A. J. Ayer

Alfred Jules Ayer ( October 29 , 1910 - June 27 , 1989 ), better knownas simply A. J. Ayer (and called Freddie by friends), was a philosopher who helped popularise logical positivism in English-speaking countries in his books Language, Truth and Logic( 1936 ) and The Problem of Knowledge ( 1956 ).He attended Eton and served in the British military during World War II. In many ways he was the philosophical successor to Bertrand Russell , although he gained fame more for adapting ideasof others than for true originality. At several periods he taught or lectured in the United States, including serving as avisiting professor at Bard College in the fall of 1987, when he taughtclasses on "Moore and Russell" and "Ryle and Austin." Shortly before his death in 1989 he received publicity after having anunusual "near-death" experience, which to some suggested that he had moved away from his lifelong and notorious religiousskepticism. However, he may have been merely attempting to report his experiences in an honestly objective, empirical manner.

At a party Ayer, then 77, encountered Mike Tyson harassing Naomi Campbell and demanded Tyson stop. Tyson said "Do you know who the fuck Iam? I'm the heavyweight champion of the world." Ayer replied "And I am the former Wykeham Professorof Logic . We are both pre-eminent in our field; I suggest that we talk about this like rational men."