at the Fryer Library, University of Queensland.