LYONS, William (Edward) 1939-

PERSONAL: Born September 5, 1939, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; son of William Joseph, and Georgina Mary (Jacob) Lyons; married Annie Stuart Innes, September 1, 1973; children: Liam Stuart, Ailsa Morag. Education: Australian National University, B.A., 1966; University of Calgary, M.A., 1968; University of Dundee, Ph.D., 1973.

ADDRESSES: Office—Arts Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: University of Glasgow, lecturer in philosophy, 1973-85; Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, head of School of Mental and Moral Science, 1985-95, professor of moral philosophy, 1985—.

MEMBER: Royal Irish Academy.

AWARDS, HONORS: Fellow, Trinity College.

WRITINGS:

Gilbert Ryle: An Introduction to His Philosophy, Humanities Press (Atlantic Highlands, NJ), 1980.

Emotion, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1980.

The Disappearance of Introspection, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 1986.

(Editor) Modern Philosophy of Mind, Charles E. Tuttle (Rutland, VT), 1995.

Approaches to Intentionality, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Matters of the Mind Edinburgh University Press, 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: William Lyons is a professor of moral philosophy at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. His research is in the areas of the philosophy of the mind and philosophical psychology.

In Emotion Lyons discusses four different theories on emotions: feeling, behaviorist, psychoanalytic, and cognitive. The book champions a version of cognitive theory called "casual-evaluative theory of the emotions." Library Journal contributor Robert Hoffman concluded, "A thorough, clearly written, and well-argued book."

Approaches to Intentionality is a textbook for the upper-level undergraduate in which Lyons discusses different theories of intentionality and also explains his own "bottom-up developmental" theory. Intentionality is the relationship between the mind and what it is thinking about. Times Higher Educational Supplement contributor Anthony Freeman noted, "The general reader with an interest in the philosophy of the mind will find here a sympathetic guide to some major players in the field."

In Matters of the Mind Lyons explains the evolution of the theories on the philosophy of the mind and the influences on such theorising from psychology, neuroscience, and computing. Times Literary Supplement contributor Sean Crawford praised the book as "a fascinating tale, told with authority and pace by William Lyons and copiously illustrated with diagrams and pictures."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

British Book News, October, 1980, Nicholas Measor, review of Emotion, p. 590; May, 1981, Christopher Norris, review of Gilbert Ryle: An Introduction to His Philosophy, p. 268.

Choice, May, 1981, review of Gilbert Ryle, p. 1278; February, 1987, R. L. Greenwood, review of The Disappearance of Introspection, p. 895; June, 1996, B. A. Dixon, review of Approaches to Intentionality, p. 1657.

Ethics, October, 1982, review of Gilbert Ryle, p. 210.

Library Journal, September 1, 1980, Robert Hoffman, review of Emotion, p. 1738.

Philosophical Quarterly, January, 1999, Stefaan E. Cuypers, review of Approaches to Intentionality, pp. 112-115.

Philosophical Review, April, 1992, David M. Rosenthal, review of The Disappearance of Introspection, pp. 425-428.

Philosophy East and West, July, 1996, Robert C. Solomon, review of Modern Philosophy of Mind, p. 389.

Review of Metaphysics, June, 1982, review of Gilbert Ryle, pp. 882-883; June, 1987, Bruce M. Ross, review of The Disappearance of Introspection, pp. 782-784; March, 1997, Mark Wegierski, review of Approaches to Intentionality, pp. 672-675.

Times Educational Supplement, August 18, 1995, Jane O'Grady, "Inside and Out," p. 21.

Times Higher Educational Supplement, October 10, 1997, Anthony Freeman, "That Thinking Feeling," p. 30.

Times Literary Supplement, August 7, 1987, Andrew Woodfield, "As I Recall," p. 853; April 12, 2002, Sean Crawford, "A Cloudy Landscape," p. 29.