Richard Taylor (philosopher)

American philosopher

Richard Taylor
Born	November 5, 1919 Charlotte, Michigan, U.S.
Died	October 30, 2003(2003-10-30) (aged 83) Trumansburg, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Brown University (PhD)

Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Analytic philosophy
Institutions	Brown University, Columbia University, University of Rochester
Doctoral advisor	Roderick Chisholm
Notable students	Norman Bowie, Myles Brand, Keith Lehrer, Peter van Inwagen
Main interests	Metaphysics Virtue ethics Arthur Schopenhauer

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.

Biography

Richard C. Taylor was born in Charlotte, Michigan on November 5, 1919 and earned his B.A. at the University of Illinois in 1941 and 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. During World War II he served his country as a commissioned submarine officer.

Over the course of his academic career, Taylor served as the William H. P. Faunce Professor of Philosophy at Brown University, a Professor of Philosophy (Graduate Faculty) at Columbia University and a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Rochester. 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.

Academic work

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".

Paradoxically, Taylor was also quick to describe himself as a humanist who simultaneously embraced a belief in God as derived from his consciousness of the profound mysteries of life in the natural world. In this sense, he has also been described as an idiosyncratic Theist who does not necessarily support a particular organized religious practice per se, but who espouses a belief in a divine presence within the natural order. Consequently, his views are analogous to those espused by Socrates, Baruch Spinoza, William James and to a lesser extent J. S. Mills.

Always unpretentious, however, Taylor did not exempt his own philosophical output from harsh criticism and even humorously described some of it as being of "little account". Later in his academic career he reexamined his philosophical thoughts once again and subsequently embraced pacifism despite having served as a commissioned officer on a submarine during World War II. Above all else, he enjoyed dialectic exchanges with his students, as well as the practice of Socratic whimsy in his lectures. His students at the University of Rochester often delighted in his custom of disavowing all pretense by conducting his lectures casually clad in khakis, a rugged pair of work boots and a flannel shirt while accompanied by Polly (his trusty Dalmatian), a warm thermos of hot tea and a kind hearted twinkle in his eye.

Over the years, Taylor was a frequent contributor to the Free Inquiry magazine. He was also inducted into the International Academy of Humanism. In 1993, he debated William Lane Craig over the subject 'Is The Basis For Morality Natural or Supernatural?'.

Taylor's best-known book was Metaphysics (1963). Other works included Action and Purpose (1966), Good and Evil (1970) and Virtue Ethics (1991). Taylor was also the editor of The Will to Live: Selected Writings of Arthur Schopenhauer. He was an enthusiastic advocate of virtue ethics. He also wrote influential papers on the meaning of life, which, like Albert Camus, he explored through an examination of the myth of Sisyphus.

Taylor's 1962 essay "Fatalism" was the subject of David Foster Wallace's undergraduate thesis at Amherst College, published in 2011 together with Taylor's essay and contemporary responses under the title Fate, Time, and Language: An Essay on Free Will.

Notable philosophers who studied under Taylor as graduate students include Norman Bowie, Myles Brand, Keith Lehrer, and Peter van Inwagen.

Apiarist

In addition to his achievements within the academic realm, Taylor was a devoted apiarist and also made significant contributions to the art of beekeeping. He owned three hundred hives of bees and, from 1970, produced mostly comb honey. He explained his management techniques in several books, including The Comb Honey Book and The Joys of Beekeeping. In keeping with his philosophical convictions, his honey stand was located in front of his country home on Cayuga Lake and was operated strictly on the honor system, which Taylor encouraged through the use of gentle and kind solicitations posted on its walls.

Death

Taylor died at the age of 83 on October 30, 2003, in his home in Trumansburg, New York due to complications ensuing from lung cancer.

Publications

Included among Richard Taylors publications are the following texts:

External videos
You may read works by Richard Taylor including: "Metaphysics" "Good and Evil: A New Direction" "The Will to Live: Selected Writings by Arthur Schopenhauer" Here on Archive.org
Richard Taylor's book "Metaphysics" (1963) online Here at hathitrust.org
Richard Taylor's "Dare to be Wise" (1968) online Here on JSTOR.org

The Will to Live: Selected Writings of Arthur Schopenhauer. Ed. Richard Tayler.(1962)
Metaphysics by Richard Taylor (1963)
On the Basis of Morality by Arthur Schopenhauer, Richard Taylor, E. F. J. Payne (1965)
Action and Purpose by Richard Taylor (1966)
Freedom and Determinism. Ed. Richard Taylor (1966)
"Dare to be Wise". The Review of Metaphysics (1968) 615-629
Good and Evil: A New Direction by Richard Taylor (1970)
Freedom, Anarchy, and the Law: An Introduction to Political Philosophy by Richard Taylor (1973)
On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. Arthur Schopenhauer. Introduction by Richard Taylor (1974)
Ethics, Faith and Reason by Richard Taylor (1985)
Reflective Wisdom. by Richard Taylor (1989)
Virtue Ethics An Introduction by Richard Taylor (1991)
Restoring Pride: The Lost Virtue of Our Age (1996) by Richard Taylor

