Dallas Albert Willard (September 4, 1935 – May 8, 2013) was an American philosopher also known for his writings on Christian spiritual formation. Much of his work in philosophy was related to

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

, particularly the work of

Edmund Husserl , thesis1_title = Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the Calculus of Variations) , thesis1_url = https://fedora.phaidra.univie.ac.at/fedora/get/o:58535/bdef:Book/view , thesis1_year = 1883 , thesis2_title ...

, many of whose writings he translated into English for the first time. He was longtime Professor of Philosophy at

The University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

in Los Angeles, teaching at the school from 1965 until his death in 2013 and serving as the department chair from 1982 to 1985.

Education

Willard attended

William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri Baptist Conventi ...

, and later graduated from Tennessee Temple College in 1956 with a B.A. in Psychology, and from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

in 1957 with a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion. He went to graduate school at Baylor University and the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

, earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin with a minor in the History of Science in 1964.

Academic career

Willard spent five years teaching at the

, first as a research and teaching assistant (1960–63), then as an Advanced Knapp Fellow (63-64), and finally as an instructor in philosophy (64-65). He then moved to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC) in Los Angeles, where he taught as an assistant professor (1965–69), as an associate professor (69-84), and finally as a full professor (1984–2013). He spent a total of 48 years at USC. He served as director of the School of Philosophy at USC from 1982 to 1985, as well as visiting appointments at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(1969) and the University of Colorado (1984). His publications in philosophy are concerned primarily with

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

, the philosophy of mind and of logic, and with the philosophy of

, the founder of phenomenology. He translated many of Husserl's early writings from German into English, and is widely regarded as an international authority on the philosopher's works, which span from the topics of time-consciousness to

intentionality ''Intentionality'' is the power of minds to be about something: to represent or to stand for things, properties and states of affairs. Intentionality is primarily ascribed to mental states, like perceptions, beliefs or desires, which is why it ha ...

and intuition in

Cartesian Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher René Descartes—from his Latinized name ''Cartesius''. It may refer to: Mathematics *Cartesian closed category, a closed category in category theory *Cartesian coordinate system, modern ...

thought.

Awards

* Member of numerous evaluation committees for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (accreditation) * Danforth Associate 1967-1975 * Recipient (1976) of Blue Key National Honor Fraternity's "Outstanding Faculty Member" award for outstanding contributions to student life at USC * USC Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1976-1977 * Faculty participant in the COLLEGIUM PHAENOMENOLOGICUM at Monteripido (Perugia, Italy), summer 1977 * USC Student Senate Award for Outstanding Faculty of the Year, 1984 *

Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of education ...

National Honor Society, Initiation in May 1990 * Lecturer in Corsi Estivi Internazionali di Filosofia, Bozen, Italy, 1990 & 1998 *

Alpha Lambda Delta Alpha Lambda Delta () is an honor society for students who have achieved a 3.5 GPA or higher during their first year or term of higher education. History Alpha Lambda Delta was founded in 1924 by the Dean of Women, Maria Leonard, at the Universit ...

National Honor Society, Initiation May 1991 * Gamma Sigma Alpha Professor of the Year Award Fall 2000.

Other work

In addition to teaching and writing about philosophy, Willard gave lectures and wrote books about Christianity and Christian living. His book ''The Divine Conspiracy'' was ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

''’s Book of the Year for 1999. Another of his books, ''

Renovation of the Heart ''Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ'' is a 2002 Christian book written by Dallas Willard. Summary ''Renovation of the Heart'' proposes that the human self is made up of several interrelated components: one's spirit, i ...

'', won ''

''’s 2003 Book Award for books on Spirituality and The Association of Logos Bookstores' 2003 Book Award for books on Christian Living. Willard believed passivity to be a widespread problem in the Church (loosely summed up in his phrase "Grace is not opposed to effort , but to earning "). He emphasized the importance of deliberately choosing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ (someone being with Jesus, learning to be like him). An important outgrowth of the choice to be identified as a disciple of Jesus is the desire to learn about activities that aid spiritual transformation into the likeness of Christ. In this regard, being an apprentice of Jesus (someone being with Jesus, learning to be like him), involves learning about activities that might help one grow in the fruit of the spirit, namely love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Such activities might include spiritual exercises practiced throughout the ages such as prayer, fellowship, service, study, simplicity, chastity, solitude, and fasting. Willard explains the crucial role of engaging in spiritual exercises in his book ''The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives''—a book that was written after ''In Search of Guidance: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God''. Willard has a recommended reading page on his website listing specific titles by

Thomas a Kempis Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

William Law William Law (16869 April 1761) was a Church of England priest who lost his position at Emmanuel College, Cambridge when his conscience would not allow him to take the required oath of allegiance to the first Hanoverian monarch, King George I. P ...

