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Professor Waller, who was emeritus at Youngstown State University, was a leading defender of skepticism about free will and moral responsibility. There is an obituary here. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew him or who would like to comment on the significance of his work.
(Thanks to David Gordon and Gregg Caruso for the information.)
Bruce was a dear friend and one of the kindest philosophers I've ever met. Both his friendship and his work touched me deeply and enriched my life. I owe a great deal of my philosophical thinking to him. I would not be where I am today without Bruce! He read my dissertation way back when, wrote a blurb for my first book, and eventually became a close friend and mentor. I will miss him dearly.
Bruce Waller deserves a lot of credit for being one of the early free-will-skeptics in recent decades, before the position got as much serious attention as it does now. Like Richard Double, Waller was making skeptical arguments in the 80s and early 90s, before Pereboom brought the position back into the center of the conversation. I especially liked Walker’s three short papers in Analysis in the 80s and early 90s. Each one was very well crafted and well argued. I could even use them in undergraduate classes, to great effect.
Bruce’s work made a big impact on me, and he was always a source of warmth and encouragement in a way I’ve found to be really rare in the discipline.
I was in grad school at UNC around the time Bruce was there. He was a person blessed with an aura of equanimity, and, as noted by others, a kind person as well. He brought me to Elon College when he was there, to perform my pseudoscience show, and hosted a nice party for me after the show. When Bruce went to Youngstown State, he really came alive with publishing. His articles and books about the free will problem will be on library shelves for decades to come. He was a good man who did good work. May be all be so accounted.
I'm thankful to him and for the causes that flowed through him. Bruce Waller's philosophical arguments changed my life by breaking Dennett's compatibilist spell.
Bruce and I were total strangers when we bumped into each at an APA conference. Somehow, we chatted for hours. While we had only very few communications during the last 35 years (or so), I always think of him as gregarious and kind. Over the years, I've been asked to write blurbs for a couple of his books; it was always a real pleasure to do so. Unaffected, cogent writing, with substantive content is no mean feat.
Like Doug I was in graduate school with Bruce. He was a kind and gentle man, and an excellent philosopher, in a time and place where those things did not easily go together. His work deserved more attention than it has gotten thus far.
I did not know Professor Waller personally, but his work, along with Double's, Caruso's, and especially Neil Levy's moved me to skepticism en route to my present pragmatic stance on FW. A wonderful, clear writer.
I can't think of many philosophers who have influenced me more in the last decade. I came across his writings just at the right moment as my own skepticism about free will was nudging ever closer to the precipice. Bruce's words pushed me over the edge; they were truly mindblowing. In our few personal correspondences he was always so warm and encouraging. He will be deeply missed.
Bruce Waller was the external examiner for my Ph.D. thesis in 2015. I was thrilled he agreed to participate given my admiration for his work, which I still think is the most probative done on the moral responsibility issue. That my work impressed him some remains a source of great pride. He kindly drove all the way up to Ottawa, Canada for my defence. Our interaction was brief but I will never forget the vibrant kindness of his manner and the generosity of his conversation. It means a lot to me to have met him, and I am very sorry he is gone.
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