---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 16:57:07 +0000 From: Stephen Clark <srlclark(a)LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> To: PHILOS-L(a)LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK Subject: Roderick Chisholm deceased at 82 (fwd) Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 09:35:45 -0500 From: "Philosophy News Service List Mgr. [richard jones]" <richard(a)PhilosophyNews.com> Roderick Chisholm, an influential philosopher, dies at age 82 The Associated Press 01/21/99 11:07 PM Eastern PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Roderick M. Chisholm, an influential figure in contemporary philosophy, has died at age 82. Chisholm died Tuesday at Rhode Island Hospital, according to the philosophy department at Brown University, where Chisholm taught for four decades. Chisholm was a leading thinker in the branch of philosophy known as epistemology, or theory of knowledge. His seminal book of 1957, titled "Perceiving: A Philosophical Study," tackled a metaphysical issue that has been debated by philosophers for centuries -- whether you can trust your senses to give you reliable knowledge of the outside world. A realist, Chisholm concluded that you can. Arguments that he used in his writings dealt a blow to the rival philosophical camp known as phenomenalism. A significant nod to Chisholm's importance came in 1991, when he was selected to be the subject of a volume in the "Library of Living Philosophers," a collection that examines the views of the world's great thinkers. In that series, Chisholm's thoughts joined those of 24 other 20th century intellectual giants, including Bertrand Russell, John Paul Sartre, and Albert Einstein. Fellow philosophers remember Chisholm as a professor not just with a rigorous mind, but also with a talent for bringing philosophy to life in a classroom. He used a sort of Socratic method to instruct his students. He'd propose a solution to some metaphysical conundrum, invite his students to attack the solution, and then attack their objections. "It was very impressive," said James Van Cleve, former chairman of Brown's philosophy department. "There was a great deal of clarity and intellectual honesty. Every now and then, someone would stump him. Then he would revise his own theory, usually on the spot," said Van Cleve. Chisholm had an avid following. His presence at Brown drew budding philosophers from around the world. Intellectuals who already were teachers themselves would attend his seminars, including Ernest Sosa, who came to Brown as a young academic and is now editor of "Philosophy and Phenomenological Research" a philosophical journal published at the university. "He was really by far the one I learned the most from," Sosa said. Chisholm's books and articles in philosophical journals had a great deal of influence on contemporary philosophy, Sosa said. Among Chisholm's many publications are "Realism and the Background of Phenomenology, and "The Princeton Studies: Humanistic Scholarship in America." Chisholm had lived in Barrington, R.I., since 1947. He was born in Attleboro, Mass., half an hour away. He graduated from Brown University in 1938. He received his master's degree and doctorate at Harvard University in 1942. A World War II Army veteran, Chisholm taught at Brown from 1947 to 1987. He also had been a visiting professor at Harvard; the University of California, Santa Barbara; Princeton; the University of Alberta in Calgary, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois in Urbana, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Salzburg in Austria, and the University of Heidelberg in Germany. He is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, a grandchild and a great-grandchild. Copyright 1998 Associated Press.