John Randolph Lucas (born 18 June, 1929) is a philosopher. He was for 36 years, until his retirement in 1996, a Fellow and Tutor of Merton College, Oxford, and remains an emeritus member of the University Faculty of Philosophy.
As an undergraduate, he studied first mathematics, then Greats (Philosophy and Ancient History), before settling into philosophy as a graduate. His philosophical interests have included inter alia the implications of Gödel's incompleteness theorem, problems of mind and will, philosophy of science, space-time and causation, political principles, ethical behaviour particularly in business, and aspects of religion. Lucas is well known for a paper Minds, Machines and Gödel in which he argues that that a human mathematician cannot be represented accurately by an automaton.
Beside his philosophical career, Lucas has taken a practical interest in ethical behaviour in business. He helped found the Oxford Consumers' Group [1], and was its first Chairman in 1961-3, serving again in 1965.
The son of a Church of England clergyman, Lucas describes himself as "a dyed-in-the-wool traditional Englishman". He married in 1961 Morar Portal, and they have four children. Sartorially independent, he may be remembered for a cool-weather habit of wearing a tie over his sweater under a jacket.
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Career Highlights
Books
Lucas's home page lists his other publications.
