General Information
I have been in the Philosophy Department of the University of Notre Dame most of my adult life. I am tempted to say "as far back as I can remember" but that is not only a weaker claim but one which is getting weaker with every passing year. I was Chair of the Philosophy Department from 1972 to 1982; in fact, Ernan McMullin, myself and Dick Foley chaired the department for a span of 22 years. I find the University of Notre Dame to be a very interesting place and the Philosophy Department to be its most interesting unit. It is the only 'pluralistic' Philosophy department in the country that succeeded; the other attempts have either exploded or withered away. In its ranks most plausible traditions in philosophy are represented by committed and strong-minded spokespersons, and yet the individuals involved have been congenial enough to accommodate the consequent deep differences of opinion on crucially important matters. As such, the department is a microcosm of the world of philosophy itself and thus an ideal environment in which to engage and do philosophy, encountering for yourself the variety of the field. Given the reflective nature of the discipline this seems singularly appropriate; one should not become the kind of philosopher one is merely in virtue of the historical accident of where one has been born or has studied.
Since 1990 1 have been Co-Director of Notre Dame's Arts and Letters/Science Honors Program, first with David Lodge of Biology and now with Alex Hahn of Mathematics. This is both enjoyable and rewarding. The hub of the Honors Program is 'Arcadia' which is located at 323 O'Shaughnessy Hall. You are always welcome to drop into this sphere of tranquillity to chat with interesting young people in an idyllic environment created by Wendy. For more information about this interesting undergraduate program, see the link to that web-site on this homepage.
My philosophical proclivities are toward the 'pragmatic' tradition, hence the photos of Kant, Peirce, Sellars and Rawls. I think this tradition is not only historically interesting but basically correct. Of course, being a fallibilist I acknowledge that I could be wrong about this, but that seems to me very unlikely. Some of my work has been philosophically motivated history while some has been historically informed philosophy, but in all cases pragmatism is the informing spirit. My 'Abridged CV' on the homepage will give you a general sense of my interests. More specifically, I am presently finishing a monograph on C.S. Peirce and am about to begin 'A History of American Philosophy in the Twentieth Century'.
My teaching is considerably more varied than my scholarship being the intersection of what is needed by the university and what I personally find interesting. Usually this falls in the range of The History of Modern Philosophy, Contemporary Political Philosophy, The Philosophy of Law, and the considerably more interdisciplinary subject matters of my various seminars in the Honors Program. Teaching different stuff keeps one interested and hopefully interesting.
I play tennis every noon instead of lunch and play golf considerably less frequently. I can be easily lured into any competitive activity, sport or game, that is not primarily directed toward merely getting exercise. I have no deep objection to getting exercise but I prefer to get it in a manner that can be justified by the principle of double effect as a foreseen but unintended consequence. I also like to chat regularly at 'Leahys' (a.k.a, 'Murphs') with interesting people; fortunately for me, some interesting people are usually accommodating out of either common courtesy or uncommon charity.
General Information
Abridged C.V.
Honors Program
Delaney Honors Program Intro
Departmental Photos