Philosophy Memorial Notices
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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…
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In Memoriam: Dagfinn Føllesdal (1932-2026)
Professor Føllesdal, who was emeritus at both Stanford University (where he spent most of his career) and the University of Oslo (in his native Norway), was best-known for his work in philosophy of language, logic, and on phenomenology, especially Husserl. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Føllesdal or from those who…
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In Memoriam: David C. Hoy (1944-2026)
Professor Hoy, who was emeritus at the University of California at Santa Cruz, was a leading expert on 20th-century Continental philosophy, including hermeneutics, critical theory, and post-structuralism. He started his career teaching at Princeton University in the 1970s. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Hoy or for those who would like…
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In Memoriam: Elizabeth Spelman (1945-2025)
Professor Spelman, who was emerita at Smith College, where she taught for many years, died at the end of 2025. She was an early, and influential, figure in feminist philosophy, where she wrote widely. There is an obituary here. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Spelman or for those who wish…
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In Memoriam: Hide Ishiguro (1931-2026)
(MOVING TO FRONT FROM LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON, 2/20/26) Professor Ishiguro, who was emerita at Kyoto University in her native Japan, also taught for many years at University College London and Columbia University, before returning to Japan. She was best-known for her work on Leibniz, and also wrote on Wittgenstein. Comments are open for remembrances from…
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In Memoriam: Malcolm Budd (1941-2026)
Professor Budd, who was the emeritus Grote Professor at University College London, was best-known for his work in aesthetics, but had wide-ranging philosophical interests, ranging from philosophy of mind to Nietzsche and Wittgenstein. There is a bit more about his work and career at the British Academy page. I never met Professor Budd, but was…
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In Memoriam: Laurence Thomas (1949-2025)
Professor Thomas, who was emeritus at Syracuse University where he spent most of his career, wrote widely in moral and political philosophy, with a particular focus on moral psychology. There is an obituary here and you can read more about his work here. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Thomas or…
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In Memoriam: David Weberman (1955-2026)
(MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY, I PUBLISHED IT, BUT NOT TO THIS BLOG!) I was very sorry to learn from Kati Farkas that Professor Weberman has died. He was a serious scholar of 20th-century Continental philosophy, especially hermeneutics, who taught at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Georgia State University, and then for the last…
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Philosophers who died, 2025 edition
Memorial notices for the following philosophers were included on the blog this past year: Barry Allen, Karl Ameriks, George Bealer, Tom Beauchamp, Paul Benacerraf, Margaret Boden, Harry Deutsch, Michael Friedman, Paul Kalligas, David Keyt, Jonathan Lear, Andrew Lugg, Alasdair MacIntyre, George Pappas, John Searle, Krister Segerberg, Lawrence Sklar, Joseph Ullian, Robert Paul Wolff. Memorial notices,…
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In Memoriam: Barry Allen (1957-2025)
Professor Allen, who was one of Richard Rorty’s best-known students, was Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at McMaster University, where he spent most of his career. He wrote widely in epistemology, aesthetics, and on pragmatism. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Allen or for those who wish to comment on the…
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In Memoriam: Andrew Lugg (1942-2025)
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…
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In Memoriam: Jonathan Lear (1948-2025) (UPDATED; ORIGINALLY POSTED 9/22/25)
I’m very sorry to report that my colleague Jonathan Lear died this morning. During his long career, he taught at Cambridge University, Yale University, and the University of Chicago, and wrote importantly on Aristotle and Freud, as well as on a range of topics in ethics (broadly speaking). You can learn more about his work…
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In Memoriam: John Searle (1932-2025)
Professor Searle, who taught for decades at the University of California at Berkeley, wrote widely and influentially in philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. (See, e.g., the entries at SEP on speech acts,”the Chinese room” argument and “social institutions” for a sense of his work and its influence..) In 2017, he was the target…
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In Memoriam: George Pappas (1942-2025)
Professor Pappas, who was emeritus at Ohio State University, where he spent most of his career, was well-known for his work in epistemology and on the philosophy of George Berkeley. There is an obituary here. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Pappas or for those who would like to comment on…
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