David Berman (1942-2026)
David Berman, Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College Dublin, has died.
Professor Berman was known for his work on the philosophy of George Berkeley, Irish philosophy, and philosophy of religion. He is the author of A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell (1988), George Berkeley: Idealism and the Man (1994), Berkeley (1997), Berkeley and Irish Philosophy (2005), Consciousness from Descartes to Ayer (2021), and Whately’s Historic Doubts about Napoleon’s Existence and the Preliminary Question (2025), among other works. You can learn more about his writing here.
Berman starting teaching at Trinity College Dublin in 1968 while earning his PhD in philosophy there. He earned an MA in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Denver, and his BA at the New School for Social Research. He was originally from Brooklyn.
He died on July 28th.
The TCD Department of Philosophy has posted its own memorial notice here.
I did not meet David very many times when I was studying at TCD, but he nevertheless discussed my doctoral research in great length with me, offering much by way of advice and useful direction, at a point when it was particularly helpful. I am hugely saddened to hear of his passing, and remain grateful to him for the part he played in my own academic journey.