Philosophers who have died recently
July 11th 2007 00:31
Okay, I don't know if you've noticed, but there's been an uncanny number of well-known philosopher-types who've been dying off lately. So I decided to make a list.
And then the list kept growing. So now the criteria for membership are: (a) they died after 1899; (b) I'm intellectually interested in their stuff; and (c) the stuff of theirs that I'm into I don't regard as primarily artistic.
Obviously this is going to be very very idiosyncratic (and, obviously, everyone makes this disclaimer), but at any rate I find the task amusing. And it gives me some sort of insight into the terms in which and problems around which I think, and into how limited my radar is. -- A couple of literary theorists, sociologists, and psychologists. Few to none economists, scientists, politicians, historians, activists, philologists, logicians, religious figures, mystics, self-help gurus, Asians, Middle-Easterns, Australian philosophers, or women.
Very tempting to make the more morbid companion list -- people I'm interested in who are about to die, given that on average it happens in your seventies. But I don't want Hilary Putnam, Noam Chomsky, Ronald Dworkin, John Searle, Jurgen Habermas, or anyone else to stop by this page and get a heart attack.
Will add to the list from time to time. (Insert horror-film laugh)
Richard McKay Rorty (4 October 1931 -- 8 June 2007)
Jean Baudrillard (29 July 1929 -- 6 March 2007)
Peter Frederick Strawson (23 November 1919 -- 13 February 2006)
Paul Ricoeur (27 February 1913 -- 20 May 2005)
Susan Sontag (16 January 1933 -- 28 December 2004)
Jacques Derrida (15 July 1930 -- 8 October 2004)
Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 -- 25 September 2003)
Donald Herbert Davidson (6 March 1917 -- 30 August 2003)
Bernard Arthur Owen Williams (21 September 1929 -- 10 June 2003)
John Rawls (21 February 1921 -- 24 November 2002)
Hans-Georg Gadamer (11 February 1900 -- 13 March 2002)
Robert Nozick (16 November 1938 -- 23 January 2002)
David Kellogg Lewis (28 September 1941 -- 14 October 2001)
Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (18 March 1919 -- 5 January 2001)
Willard Van Orman Quine (25 June 1908 -- 25 December 2000)
Henry Nelson Goodman (7 August 1906 -- 25 November 1998)
Jean-Francois Lyotard (10 August 1924 -- 21 April 1998)
Thomas Samuel Kuhn (18 July 1922 -- 17 June 1996)
Emmanuel Levinas (12 January 1906 -- 25 December 1995)
Gilles Deleuze (18 January 1925 -- 4 November 1995)
Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 -- 17 September 1994)
Paul Karl Feyerabend (13 January 1924 -- 11 February 1994)
Pierre-Felix Guattari (30 April 1930 -- 29 August 1992)
Herman Northrop Frye (14 July 1912 -- 23 January 1991)
Louis Pierre Althusser (16 October 1918 -- 23 October 1990)
Wilfrid Stalker Sellars (20 May 1912 -- 2 July 1989)
Alfred Jules Ayer (29 October 1910 -- 27 June 1989)
Max Black (24 February 1909 -- 27 August 1988)
Simone de Beauvoir (9 January 1908 --- 14 April 1986)
Michel Foucault (15 October 1926 -- 25 June 1984)
Roman Osipovich Jakobson (11 October 1896 -- 18 July 1982)
Jacques-Marie-Emile Lacan (13 April 1901 -- 9 September 1981)
John Leslie Mackie (1917 -- 1981)
Jean Piaget (9 August 1896 -- 16 September 1980)
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (21 June 1905 -- 15 April 1980)
Roland Barthes (12 November 1915 -- 25 March 1980)
Herbert Marcuse (19 July 1898 -- 29 July 1979)
Gilbert Ryle (19 August 1900 -- 6 October 1976)
Martin Heidegger (26 September 1889 -- 26 May 1976)
Hannah Arendt (14 October 1906 -- 4 December 1975)
Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin (17 November 1895 -- 7 March 1975)
Imre Lakatos (9 November 1922 -- 2 February 1974)
Max Horkheimer (14 February 1895 -- 7 July 1973)
György Lukács (13 April 1885 -- 4 June 1971)
Bertrand Arthur William Russell (18 May 1872 -- 2 February 1970)
Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno (11 September 1903 -- 6 August 1969)
Martin Buber (8 February 1878 -- 13 June 1965)
