Dan Sperber, professor in the Departments of Cognitive Science and Philosophy, has been elected an honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the scientific community in Hungary. Honorary membership is awarded to non-Hungarian citizens who advance research on an internationally recognized level “and whose achievement is worthy of the special esteem of Hungarian scientific life.”
Sperber is a French social and cognitive scientist, the author of numerous articles in anthropology, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology and of the books “Rethinking Symbolism” (Cambridge University Press, 1975), “On Anthropological Knowledge” (Cambridge University Press, 1985), and “Explaining Culture” (Blackwell, 1996). In these three books, he developed a naturalistic approach to culture. Sperber is also the co-author, with Deirdre Wilson (Department of Linguistics, University College, London), of “Relevance: Communication and Cognition” (Blackwell, 1986, Second Revised Edition, 1995), and “Meaning and Relevance” (Cambridge University Press, 2012). Sperber and Wilson have developed a cognitive approach to communication known as ‘Relevance Theory.’





