Né le 18 février 1936 à Vancouver, Canada.
Carrière professionnelle
- B. A., University of British Columbia (1956)
- B. A., Cambridge University (1957)
- M. A., Ph. D., Cambridge University (1962)
- Instructor, Princeton University (1961-1962)
- Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Virgnia (1962)
- Research Fellow, Peterhouse, Cambridge (1962-1964)
- Assistant, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia (1964-1967)
- Makerere University College, Kampala, Ouganda (1967-1969)
- Lecturer, Cambridge University, Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge (1969-1974)
- Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University (1974-1975)
- Professor, Department of Philosophy, Stanford University (1975-1982)
- Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung, Bielefeld (1982-1983)
- Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto (1983)
- Professeur au Collège de France (2000)
Distinctions honorifiques
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1986)
- Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University (1986-1987)
- Izaak Walton Killam Research Fellow (1986-1988)
- Tarner Lecturer, Trinity College, Cambridge (1988-1991)
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellow (1990-1991)
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991)
- Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy (1995)
- Pierre Janet Prize (pour le livre Rewriting the Soul) (1996)
- Prix Psyche (pour le livre L'Âme réécrite) (1999)
- Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (2000)
- LL.D. honoris causa, University of British Columbia (2001)
- Killam Prize for the Humanities (2002)
- Companion of the Order of Canada (2004)
- Prix Giulio Preti du Consiglio Regionale du Regione Toscana (2008)
- Médaille d'or du Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines (CRSH) du Canada (2008)
- Holberg International Memorial Prize (2009)
- Prix Balzan (2014)