References

Bee Culture Magazine, "Richard Taylor (1919-2003)", January 2004, Vol 132, No 1, p 64.
Shook, John R. (2005-05-15). Dictionary Of Modern American Philosophers. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 2393. ISBN 978-1-84714-470-6.
"Richard Taylor Remembered - Issue 44 - Philosophy Now". www.philosophynow.org.
PhilPapers. Inwagen, P. van. Ed. "Time and Cause: Essays Presented to Richard Taylor" Reidel (1980) Abstract. Biography of Richard Taylor on Philpapers.org
^ "Obituary: Richard Taylor Remembered" by Robert L. Holmes, Barry Gan, Tim Madigan, Philosophy Now, Issue 44, 2004.
PhilPapers. Inwagen, P. van. Ed. "Time and Cause: Essays Presented to Richard Taylor" Reidel (1980) Abstract. Biography of Richard Taylor on Philpapers.org
PhilPapers. Inwagen, P. van. Ed. "Time and Cause: Essays Presented to Richard Taylor" Reidel (1980) Abstract. Biography of Richard Taylor on Philpapers.org
Metaphilosophy - "Faltering Wisdom: Richard Taylor and Philosophical Seeing" Netzky, Ralph. Vol. 5, No. 4 Wiley, pp. 320-332 on JSTOR.org
"The Review of Metaphysics"; "Dare to be Wise" Vol. 21 No. 4 (June 1968) pp.615-629 "Dare to be Wise" by Richard Taylor on JSTOR.org
Taylor, Richard (1963). Metaphysics. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs. ISBN 9780135784686.
"Metaphysics." Taylor, Richard. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1963) Introduction p. 2 isbn 63-11699 Richard Taylor on hathitrust.org
Philo -"The Philosophy of Richard Taylor" . Vol 1, No. 2 Fall-Winter 1998 pp. 61-66 "Restoring Pride: The Lost Virtue of Our Age" by Richard Taylor. Book reviewed by Paul B. Cliteur, Prof.of Philosophy at Technical University Delft on Scholarly Publications Leiden University on Philosophy Documentation Center Google.com
Philo-" Book reviews -The Philosophy of Richard Taylor" . Vol 1, No. 2 Fall-Winter 1998 pp. 61-66 "Restoring Pride: The Lost Virtue of Our Age" by Richard Taylor. Book reviewed by Paul B. Cliteur, Prof. of Philosophy at Technical University Delft on Philosophy Documentation Center Google.com
"Is the Basis of Morality Natural or Supernatural? - Reasonable Faith". www.reasonablefaith.org. Archived from the original on 2012-04-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Anchor Books A266: 1962.
Richard Taylor's publications on Philpapers.org
Virtue Ethics: An Introduction. Taylor Richard. Prometheus Books, 2002 Abstract on Philpapers.org
Philosophical Review, Vol. 71, No. 1 (1962).
New York: Columbia University Press (ISBN 978-0-231-15156-6)
^ Holmes, Robert (2004). "Richard Taylor Remembered". Philosophy Now. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
the Joys of Beekeeping by Richard Taylor on Worldcat.org
Richard Tayler's publications on Worldcat.org
https://www.worldcat.org/title/887321 The Will to Live: Selected Writings of Arthur Schopenhauer. Ed. Richard Tayler. F. Unger Publishing Co., New York 1967 & 1962 on worldcat.org
https://www.worldcat.org/title/374702 Metaphysics. Taylor, Richard. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1963 on worldcat.org
On the basis of Morality. Schopenhauer, Arthur & Richard Taylor & E. F. J. Payne. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1965 on Worldcat.org
Action and Purpose. Taylor, Richard. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1966 on worldcat.org
Freedom and Determinism - Ed. Richard Taylor, Random House, New York 1966 on worldcat.org
"The Review of Metaphysics"; "Dare to be Wise" The Philosophy Education Society Vol. 21 No. 4 (June 1968) pp.615-629 "Dare to be Wise" by Richard Taylor on JSTOR.org
Good and Evil: A New Direction. Taylor, Richard. Macmillan, New York, 1970 on Worldcat.org
Freedom, Anarchy, and the Law: An Introduction to Political Philosophy. Taylor, Richard. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1973 on worldcat.org
On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason Introduction by Richard Taylor, Open Court, La Salle, Illinois, 1974 on worldcat.org
Ethics, Faith and Reason. Taylor, Richard. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1985 on worldcat.org
PhilPapers - "Reflective Wisdom" Taylor, Richard. ed. John Donnelly. Promethius Books, Buffalo, NY 1989 on philpapers.org
"Virtue Ethics An Introduction". Taylor, Richard. Prometheus Books 1991 & 2002 ISBN 9781573929431 Virtue Ethics An Introduction on Google Books
Virtue Ethics an Introduction.Taylor, Richard. Promethious Books, New York, 2002, isbn 1-57392-943-3 on Google Books
Philo -"The Philosophy of Richard Taylor" . Vol 1, No. 2 Fall-Winter 1998 pp. 61-66 "Restoring Pride: The Lost Virtue of Our Age" by Richard Taylor. Book reviewed by Paul B. Cliteur, Prof.of Philosophy at Technical University Delft on Scholarly Publications Leiden University on Philosophy Documentation Center Google.com

External links

Ryerson, James (12 December 2008). "Consider the Philosopher". The New York Times Magazine. — Article on David Foster Wallace's analysis of Taylor's fatalism.
Richard Taylor's publications online at Hathitrust.org
Richard Taylor's publications on Google Scholar
Richard Taylor's publications on JSTOR.org
Richard Taylor's publications on Philpapers.org

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