Lives of Philosophers
CategoryThinking As Complex as the World: an Obituary for Mary Midgley (guest post by Ian James Kidd)
The following is an obituary for philosopher Mary Midgley, who died last week, written by Ian James Kidd (Nottingham). It first appeared on the SWIP-UK website. (more…)
Mary Midgley (1919-2018) (updated)
Mary Midgley, a well-known British moral philosopher, has died at age 99. (more…)
John J. McDermott (1932-2018)
John J. McDermott, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Texas A&M University, has died. (more…)
Albrecht Wellmer (1933-2018)
Albrecht Wellmer, emeritus professor of philosophy at Free University of Berlin, died on September 13th, age 85. (more…)
Stefan Baumrin (1934-2018)
Stefan Baumrin, emeritus professor of philosophy at Lehman College and the Graduate Center at City University of New York (CUNY), and emeritus professor of medical ethics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has died. (more…)
Sylvain Bromberger (1924-2018)
Sylvain Bromberger, professor emeritus of philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has died. (more…)
Bentham: Premier Posthumous Producer of Peculiar Pleasures
Jeremy Bentham is weirder than you thought. (more…)
Philosopher Marco Dees Dies in Climbing Accident
Marco Dees, adjunct assistant professor of philosophy at Vassar College, has died. He was 33. (more…)
New Release from Philosopher-Musician Olúfẹmi O. Táíwò
Looking for some good music? There’s a new EP out from Olúfẹmi O. Táíwò, a philosopher who just earned his PhD at UCLA and is starting as an assistant professor at Georgetown University this fall. (more…)
H. Tristram Engelhardt (1941-2018)
H. Tristram Engelhardt, Professor of History and Philosophy of Medicine at Rice University and Distinguished Emeritus Professor at Baylor College of Medicine, died last week, age 77. (more…)
Stanley Cavell (1926-2018) (updated)
Philosopher Stanley Cavell, Walter M. Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value, Emeritus, at Harvard University, has died. (more…)
Baruch Brody (1943-2018)
Philosopher Baruch Brody, Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emeritus of the Humanities at Rice University, died on May 30th. He was 75.
On Deciding To Become A Philosopher
If I knew then what I know now, I certainly would’ve “decided” to become a philosopher. But back when I was working my way here, I didn’t really know what a philosopher was, or why one would want to be one. I didn’t have the materials for making the relevant decision—and by the time I did, I was already a philosopher.
Resisting the “Serve Limitlessly” Narrative
Many institutions control your choices in various ways, and bend your time to their aims, by suggesting that you must serve limitlessly or else you have not adequately demonstrated your devotion to the mission. It is satisfying and empowering to ignore that narrative… (more…)
“The accomplishment I am most proud of is my relationship with the end of my life”
In June, 2016, Adam Hayden, then a philosophy student in his lower 30s, and also a husband and a father of three young boys, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer that attacks the brain or spinal cord. (more…)
James Montmarquet (1947-2018)
James Montmarquet, professor of philosophy at Tennessee State University, has died. (more…)
A Volunteer “Airbnb” for Short Term Academic Travel
Do you need to attend a conference but are short on travel funds? Do you have a guest room or extra place to sleep in your home that you’d be willing to offer to an early-career academic for a short while? (more…)
Impostor Syndrome: “a problem I don’t especially wish to solve”
‘Impostor syndrome’ describes a problem I don’t especially wish to solve. Its remedy is to recognise that one does in fact belong. Yet I can’t convince myself I want to fully belong—indeed, I would experience belonging as a loss. The reasons for this are several, though all converge on a conviction that being ill-adapted has a value I would not forfeit. (more…)..
What To Do About The Graduate Student Mental Health Crisis
A study of depression and anxiety among graduate students has found that 39% of its survey respondents “scored in the moderate-to-severe depression range.” (more…)
The Examined Illness
Darrel Moellendorf, professor of political theory and philosophy at Goethe University Frankfurt, survived. Nearly a year ago, he began chronicling his experience undergoing a stem cell transplant to treat his secondary myelofibrosis, a kind of bone-marrow cancer, that developed from his pre-existing essential thrombocythemia, at On Being (a) Patient. The treatment w..
Has Philosophy Affected Your Parenting? Or Vice Versa?
Philosopher-parents: how, if at all, has philosophy affected how you parent? And how, if at all, has being a parent affected your philosophical views? And is there wisdom about parenting to be found in the history of philosophy? (more…)
Lynne Rudder Baker (1944-2017)
Lynne Rudder Baker, Distinguished Professor Emerita in Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has died. (more…)
Bob Hale (1945 – 2017)
Bob Hale, emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Sheffield, died last week. He was 72 years old. (more…)
Eileen O’Neill, 1953-2017 (obituary by Christia Mercer)
The following is an obituary for philosopher Eileen O’Neill, who died last week, by Christia Mercer, the Gustave M. Berne Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and Director of the new Center for New Narratives of Philosophy, which is itself motivated by Eileen O’Neill’s work. (more…)
A Remembrance of Jerry Fodor, 1935-2017 (guest post by Georges Rey)
The following is an obituary for philosopher Jerry Fodor, who died earlier this week, by Georges Rey, professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland. (more…)
Jerry Fodor (1935-2017) (updated)
Jerry Fodor, one of the most influential philosophers of mind of the 20th Century, has died. (more…)
Victoria Davion (1960-2017)
Victoria Davion, professor of philosophy at the University of Georgia, has died. She was 57. (more…)
“People were absolutely vicious toward me”
The latest interview at What Is It Like To Be A Philosopher? is with Rebecca Tuvel, assistant professor of philosophy at Rhodes College. Clifford Sosis (Coastal Carolina) asks Professor Tuvel a range of questions, including several about her article in Hypatia, “In Defense of Transracialism,” and the controversy surrounding it. (more…)