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Professor Keyt, a longtime member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was emeritus, died January 31. He was well-known for his work on ancient moral and political philosophy. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Keyt or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work.
I had known David since early on at UC Davis, when he stayed with us on a speaking visit. At some point he observed that our research focus had followed oddly similar paths. Thus began a long friendship. Personally and professionally he was not your "standard" academic, but marched to his own philosophical tune. I was always glad to see him and when I did, he always wanted to know what I was working on. I have missed him these past several years, but his death makes the sense of loss far greater. Thank you for your friendship, David, and may you rest in peace.
I met David shortly after arriving at UW in 2013. He was retired then, but would regularly come into the department during summer months. We started having lunch semi-regularly to talk shop. David was 'old school' in a variety of ways, and I'm less so. Yet he was a wonderfully patient, curious interlocutor. It's rare to find someone who genuine pauses to *think* in a conversation the way David did. I could throw out a semi-coherent, rambling thought, and he'd take a full 20 seconds to chew it over before responding – with the result always being subtle and insightful. His love of philosophy and philosophical conversation ran deep, and I'll miss him.
I attended a seminar that David Keyt gave on Aristotle’s Politics at Princeton in 1988 or so. He was a careful, patient, and dignified scholar, and many of us in attendance benefitted from his teaching.
I got to know Professor Keyt while I was a graduate student at UW. I took the required Advanced Logic class with him as well as a seminar on Plato's Republic. He must have been around 75 or 76 when I was in his logic class and approaching 80 when the seminar occurred. He was an absolute intellectual powerhouse. As a result of that seminar, oriented around a careful reading of the Republic, I have regularly included parts of it in many of my own courses. I'm not sure I would have chosen to do that had I not been able to read Plato with Professor Keyt. I imagine that the same can be said for many others who had the opportunity to learn from him. That's an enduring legacy if ever there was one.
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