John Pollock

John L. Pollock was an American philosopher known for influential work in epistemology, philosophical logic, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. Born John Leslie Pollock in Atchison Kansas, January 28, 1940, Pollock earned a triple-major physics, mathematics, and philosophy degree at the University of Minnesota in 1961. In 1965, his doctoral dissertation Analyticity and Implication at UC Berkeley was advised by Ernest Adams. This dissertation contained an appendix on defeasible reasoning that would eventually blossom into his main contribution to philosophy. Pollock took faculty positions at SUNY Buffalo, University of Rochester, University of Michigan, and University of Arizona. At Arizona, he helped found the Cognitive Science Program. He was an avid mountain biker and founded a riding club in Southern Arizona.