Alphonso Lingis (1933-2025)
Alphonso Lingis, professor emeritus of philosophy at Penn State University, has died.
Professor Lingis specialized in phenomenology, existentialism, modern philosophy, and continental philosophy. He was known for his unique style which, according to the publisher of a compilation of his writings, “blends travel writing, cultural anthropology, and personal accounts of his innumerable experiences as an active participant in the adventures and relationships that fill his life.” He is the author of over 15 books, including Excesses: Eros and Culture (1983), Phenomenological Explanations (1986), Abuses (1994), The Community of Those Who Have Nothing in Common (1994), Dangerous Emotions (2000), and Irrevocable: A Philosophy of Mortality (2018), to name a few. He was also a translator of the works of Merleau-Ponty and Levinas, as well as a photographer. You can learn more about his writings here and here.
Lingis was a professor at Penn State since the 1960s. Prior to that, he taught at Duquesne University. He earned his PhD from the Catholic University of Leuven and his undergraduate degree at Loyola University in Chicago.
In an interview at The Believer, Lingis connected philosophy to freedom and equality, saying:
The original philosophical practice was to formulate statements that do not depend on the authority figures, tradition, ancestors, or gods of a particular community. The philosophical practice submits statements to the contestation and judgment of anyone endowed with insight… This discursive practice entails practical and political projects that oppose silencing groups of people, manufacturing consent, oppression, and exploitation.
He died on May 8th, 2025.
See also: Itinerant Philosophy: On Alphonso Lingis, an open access collection edited by Bobby George and Tom Sparrow.
Terrible news. I studied with Lingis at Penn State in the late 70s. I was a computer science major at the time (and earned a BS CS), but he constantly encouraged me to go into philosophy. His house in State College was legendary, filled with birds and religious artifacts from around the world. His generosity and kindness were unparalleled. He was always available for conversations with students, and lots of us, grads and undergrads, gathered at his house regularly for discussions long into the night. If anybody taught me to think philosophically, it was him. I kept in touch with him after I graduated, and he continued to insist that I go into philosophy. Eventually, I took his advice. I owe him an enormous debt.
RIP. Very few people who heard a Lingis talk, read one of his books, took one of his courses, or visited his State College home will forget the experience.
Indeed, John. What an extraordinary thinker and unforgettable individual he was.
One of a kind! It would be impossible to forget him.
Unquestionably so, Eric. I took his Husserl seminar my first semester at Penn State, just back from a Fulbright year in West Germany. Reverse culture shock doesn’t begin to describe my experience in Al’s course! May he rest in peace.
My time with Lingis for the M.A. was life-changing. Off the top of my head I can’t name a single living person who writes better English prose than Lingis, in any field. And as wild as he could sometimes seem, he had a very finely tuned ethical sensor, whether you agreed with his assessments or not.
Alphonso Lingis was our contemporary Aristotle. That is to say, he was a polymath who taught bravery as the first among virtues. And he embodied this knowledge and bravery in his literature and his life. I had the luck of engaging with Dr. Lingis over the last few decades and he changed my life forever.
thanks for sharing this, he was a lovely man and a very generous scholar, while he wrote about some thorny subjects his abiding love for people and the world always shone through.
I have admired his work for years from afar. I was surprised when I found out that he had read my book, which he mentioned in his interview with the Believer (linked above).
Here is what he said, and it warmed me so much to read his take on it: Andy Couturier (A Different Kind of Luxury: Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance [2010]) went to visit eleven Japanese men and women who lived with minimal money. They had found places on mountain terrains to live; they grew their own food and grew some food to sell; they made and sold pottery to earn what they needed. All the hours of the day they spent doing what they wanted to do—reading, writing, making music, growing things, making meals, meditating. They did not spend forty hours a week doing what they were ordered to do. Couturier found they reported they were living luxurious lives.
What can writers do? Celebrate abundance. [German philosopher] Karim Benammar writes to show us that we live in an abundance beyond all our needs. The abundance of plant, insect, and bird life in our back garden, supplying beauty and marvels and enigmas. The abundance of energies we have to be astonished, delighted, entranced. The abundance of sensibilities and energies we have to entertain people about us, to support and empower them, to accompany them when their paths become painful.
So many commodities make us feel we are needy only in ways we did not recognize, but some products do open upon abundance. Today’s communication technologies make available the immense richness of books and films, the works of the greatest thinkers and discoverers and of the most hilarious adventurers, the most exultant dreamers.
Al will be greatly missed. I was lucky enough to meet him and care for his feathered and aquatic friends for the past few years . He was a very kind, compassionate and interesting person.
Rest easy Al.
Not forgotten in spite of so many years…