Georges Bataille (10 September 1897 -- 9 July 1962)
Carl Gustav Jung (26 July 1875 -- 6 June 1961)
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (14 March 1908 -- 4 May 1961)
George Edward Moore (4 November 1873 -- 24 October 1958)
George Santayana (16 December 1863 -- 26 September 1952)
John Dewey (20 October 1859 -- 1 June 1952)
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 -- 29 April 1951)
Joseph Alois Schumpeter (8 February 1883 -- 8 January 1950)
Alfred North Whitehead (15 February 1861 -- 30 December 1947)
Simone Weil (3 February 1909 -- 24 August 1943)
Henri-Louis Bergson (18 October 1859 -- 4 January 1941)
Sigismund Schlomo Freud (6 May 1856 -- 23 September 1939)
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (8 April 1859 -- 26 April 1938)
George Herbert Mead (27 February 1863 -- 26 April 1931)
Frank Plumpton Ramsey (22 February 1903 -- 19 January 1930)
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (8 November 1848 -- 26 July 1925)
Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (21 April 1864 -- 14 June 1920)
Émile Durkheim (15 April 1858 -- 15 November 1917)
Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Brentano (16 January 1838 -- 17 March 1917)
Charles Sanders Peirce (10 September 1839 -- 19 April 1914)
Ferdinand de Saussure (26 November 1857 -- 22 February 1913)
Wilhelm Dilthey (19 November 1833 -- 1 October 1911)
Henry Sidgwick (31 May 1838 -- 28 August 1900)
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 -- 25 August 1900)
And then the list kept growing. So now the criteria for membership are: (a) they died after 1899; (b) I'm intellectually interested in their stuff; and (c) the stuff of theirs that I'm into I don't regard as primarily artistic.
Obviously this is going to be very very idiosyncratic (and, obviously, everyone makes this disclaimer), but at any rate I find the task amusing. And it gives me some sort of insight into the terms in which and problems around which I think, and into how limited my radar is. -- A couple of literary theorists, sociologists, and psychologists. Few to none economists, scientists, politicians, historians, activists, philologists, logicians, religious figures, mystics, self-help gurus, Asians, Middle-Easterns, Australian philosophers, or women.
Very tempting to make the more morbid companion list -- people I'm interested in who are about to die, given that on average it happens in your seventies. But I don't want Hilary Putnam, Noam Chomsky, Ronald Dworkin, John Searle, Jurgen Habermas, or anyone else to stop by this page and get a heart attack.
Will add to the list from time to time. (Insert horror-film laugh)
Richard McKay Rorty (4 October 1931 -- 8 June 2007)
Jean Baudrillard (29 July 1929 -- 6 March 2007)
Peter Frederick Strawson (23 November 1919 -- 13 February 2006)
Paul Ricoeur (27 February 1913 -- 20 May 2005)
Susan Sontag (16 January 1933 -- 28 December 2004)
Jacques Derrida (15 July 1930 -- 8 October 2004)
Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 -- 25 September 2003)
Donald Herbert Davidson (6 March 1917 -- 30 August 2003)
Bernard Arthur Owen Williams (21 September 1929 -- 10 June 2003)
John Rawls (21 February 1921 -- 24 November 2002)
Hans-Georg Gadamer (11 February 1900 -- 13 March 2002)
Robert Nozick (16 November 1938 -- 23 January 2002)
David Kellogg Lewis (28 September 1941 -- 14 October 2001)
Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (18 March 1919 -- 5 January 2001)
Willard Van Orman Quine (25 June 1908 -- 25 December 2000)
Henry Nelson Goodman (7 August 1906 -- 25 November 1998)
Jean-Francois Lyotard (10 August 1924 -- 21 April 1998)
Thomas Samuel Kuhn (18 July 1922 -- 17 June 1996)
Emmanuel Levinas (12 January 1906 -- 25 December 1995)
Gilles Deleuze (18 January 1925 -- 4 November 1995)
Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 -- 17 September 1994)
Paul Karl Feyerabend (13 January 1924 -- 11 February 1994)
Pierre-Felix Guattari (30 April 1930 -- 29 August 1992)
Herman Northrop Frye (14 July 1912 -- 23 January 1991)
Louis Pierre Althusser (16 October 1918 -- 23 October 1990)
