In Memoriam: Professor Dagfinn Føllesdal

Professor Dagfinn Føllesdal, Clarence Irving Lewis Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University, passed away in the morning of March 1, 2026. Professor Føllesdal is remembered for his work spanning both analytic and continental philosophical traditions, with important papers on the indeterminacy of translation, phenomenology, reference, and modality. He was a leading interpreter of the philosophy of W.V.O. Quine, Donald Davidson, and Edmund Husserl, about whose works he had a breathtaking, encyclopedic knowledge.  Before coming to Stanford, he taught at Harvard University and throughout his career he was also professor at the University of Oslo. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His students and colleagues recall his generous and approachable demeanor and his deep love of the subject.