death
TagUmberto Eco (1932-2016)
Umberto Eco, known to the world as the author of novels such as The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum, has died. Obituaries have appeared in mamy outlets (e.g., New York Times, NPR, The Guardian, The Telegraph). Eco was also an academic, working in philosophy and semiotics. He’s quoted in several articles as saying, “I am a philosopher. I write novels only on..
Death and Progress
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. — Max Planck
In a recent paper, “Does Science Advance One Funeral at a Time?“, Pierre Azoulay (MIT), Christian Fons-Rosen (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), and Josh..
William Craig (1918-2016)
William Craig, professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, has died. Craig worked mainly in logic and philosophy of science, and is known for, among other things, what has come to be called Craig’s Interpolation Theorem.
UPDATE: See this announcement from the Berkeley Philosophy Department (via Richard Zach).
Aldo Antonelli (1962 – 2015) (several updates)
G. Aldo Antonelli, professor of philosophy at the University of California, Davis, died unexpectedly earlier this week. Professor Antonelli was known largely for his work in logic. Prior to taking up his position at UC Davis, he also taught for many years at UC Irvine, and held appointments at Pittsburgh, Yale, Stanford, Michigan State, and elsewhere. You can learn ..
How Many Police Shootings Are Too Many?
Let’s step back and be honest. This is a big country. Thousands of dangerous confrontations occur between police and civilians, decisions need to be made in a split second and under duress. Tragic mistakes will happen. And beyond innocent mistakes” we can surely foresee some “mistakes” that won’t be innocent. In investigating these cases we can, sadly, also predict ..
Gillian Bennett, Dementia, and Assisted Suicide
I will take my life today around noon. It is time. Dementia is taking its toll and I have nearly lost myself. I have nearly lost me. Jonathan, the straightest and brightest of men, will be at my side as a loving witness….
We do NOT talk much about how we die. Yet facing death is thoroughly interesting and absorbing and challenging. I have choices which I have revie..
Jean Harvey (1955-2014)
Jean Harvey, a philosopher at the University of Guelph, has died. Harvey worked mainly in political philosophy, ethics, and feminist philosophy. There is a more detailed remembrance of her at Feminist Philosophers.