Andrew Pessin is an American
philosopher who is currently a professor of philosophy at
Connecticut College
Connecticut College (Conn College or Conn) is a private liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. It is a residential, four-year undergraduate institution with nearly all of its approximately 1,815 students living on campus. The college w ...
.
Biography
Pessin is a graduate of
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
and holds a PhD from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
He teaches at Connecticut College. In addition to his academic work he has published a number of philosophy books for the general reader, as well as two novels. His most recent novel, ''The Irrationalist: The Tragic Murder of René Descartes'', is a historical murder mystery based on real events: the life of the famous 17th-century philosopher and mathematician
René Descartes
René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Ma ...
, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.
According to
Paul Cliteur, writing in
Philosophy Now
''Philosophy Now'' is a bimonthly philosophy magazine sold from news-stands and book stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada; it is also available on digital devices, and online. It aims to appeal to the wider public, ...
, Pessin's ''The God Question'' discusses "discussions about the existence of God," as quite often being, "discussions about the compatibility of the characteristics ascribed to the divine in the theistic tradition. Those who held that those characteristics are compatible were called 'theists': those who did not, 'atheists.'"
Pessin appeared in several episodes of the ''
Late Show with David Letterman'' in the early 1990s in a sketch called ''The Strong Guy, The Fat Guy, The Genius''. He played The Genius.
In 2015, Pessin was involved in controversy after a 2014 Facebook post resurfaced in which Pessin compared "the situation in Gaza" during the
2014 Gaza War
The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge ( he, מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, ),
was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that ha ...
to "a rabid pit bull is chained in a cage” that when set free “comes roaring bounding out, snarling, going for the throat.”. Pessin later clarified that the post was referring to Hamas specifically and not Palestinians.
Books
* ''The Jewish God Question: What Jewish Thinkers Have Said About God, The Book, The People, and the Land'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.
*''
Anti-Zionism on Campus: The University, Free Speech, and BDS'', Indiana University Press, 2018.
* ''The Irrationalist: The Tragic Murder of René Descartes'', a novel, Open Books, 2017.
* ''The Study of Philosophy: A Text With Readings (7th Edn)'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.
* ''Uncommon Sense: The Strangest Ideas From The Smartest Philosophers'' (named by Choice an "Outstanding Academic Title of 2013") Rowman & Littlefield.
* ''The Second Daughter'', a novel under the pen name J. Jeffrey, Winter Goose Press 2014.
* ''The Philosophy of Mind'', audio course and book, The Modern Scholar, 2010.
* ''The God Question: What Famous Thinkers From Plato to Dawkins Have Said About the Divine'', Oneworld, 2009.
* ''The 60-Second Philosopher: Expand Your Mind on a Minute or so a Day!'', Oneworld, 2009.
* ''Gray Matters: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind'', M.E. Sharpe, 1997.
* ''The Twin Earth Chronicles: Twenty Years of Reflection on Hilary Putnam's "The Meaning of Meaning"'', with Sanford Goldberg, (edited collection) M. E. Sharpe, 1996.
References
External links
Andrew Pessin's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pessin, Andrew
Philosophers from Connecticut
Yale University alumni
Columbia University alumni
Connecticut College faculty
21st-century American philosophers
20th-century American philosophers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people