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    The McMaster Department of Philosophy has now put together the following notice commemorating Barry: Barry Allen: A Philosophical Life Barry…

In Memoriam: Andrew Lugg (1942-2025)

Brian Leiter

Professor Lugg, who spent most of his career at the University of Ottawa, where he was emeritus, was perhaps best-known for his work on Wittgenstein, although also wrote in philosophy of science and on other figures in the history of analytic philosophy. Comments are open for remembrances from those who know Professor Lugg or for those who would like to comment on the significance of his work.

Philosopher Paul Forster at Ottawa kindly shared this memorial notice:

ANDREW LUGG (1942-2025)

Andrew Lugg died peacefully at home on October 7th, 2025. He was born in Redding, England in 1942. He obtained a B.Sc. (Eng.) from the University of London in 1965 and an M.S.E. from the University of Michigan in 1967. In 1974 he earned his PhD in philosophy, also from Michigan. In 1973 he joined The University of Ottawa, Canada where he taught for some 30 years with brief stints at universities in Belgium and the USA. He retired to Montreal in 2002. He was an International Fellow at the Center for the Study of Science in Society, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the recipient of numerous awards. He was married to renowned photographer Lynne Cohen from 1965 until her death in 2014.

After a decade or so writing on the philosophy of science, mainly on scientific disagreement and progress, Lugg turned to the history of analytic philosophy, notably Russell, Carnap, Quine and Wittgenstein. In addition to his numerous articles he is the author of Wittgenstein’s Investigations 1-133 (Routledge, 2000/2004), Pseudociencia, Racionalismo y Cientismo (2001), Wittgenstein’s Remarks on Colour (Anthem, 2021) and Wittgenstein on Colour (Cambridge University Press, 2025). Two weeks before he died, he finished a draft of a study of Quine’s philosophy: W.V. Quine: An Intermittent Commentary. Plans for its publication are in the works. 

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7 responses to “In Memoriam: Andrew Lugg (1942-2025)”

  1. Rick Ayers

    I knew Andrew back in Ann Arbor, MI, when he was a graduate student in mathematics and then switched to philosophy. A wonderful friend and intellectual, he was deeply involved in the Cinema Guilt which debated, showed, and promoted film. See Frank Uhle’s Cinema Ann Arbor (https://www.cinemaannarbor.com/) which has some accounts of Andrew.
    He met and married the wonderful Lynne Cohen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Cohen) , who was herself an accomplished photographer – i recently noticed a number of her pieces hanging in the Art Institute in Chicago. Lynne died in 2014.

    Reply
    1. David Zimmerman

      Thank you, Rick, for that notice of Andrew’s death.

      I too knew him in Ann Arbor. We were both graduate students in philosophy and members of a cinema discussion group (along with the late Hugh Cohen, the head of Cinema Guild).

      Andrew was a fine philosopher and a keen student of film. I have fond memories of many lively discussions with him.

      Reply
  2. Naomi Scheman

    Andrew Lugg was my colleague when I taught at the University of Ottawa from 1975 to 1979. He and his wife, the photographer Lynne Cohen, were my closest friends there, and we stayed in touch, including my visiting them, and later, after Lynne’s death, just Andrew, in Montreal. Andrew was a philosopher’s philosopher–a close, careful, and appreciatively critical reader and interpreter, whose own thinking emerged most strongly in his original and perceptive interpretations of others. I found that especially striking in his work on Wittgenstein on color, which was both a work of close exegesis and a strikingly distinctive way of reading Wittgenstein. He was a lovely man and an extraordinarily devoted husband, often traveling with Lynne to the remote sites where she was photographing, helping her with her cumbersome equipment, and then finding a place to read and write while she worked. After her death he devoted himself to managing her career, including participating in mounting an exhibit in Paris at the Pompidou. I knew he was working on a book on Quine, and I am so glad to hear that he completed a draft. I am grateful to those who will see to its publication.
    There’s an interesting conversation entitled “Two Feet on the Ground”, between Lynne and Andrew, on art and philosophy, on Lynne’s website (https://www.lynne-cohen.com/), under “Interviews”.

    Reply
  3. Michael Kremer

    I got to know Andrew in the past two years, after moving to Montreal upon my retirement. We had fairly regular monthly lunches to talk about our mutual interests, in Wittgenstein, and the history of analytic philosophy more generally. He was unfailingly fascinating — and always insisted on coming to my neighborhood. We were unable to meet for a couple of months in the summer but had talked about doing something in the fall — although I think he knew already that he was ill. It was a shock to discover he had died. He was a lovely man, and I will miss him.

    Reply
  4. Heather

    We will miss Andrew, as we’ve also missed his wife, Lynne, this past decade or so. Andrew was a philosophical colleague and long-time good friend of my husband, Béla Szabados. Both interested in and writing about philosophical topics, and they shared a long collaboration re: Wittgenstein. We kept in closer touch with Andrew in the last six or so months before his passing. Good journey, Andrew.

    Reply
  5. W. D. Hart

    Andrew Lugg came to graduate work at the University of Michigan with an undergraduate degree in engineering from University College London. At Michigan, I was one of his teachers, and he was the teaching assistant in my logic courses. It was an honor to work with him. Andrew and his wife Lynne Cohen and I developed a common interest in movies, especially the wonderful films of Yasujirō Ozu. Later, after Faith and I moved to London, where I taught at UCL, our friendship with Andrew and Lynne deepened. We saw them several times in London, visited with them in Ottawa, and met with them a couple of times in Chicago, where Lynne had relatives and where I was teaching at the University of Illinois Chicago. Andrew was a splendid friend. The world will echo with their absence.

    Reply
  6. Paul Forster

    Andrew was on the committee that hired me back in 1991. It was the start of a collaboration that lasted over 30 years. Though he always denied it, he had a rare talent for structuring philosophical prose to bring out its depth and complexity. He brought a similarly keen eye to art, film and music. Bluster, posing and pseudo- explanations were anathema. He read carefully, finding texts as written far more complex, interesting and plausible than alleged by those who fit them into some pet grand narrative about the development of philosophy or those who insist that what is “really going on” in them is somehow off the page, behind the scenes or between the lines. He was an excellent teacher and, to me, a model colleague, valued reader and firm friend. His death has left a big hole.

    Reply

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