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Richard Clyde Taylor
Richard Clyde Taylor (November 5, 1919 – October 30, 2003) was an American philosopher renowned for his contributions to metaphysics and virtue ethics. He was also an internationally known beekeeper.
Richard C. Taylor was born in Charlotte, Michigan on November 5, 1919 and earned his B.A. at the University of Illinois in 1941. In an interview with the philosopher Timothy Madigan, he laments that he never undertook philosophical studies as an undergraduate and that his mother's pastor suggested he might become a fine preacher. Consequently, he undertook studies in religion at the University of Chicago, where he was exposed to philosophers such as Plato for the first time and developed a disdain for the Christian religion. After Japan's attack on Pearl harbor, he enlisted in the Navy and pursued studies at the Postgraduate School of the Naval Academy at Annapolis. During World War II he served his country as a commissioned submarine officer in a squadron located in the Pacific near the Philippines and filled the time during lonely watches by continuing to read philosophical texts including George Santayana’s Realms of Being. He subsequently earned his M.A. from Oberlin College in 1947. In 1951, he received his PhD at Brown University, where his supervisor was Roderick Chisholm.
Over the course of his academic career, Taylor served as the William H. P. Faunce Professor of Philosophy at Brown University (1953-1963), a Professor of Philosophy (Graduate Faculty) at Columbia University (1963-1966) and a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Rochester (1965-1985). He served as Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Rochester from 1966 until 1969. In addition, he assumed visiting appointments at about a dozen other institutions including: Cornell University, Hamilton College, Hartwick, Ohio State, Princeton University, Union and Wells College.
Early in his career, Taylor also published works utilizing the nom de plume Diodorus Cronus in honor of the obscure ancient Greek philosopher of the same name.
It has been observed that Taylor can be described as an Analytic philosopher due to his research into such topics as: time, causality, as well as action and purpose. However, his views on the limitations of "serious philosophy" and "philosophie perennis" distinguished him from many traditional analytic philosophers of his time. He was also influenced by the works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Curt John Ducasse, Arthur Schopenhauer and Roderick Chisholm. His research interests included the study of metaphysics as well as the philosophy of religion.
In general terms Taylor argued that the ultimate objective of modern philosophical inquiry should not be the accumulation of a body of philosophical knowledge within a particular school of thought, which he characterized as being unattainable. Instead, he advocated a return to the ancient view that the study of philosophy is best described as the love of wisdom. and that "there simply is no such thing as philosophical knowledge, nor any philosophical way of knowing anything."
Defying conventional academic expectations, Taylor readily embraced the works of such ancient philosophers such as Thales, Epicurus, Plato and Aristotle while also admiring the more pessimistic contributions of Arthur Schopenhauer. He remained disdainful of the works of Immanuel Kant, however, and was equally dismissive of the "foolishness" which sometimes characterized organized religious practice in general. Nevertheless, he was careful not to characterize himself as a secular humanist.
It has been observed that in Taylor's view, the German idealists who followed Immanuel Kant were needlessly preoccupied with the formulation of an intricate system of intellectual moral philosophy which is based upon objective rules and a conceptualization of what it means to be dutiful. Following Schopenhauer's lead, Taylor objected to utilizing rationalism as the ultimate basis for any philosophical insight into the human condition. Like Schopenhauer, Taylor argued instead, that mankind's natural "will" or "striving" to achieve is far more fundamental than "rationality" per se. With this in mind, he argued against the emphasis placed by some modern philosophers on egalitarianism and pointed to the use of "compassion" as a source of moral value. In addition, he argued in favor of transcending a mundane existence through the pursuit of creative individual excellence and the realization of a virtuous life as envisioned by the philosophers of ancient Greece. As Taylor readily admitted, this qualified him as something akin to a philosophical "elitist". Yet he was also quick to remind his students of his conviction that the meaning of life is "not to do, but simply to be."
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Richard Clyde Taylor
Richard Clyde Taylor (November 5, 1919 – October 30, 2003) was an American philosopher renowned for his contributions to metaphysics and virtue ethics. He was also an internationally known beekeeper.
Richard C. Taylor was born in Charlotte, Michigan on November 5, 1919 and earned his B.A. at the University of Illinois in 1941. In an interview with the philosopher Timothy Madigan, he laments that he never undertook philosophical studies as an undergraduate and that his mother's pastor suggested he might become a fine preacher. Consequently, he undertook studies in religion at the University of Chicago, where he was exposed to philosophers such as Plato for the first time and developed a disdain for the Christian religion. After Japan's attack on Pearl harbor, he enlisted in the Navy and pursued studies at the Postgraduate School of the Naval Academy at Annapolis. During World War II he served his country as a commissioned submarine officer in a squadron located in the Pacific near the Philippines and filled the time during lonely watches by continuing to read philosophical texts including George Santayana’s Realms of Being. He subsequently earned his M.A. from Oberlin College in 1947. In 1951, he received his PhD at Brown University, where his supervisor was Roderick Chisholm.
Over the course of his academic career, Taylor served as the William H. P. Faunce Professor of Philosophy at Brown University (1953-1963), a Professor of Philosophy (Graduate Faculty) at Columbia University (1963-1966) and a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Rochester (1965-1985). He served as Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Rochester from 1966 until 1969. In addition, he assumed visiting appointments at about a dozen other institutions including: Cornell University, Hamilton College, Hartwick, Ohio State, Princeton University, Union and Wells College.
Early in his career, Taylor also published works utilizing the nom de plume Diodorus Cronus in honor of the obscure ancient Greek philosopher of the same name.
It has been observed that Taylor can be described as an Analytic philosopher due to his research into such topics as: time, causality, as well as action and purpose. However, his views on the limitations of "serious philosophy" and "philosophie perennis" distinguished him from many traditional analytic philosophers of his time. He was also influenced by the works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Curt John Ducasse, Arthur Schopenhauer and Roderick Chisholm. His research interests included the study of metaphysics as well as the philosophy of religion.
In general terms Taylor argued that the ultimate objective of modern philosophical inquiry should not be the accumulation of a body of philosophical knowledge within a particular school of thought, which he characterized as being unattainable. Instead, he advocated a return to the ancient view that the study of philosophy is best described as the love of wisdom. and that "there simply is no such thing as philosophical knowledge, nor any philosophical way of knowing anything."
Defying conventional academic expectations, Taylor readily embraced the works of such ancient philosophers such as Thales, Epicurus, Plato and Aristotle while also admiring the more pessimistic contributions of Arthur Schopenhauer. He remained disdainful of the works of Immanuel Kant, however, and was equally dismissive of the "foolishness" which sometimes characterized organized religious practice in general. Nevertheless, he was careful not to characterize himself as a secular humanist.
It has been observed that in Taylor's view, the German idealists who followed Immanuel Kant were needlessly preoccupied with the formulation of an intricate system of intellectual moral philosophy which is based upon objective rules and a conceptualization of what it means to be dutiful. Following Schopenhauer's lead, Taylor objected to utilizing rationalism as the ultimate basis for any philosophical insight into the human condition. Like Schopenhauer, Taylor argued instead, that mankind's natural "will" or "striving" to achieve is far more fundamental than "rationality" per se. With this in mind, he argued against the emphasis placed by some modern philosophers on egalitarianism and pointed to the use of "compassion" as a source of moral value. In addition, he argued in favor of transcending a mundane existence through the pursuit of creative individual excellence and the realization of a virtuous life as envisioned by the philosophers of ancient Greece. As Taylor readily admitted, this qualified him as something akin to a philosophical "elitist". Yet he was also quick to remind his students of his conviction that the meaning of life is "not to do, but simply to be."