Background
Mink, Louis Otto was born on September 3, 1921 in Ada, Ohio, United States. Son of Louis Otto and Helen (Arndt) Mink.
Mink, Louis Otto was born on September 3, 1921 in Ada, Ohio, United States. Son of Louis Otto and Helen (Arndt) Mink.
Bachelor of Arts, Hiram (Ohio) College, 1942. Master of Arts, Yale University, 1948, Doctor of Philosophy, 1952. Master of Arts (honorary), Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 1965.
Mink and White were responsible for what would later be called the "linguistic turn" in philosophy of history. Mink received his bachelor"s degree from Hiram College, then served in the United States Army during World World War World War II After the war he received a masters and doctorate from Yale. While at Wesleyan he was chair of the philosophy department from 1967 to 1976, the Kenan Professor of Humanities and director of the Center for Humanities.
Mink"s largest contribution to history and philosophy of history was to emphasize the need for history to think of its published narratives as very similar to other narrative forms, such as fiction.
Mink"s also asserts that thinking about history as "a true representation of the past" gives rise to a great deal of assumptions amongst historians that pose serious problems for history by misrepresenting it and its subject matter. Mink was also important in studying James Joyce"s fiction.
Most notably, his "A Finnegans Wake Gazeteer" (1978) documents all the place names in Joyce"s Finnegan"s Wake.
Served with Army of the United States, 1942-1946, Pacific Theater of Operations. Member American Philosophical Association, American Association of University Professors, American Civil Liberties Union. Congregationalist.
Married Helen Louise Patterson, June 24, 1944. Children: Louis Otto III, Sarah Patterson, Stephen Dorrance.