Nelson Thomas Potter Jr. (September 22, 1939 – May 12, 2013) was a professor of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Intellectual biography

In 1961, he graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from Monmouth College and in 1969, he received as Ph. D. from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in philosophy. In 1965, he became a faculty member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was chair of the department from 1980 to 1985. He was a

Woodrow Wilson Fellow The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) is a nonpartisan, non-profit based in Princeton, New Jersey that aims to strengthen American democracy by “cultivating the talent, ideas, ...

and a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

. His philosophical research focused on

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

, and the philosophy of Kant. He retired and became professor emeritus in 2010.

Personal biography

He was born and raised in Mount Morris, Illinois, the son of professional baseball player

Nels Potter Nelson Thomas Potter (August 23, 1911 – September 30, 1990) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 349 games in Major League Baseball over a dozen seasons between 1936 and 1949, most notably as a m ...

and Hazel (Park) Potter. In 1978, he married Kathleen Johnson and had a daughter Sophia. He was a member of Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty and the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

Representative publications

* Kant and the Moral Worth of Actions. ''Southern Journal of Philosophy'' 34 (1996): 225–241. * Kant on Obligation and Motivation in Law and Ethics. ''Jahrbuch fuer Recht und Ethik, Band'' 2 (1994), pp. 95–111. * What is Wrong with Kant's Four Examples. ''Journal of Philosophical Research'' 43 (1993): 213–229.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Nelson Thomas Jr. 2013 deaths 1939 births 20th-century American philosophers University of Nebraska faculty Kantian philosophers Johns Hopkins University alumni Philosophers of art People from Mount Morris, Illinois