Frank Laubach Frank Charles Laubach (September 2, 1884 – June 11, 1970), from Benton, Pennsylvania was a Congregational Christian missionary educated at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, and a mystic known as "The Apostle to the Illit ...

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...

Charles Finney Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was an American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the United States. He has been called the "Father of Old Revivalism." Finney rejected much of tradi ...

Jan Johnson Jan Johnson (born November 11, 1950 in Hammond, Indiana) is an American former athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He graduated in 1972 from the University of Alabama, where he holds the school record in the pole vault at 18 feet, 1/ ...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...

Jeremy Taylor Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is fr ...

, Richard Foster, E. Stanley Jones,

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

Brother Lawrence Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, OCD (c. 1614 – 12 February 1691) served as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Christians commonly remember him for the intimacy he expressed concerning his relationship to God as recorded in ...

Francis de Sales Francis de Sales (french: François de Sales; it, Francesco di Sales; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to ...

James Gilchrist Lawson James Gilchrist Lawson (1874–1946) was an American Baptist evangelist, prohibitionist, editor, author and compiler. He was born in Cleveland, Tennessee on September 10, 1874 to James J. and Margaret (Logan) Lawson. He visited the British Isles ...

, and others. He was influenced by many, including

Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas fo ...

Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...

, P.T. Forsyth,

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

, Andrew Murray,

Teresa of Avila Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

, and the Rule of

St. Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

. He served on the boards of the C.S. Lewis Foundation and of

Biola University Biola University () is a private, nondenominational, evangelical Christian university in La Mirada, California. It was founded in 1908 as the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. It has over 150 programs of study in nine schools offering bachelor's, ...

. He also served on the board of the Templeton foundation, and on multiple evaluation committees for the Western Association of Schools and colleges.

Personal life

Willard was born in Buffalo, Missouri on September 4, 1935, the son of Albert Willard and Maymie Lindesmith. His mother died when he was two years old. He married Jane Lakes of Macon, Georgia, in 1955. He had two children, John and Rebecca, and a granddaughter, Larissa. His brother, L. Duane Willard, was also for many years a tenured professor of philosophy at the

University of Nebraska Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

. Willard struggled with balancing academic and family life. He once remarked, "I have not been a wise husband or father, and this has cost us dearly." Nonetheless, his daughter commented that he was a “great example of unconditional fatherly love." His wife Jane, a marriage and family therapist, said "I certainly don't feel unloved, at least at this juncture. … Always down deep in my formation was this thing before God of 'I cannot stand in his way.'” Willard died on May 8, 2013, after a short battle with cancer.

Impact

In 2010,

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...

established the “Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and the Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation.” The institute is “dedicated to the intellectual Legacy of Willard”.Westmont College, “Westmont Mourns the Death of Dallas Willard”
Santa Barbara Independent”, May 8, 2013]

Selected publications

Translations of works by Husserl

*''Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics'' (1993). Dordrecht/Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, *''Philosophy of Arithmetic'', (2003). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, (Hardbound), (paperback)

Popular books

*''The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives'' (1988). San Francisco: Harper and Row, *''The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God'' (1998). San Francisco: Harper, *''Dallas Willard's Study Guide to The Divine Conspiracy'' Jan Johnson, Keith J. Matthews, and Dallas Willard (2001). HarperOne, *''Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship With God '' (1999). InterVarsity Press (USA), (formerly titled ''In Search of Guidance: Understanding How God Changes Lives'' ) *''In Cautarea Calauzirii'' (1990). Wheaton, IL: Societatea Misionara Romana. *''The Spirit of the Disciplines'' (1988). San Francisco: Harper and Row; Korean translation (1993); U.K. edition (1996). *''The Divine Conspiracy'' (1998) San Francisco: Harper; U.K. edition (1999) Harper Collins. *'' Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ'' (2002). Colorado Springs: NavPress, *'' Renovation of the Heart In Daily Practice: Experiments in Transformation'' with Jan Johnson (2006). Colorado Springs: NavPress, *''The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship'' (2006). San Francisco: Harper, *''Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge'' (2009). San Francisco: Harper, ; British edition: ''Personal Religion, Public Reality: Toward a Knowledge of Faith'' (2009). London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. *''Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God'' (2012) Westmont, IL: InterVarsity Press, *''The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus'' (2015) San Francisco: HarperCollins, Press,

References

External links

Dallas Willard's website
(including many articles online)
Lectures on Spiritual TransformationThe Allure of Gentleness - Book Discussion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Dallas 1935 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers American Quakers Baylor University alumni Quaker philosophers Protestant philosophers Epistemologists American logicians Phenomenologists Philosophers of mind Tennessee Temple University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni University of Southern California faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty William Jewell College alumni People from Buffalo, Missouri Critics of atheism