Philosophy Memorial Notices
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In Memoriam: Robert Alexy (1945-2026)
Professor Alexy, who was emeritus at the University of Kiel in Germany (where he spent most of his academic career), was better-known and quite influential throughout the civil law world (and especially in South America) for his formal theory of proportionality and balancing in constitutional adjudication. He was also a defender of an anti-positivist theory…
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In Memoriam: Gabriele Taylor (1927-2026)
Dr. Taylor, who spent her career at Oxford University, where she was a fellow and tutor at St. Anne’s College, was best-known for her work in moral psychology and the philosophy of emotions. The St. Anne’s memorial notice is here. Philosopher Roger Crisp, who called this to my attention, notes that, “Her collected essays, as…
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In Memoriam: David Charles (1947-2026)
Professor Charles, who was emeritus at Yale (where he taught from 2014 to 2023), was a leading scholar of ancient philosophy, especially Aristotle. Prior to Yale, he taught at Oxford from 1979 until his move to Yale. Most recently, he was visiting professor of philosophy at Stanford. Comments are open for remembrances from those who…
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In Memoriam: Anthony Kenny (1931-2026)
Professor Kenny, who spent his career at Oxford University (where he was also Master of Balliol College), wrote widely in the history of philosophy, free will, Wittgenstein, and philosophy of religion (where he was a leading “analytical Thomist”). Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Kenny or for those who wish to…
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In Memoriam: David Berman (1942-2026)
Professor Berman, who spent his career at Trinity College Dublin, was well-known for his work on Berkeley and also on Schopenhauer, and also wrote widely on Irish philosophy. The TCD memorial notice is here. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Berman or for those who wish to comment on the significance…
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In Memoriam: Alan Soble (1947-2025)
Professor Soble, emeritus at the University of New Orleans, died last year. Philosopher Raja Halwani at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago kindly shared this lovely tribute to his friend and collaborator: A Tribute to Alan Soble Raja Halwani Alan Soble died on March 5, 2025. I didn’t know that he had…
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In Memoriam: Thomas E. Hill, Jr. (1937-2026) (MOVING TO FRONT FROM JULY 22–READERS WHO MISSED IT MAY ENJOY THE SPLENDID TRIBUTES TO PROFESSOR HILL IN THE COMMENTS)
Professor Hill was a leading moral philosopher, known especially for his work on Kantian ethics. He was emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he taught from 1984 until his retirement in 2017 (he taught at UCLA from 1968 until his move to Chapel Hill). Comments are open for remembrances from…
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In Memoriam: George Graham (1945-2026)
Professor Graham was well-known for his work in philosophy of mind, psychology and psychiatry. Philosopher Eddy Nahamias at Georgia State kindly shared this obituary: After a long illness, George Graham died at his home in Birmingham, Alabama on July 2, 2026. After earning his BA in philosophy from Fordham in 1967, George went on to…
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In Memoriam: Virginia Held (1929-2026)
Professor Held, who was emerita at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, was best-known for her influential work on the ethics of care, but wrote widely in political and feminist philosophy. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Held or for those who would like…
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In Memoriam: Dale Dorsey (1976-2026)
Professor Dorsey, who moved a couple of years ago from the University of Kansas to Oxford University, was perhaps best-known for his work in moral philosophy. Philosopher Aaron Garrett writes: It is with great shock and sadness that I report the sudden passing of Dale Dorsey. Dale recently moved to Somerville College Oxford after having…
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In Memoriam: William McBride (1938-2026)
Profesor McBride, who was emeritus at Purdue University, was especially well-known for his work on Sartre, as well as on Marxist theory and on topics in social and political philosophy as well. There is an obituary here. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor McBride or for those who would like to…
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In Memoriam: Steven L. Reynolds (1956-2026)
Professor Reynolds, a longtime member of the philosophy faculty at Arizona State University (where he was emeritus), was well-known for his work on a variety of topics in epistemology. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Reynolds or for those who would like to comment on the significance of his work.
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In Memoriam: W.D. Hart (1943-2026)
Professor Hart, well-known for his work in philosophy of mathematics and philosophical logic, was emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he taught for nearly two decades, after a comparably long stint at University College London. This is from the UIC memorial notice: The philosopher W. D. Hart, age 83, died in Mexico…
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In Memoriam: Jurgen Habermas (1929-2026)
Professor Habermas was the transitional figure between the original Frankfurt School of critical theory of Horkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse and its modern manifestation as normative moral and political philosophy, of the kind familiar in the Anglophone tradition. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Habermas or for those who wish to comment…
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In Memoriam: Susan Haack (1945-2026)
Professor Haack was a well-known contributor to epistemology and philosophy of logic, who started her academic career at the University of Warwick, and spent the bulk of her career (since 1990) at the University of Miami, where she taught in both the philosophy department and law school. There is a brief memorial notice from Miami…
My “headline” was a reference to the earlier thread on “existential” risk. I’ve written multiple times about the threat to…