 He was noted for his collaboration with Peter Hacker and his disagreements with Michael Dummett.Baker was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard University (major in mathematics), and, as a Marshall Scholar, at The Queen's College, Oxford, where he intended to read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics but transferred to Literae Humaniores (1960).He pursued his doctorate (1963–70) while teaching at the University of Kent and latterly as a Fellow of St John's College, Oxford.