Richard Arthur Wollheim (5 May 1923 − 4 November 2003) was a British philosopher noted for original work on mind and emotions, especially as related to the visual arts, specifically, painting. Wollheim served as the president of the British Society of Aesthetics from 1992 onwards until his death in 2003.
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Biography
Richard Wollheim was the son of Eric Wollheim, a theatre impresario, and Constance (Connie) Mary Baker, an actress who used the stage name Constance Luttrell. He attended Westminster School, London, and Balliol College, Oxford (1941–2, 1945–8), interrupted by active military service in World War II for which he volunteered. He obtained two first class BA degrees, one in History in 1946, the other in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1948. The same year, he began teaching at University College London, where he became Grote Professor of Mind and Logic and Department Head from 1963 to 1982.
He retired from that position to take up a professorship at Columbia University (1982–85). He then taught at the University of California at Berkeley (1985–2002). He chaired the Department at UC Berkeley, 1998–2002. Between 1989 and 1996 he split his time between Berkeley and the University of California, Davis, where he was Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities. Additionally, he held visiting positions at Harvard University, the University of Minnesota, Graduate Center, CUNY and elsewhere.