Wilfrid Stalker Sellars (20 May 1912 -- 2 July 1989)
Alfred Jules Ayer (29 October 1910 -- 27 June 1989)
Max Black (24 February 1909 -- 27 August 1988)
Simone de Beauvoir (9 January 1908 --- 14 April 1986)
Michel Foucault (15 October 1926 -- 25 June 1984)
Roman Osipovich Jakobson (11 October 1896 -- 18 July 1982)
Jacques-Marie-Emile Lacan (13 April 1901 -- 9 September 1981)
John Leslie Mackie (1917 -- 1981)
Jean Piaget (9 August 1896 -- 16 September 1980)
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (21 June 1905 -- 15 April 1980)
Roland Barthes (12 November 1915 -- 25 March 1980)
Herbert Marcuse (19 July 1898 -- 29 July 1979)
Gilbert Ryle (19 August 1900 -- 6 October 1976)
Martin Heidegger (26 September 1889 -- 26 May 1976)
Hannah Arendt (14 October 1906 -- 4 December 1975)
Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin (17 November 1895 -- 7 March 1975)
Imre Lakatos (9 November 1922 -- 2 February 1974)
Max Horkheimer (14 February 1895 -- 7 July 1973)
György Lukács (13 April 1885 -- 4 June 1971)
Bertrand Arthur William Russell (18 May 1872 -- 2 February 1970)
Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno (11 September 1903 -- 6 August 1969)
Martin Buber (8 February 1878 -- 13 June 1965)
Georges Bataille (10 September 1897 -- 9 July 1962)
Carl Gustav Jung (26 July 1875 -- 6 June 1961)
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (14 March 1908 -- 4 May 1961)
George Edward Moore (4 November 1873 -- 24 October 1958)
George Santayana (16 December 1863 -- 26 September 1952)
John Dewey (20 October 1859 -- 1 June 1952)
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 -- 29 April 1951)
Joseph Alois Schumpeter (8 February 1883 -- 8 January 1950)
Alfred North Whitehead (15 February 1861 -- 30 December 1947)
Simone Weil (3 February 1909 -- 24 August 1943)
Henri-Louis Bergson (18 October 1859 -- 4 January 1941)
Sigismund Schlomo Freud (6 May 1856 -- 23 September 1939)
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (8 April 1859 -- 26 April 1938)
George Herbert Mead (27 February 1863 -- 26 April 1931)
Frank Plumpton Ramsey (22 February 1903 -- 19 January 1930)
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (8 November 1848 -- 26 July 1925)
Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (21 April 1864 -- 14 June 1920)
Émile Durkheim (15 April 1858 -- 15 November 1917)
Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Brentano (16 January 1838 -- 17 March 1917)
Charles Sanders Peirce (10 September 1839 -- 19 April 1914)
Ferdinand de Saussure (26 November 1857 -- 22 February 1913)
Wilhelm Dilthey (19 November 1833 -- 1 October 1911)
Henry Sidgwick (31 May 1838 -- 28 August 1900)
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 -- 25 August 1900)
| 89 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Damo
Did it ever cross your mind that some of these people may have died years before they were buried?
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Dear Damo -- perhaps so, but they're always resurrectable.
Dear Epiphanie, thank you for the visit. I guess I personally don't feel sadness as much as surprise when one of these all-star types departs. Perhaps I never really thought of them as human, or as mortal.
Comment by Anonymous
omg... how could have forgotton Oxfords, Gareth Evans - so neglected... one of the greatest of the 20th Century without a doubt, unbelievably underated.
PhD under Strawson, died August 1980
Best work
Varieties of Reference, OUP.
Comment by Nonymous
Philosophy Blog
At certain periods of my life, I do think of Gareth Evans, though, for various reasons... Because I bump into his name here or there. And because I have sympathies with a biographical description I once read, about the way, on his early deathbed, he was madly trying to put his philosophical papers in order. -- I reflect on the poverty of my own thoughts, on the time with which I have been gifted to collate them, and on the laxity with which I pursue this task.
Thanks for your comment. Perhaps Gareth Evans will be on this list one day.