David Malet Armstrong

I was very sad to hear of David's death. I recall so many stimulating conversations led by him at my parent's house at 30 Wilson St Cammeray. In later life he also conversed with my son Rupert about the philosophy of mathematics and my mother Ann organised special lunches in which David and Rupert would retire to test some philosophical problem. I was very sad not to hear of his death until after his funeral. He made an outstanding contribution, always passionate and lucid, to Sydney...

David was the most intellectually honest philosopher I have ever known. He never argued for victory; he never claimed more for an argument than it showed; when a position of his had weakness at the heart, he was quick to acknowledge that; he listened to all objections from anyone and addressed them fairly; and he made his own objections to his own work and revised in light of them, well into old age. I wish I could say the same.

This is indeed sad news. I am just one of the many philosophers, especially Australian philosophers, for whom David was both an early and a continuing inspiration. My very first experience of philosophy was as a 17 year old youth in a small evening class meeting, listening to David as he sat there, in effortless command of the moment. Like others before and since, I was enthralled as his calm and rigorous mind went to work. He was so impressive.

Dear Jenny,

We are very sad that David is gone. We will remember his penetrating intelligence and kind warmth. Our sympathies to you.

David Armstrong was, for me, a true philosopher - and also a very kind man (these two do not necessarily coincide). In this sense, he was an example I always wanted to follow. My sincere sympathy to his family and friends.

There's a huge hole in the world now. May he rest.

David Armstrong's death is the loss of a great figure in Australian philosophy, and of a major contributor to modern philosophical debate. But it is also the loss of a very decent man, with a powerful sense of intellectual and moral rectitude. As a neighbour throughout his later years, I will not forget the sight of his increasingly thin and stooped frame as he crossed the road for lunchtime resources, nor the undimmed enthusiasm for conversation, not least when attention turned to...