SIDNEY MORGENBESSER

• Born: September 22, 1921
• Died: August 1, 2004
• Nationality:
• Profession: Philosopher Academic

Sidney Morgenbesser was a Jewish American philosopher and professor at Columbia University. He wrote little but is remembered by many for his philosophical witticisms. One of the best known anecdotes has J. L. Austin claiming that, although a double negative often implies a positive meaning (as is the case with "he is not unlike his sister"), there is no language in which a double positive implies a negative. To which Morgenbesser retorts: "Yeah, yeah." Another concerns Heidegger's "Why is there something rather than nothing?" To this Morgenbesser's response was: "And if there were nothing? You'd still be complaining!"