Peter Suber
Encyclopedia
Peter Suber is the creator of the game
Nomic
and a leading voice in the open access movement. He is a senior research
professor
of philosophy
at Earlham College
, the open access project director at Public Knowledge
, a senior researcher
at SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
), and a Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center and Office for Scholarly Communication. He is a member of the Board of Enabling Open Scholarship, the Advisory Boards at the Wikimedia Foundation
, the Open Knowledge Foundation
, and the advisory boards of other organizations devoted to open access and an information commons.
Suber graduated from Earlham
in 1973, received a PhD
degree in philosophy
in 1978 and a JD
degree in 1982, both from Northwestern University
. He worked as a stand-up comic from 1976 to 1981, including an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
in 1976. Suber returned to Earlham College as a professor from 1982 to 2003 where he taught classes on philosophy, law
, logic
, and Kant
's Critique of Pure Reason
, among other topics.
Suber participated in the 2001 meeting that led to the world's first major international open access initiative, the Budapest Open Access Initiative
. He writes Open Access News and the SPARC Open Access Newsletter, considered the most authoritative blog
and newsletter
on open access. He is also the co-founder, with Robin Peek, of the Open Access Directory, and founder of the Open Access Tracking Project.
The American Library Association named Suber the winner of the L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award for 2011.
In philosophy, Suber is the author of The Paradox of Self-Amendment (Lang 1990), the first book-length study of self-referential
paradoxes in law, and The Case of the Speluncean Explorers: Nine New Opinions (Routledge 1998), the first book-length "rehearing" of Lon Fuller's classic, fictional case. He has also written many articles on self-reference, ethics, formal and informal logic, the philosophy of law, the history of philosophy, and open access to science and scholarship.
Suber is married to Liffey Thorpe, professor emerita of Classics
at Earlham College, with whom he has two daughters. Since 2003 he and Thorpe have resided in Brooksville, Maine.
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
Nomic
Nomic
Nomic is a game created in 1982 by philosopher Peter Suber in which the rules of the game include mechanisms for the players to change those rules, usually beginning through a system of democratic voting...
and a leading voice in the open access movement. He is a senior research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Earlham College
Earlham College
Earlham College is a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. It was founded in 1847 by Quakers and has approximately 1,200 students.The president is John David Dawson...
, the open access project director at Public Knowledge
Public Knowledge
Public Knowledge is a non-profit Washington, D.C.-based public interest group that is involved in intellectual property law, competition, and choice in the digital marketplace, and an open standards/end-to-end internet....
, a senior researcher
Researcher
A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...
at SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition is an international alliance of academic and research libraries developed by the Association of Research Libraries in 1998 which promotes open access to scholarship. They currently have over 800 institutions in North America, Europe, Japan,...
), and a Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center and Office for Scholarly Communication. He is a member of the Board of Enabling Open Scholarship, the Advisory Boards at the Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is an American non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, and organized under the laws of the state of Florida, where it was initially based...
, the Open Knowledge Foundation
Open Knowledge Foundation
The Open Knowledge Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that promotes open knowledge, including open content and open data. It was founded 24 May 2004 in Cambridge, UK...
, and the advisory boards of other organizations devoted to open access and an information commons.
Suber graduated from Earlham
Earlham
Earlham can refer to the following places:*Earlham Hall, a historic home in England*Earlham, Iowa*Earlham College, a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana*Earlham Cemetery, a historic cemetery adjacent to Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana...
in 1973, received a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
in 1978 and a JD
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree in 1982, both from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. He worked as a stand-up comic from 1976 to 1981, including an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
in 1976. Suber returned to Earlham College as a professor from 1982 to 2003 where he taught classes on philosophy, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, and Kant
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
's Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure Reason
The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant, first published in 1781, second edition 1787, is considered one of the most influential works in the history of philosophy. Also referred to as Kant's "first critique," it was followed by the Critique of Practical Reason and the Critique of Judgement...
, among other topics.
Suber participated in the 2001 meeting that led to the world's first major international open access initiative, the Budapest Open Access Initiative
Budapest Open Access Initiative
The Budapest Open Access Initiative was a conference convened by the Open Society Institute on December 1-2, 2001. This small gathering of individuals is recognised as one of the major historical, and defining, events of the open access movement....
. He writes Open Access News and the SPARC Open Access Newsletter, considered the most authoritative blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
and newsletter
Newsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
on open access. He is also the co-founder, with Robin Peek, of the Open Access Directory, and founder of the Open Access Tracking Project.
The American Library Association named Suber the winner of the L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award for 2011.
In philosophy, Suber is the author of The Paradox of Self-Amendment (Lang 1990), the first book-length study of self-referential
Self-reference
Self-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly—through some intermediate sentence or formula—or by means of some encoding...
paradoxes in law, and The Case of the Speluncean Explorers: Nine New Opinions (Routledge 1998), the first book-length "rehearing" of Lon Fuller's classic, fictional case. He has also written many articles on self-reference, ethics, formal and informal logic, the philosophy of law, the history of philosophy, and open access to science and scholarship.
Suber is married to Liffey Thorpe, professor emerita of Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
at Earlham College, with whom he has two daughters. Since 2003 he and Thorpe have resided in Brooksville, Maine.
External links
- Personal website
- Open Access News (Suber's blog)
- SPARC Open Access Newsletter (Suber's newsletter)
- Peter Suber's Writings on Open Access
- Peter Suber's writings on philosophy and other subjects
- Open Access Directory (OAD)
- Open Access Tracking Project (OATP)
- Peter Suber interviewed by Richard Poynder, #1 (October 2007)
- Peter Suber interviewed by Richard Poynder, #2 (July 2011)