Peter J. Caws (May 25, 1931 - April 20, 2020) was a British

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and administrator, and University 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 ...

and Professor of Human Sciences at the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Biography

Peter Caws was born in Southall, Middlesex, England in 1931. He received his B.Sc. in

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1952, and his PGCE in 1953. In 1953 he emigrated to the US and received his Ph.D. in

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1956. Caws started teaching

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 1956. In 1957 he went to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

to teach philosophy, and he chaired the Philosophy Department from 1961 until 1962. From 1962 to 1967 he was an officer and then consultant at

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of New York. From 1965 to 1982 he worked at the City University of New York, first as chair of the Hunter College Philosophy Department and from 1967 until 1970 as executive officer of the Ph.D. Program in Philosophy at the Graduate Center. Since 1982 he has been University Professor of Philosophy and is currently also Professor of Human Sciences at the

. He has been a visiting professor at the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro M ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

.Peter J Caws
at Gwu.edu. Retrieved 25 April 2008. In 1966-67 he was president of the

Society for General Systems Research The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is: :"to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their ...

, now the International Society for Systems Science. In 1967 he was vice-president of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. From 1974 to 1984 he was board member and chair of the Committee on International Cooperation of the

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly ...

. In 1988-89 he was president of the Washington Philosophy Club and from 1992 to 1994 he was president of the Société Américaine de Philosophie de Langue Française. Caws was awarded a Fulbright travel grant in 1953, a fellowship of the American Council of Learned Societies in 1972 and a Humanities Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1979-80. He was a National Lecturer at the Society of the

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

in 1975-77 and a

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 ...

Visiting Scholar in 1983-84. He gave the first Philip Morris Distinguished Lectures in Business and Society, Baruch College, New York, 1986. He was elected an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of the District of Columbia in 1992. Peter Caws was first married to

Mary Ann Caws Mary Ann Caws (born 1933) is an American author, translator, art historian and literary critic. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita in Comparative Literature, English, and French at the Graduate School of the City University of New York, and ...

, an American author, art historian and literary critic. They had a daughter, Hilary Caws-Elwitt, and a son,

Matthew Caws Matthew Rorison Caws (born August 5, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Nada Surf. Caws is also a member of the indie rock duo Minor Alps, alon ...

, lead singer of the band

Nada Surf Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). History ...

. In 1987 he married Dr. Nancy Breslin, a psychiatrist and now a photographer, and they had a daughter, Elisabeth, in 1991. Peter Caws died at home on April 20, 2020.

Publications

Peter Caws wrote and edited ten books and more than 150 articles. Books: * 1965, ''The Philosophy of Science, A Systematic Account''. Princeton: Van Nostrand. * 1967, ''Science and the Theory of Value.'' New York: Random House. * 1979, ''Sartre: The Arguments of the Philosophers.'' London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. * 1980, ''Two Centuries of Philosophy in America.'' (Editor) Oxford: Blackwell. * 1988, ''Structuralism: The Art of the Intelligible. ''Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press. * 1989, ''The Causes of Quarrel: Essays on Peace, War, and Thomas Hobbes.'' (editor) Boston: Beacon Press. * 1993, ''Yorick's World: Science and the Knowing Subject.'' Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. * 1993, ''The Capital Connection: Business, Science, and Government.'' New York: Baruch College. * 1996, ''Ethics from Experience.'' Boston: Jones and Bartlett. * 2007, ''Reason and Hope: Knowledge, Belief and the Future of Humanity.'' Washington, D.C.: River Horse Press. * 2010, ''Religious Upbringing and the Costs of Freedom.'' (Edited with Stefani Jones) University Park, PA: Penn State University Press.Penn State Univ. Press
. Retrieved 12 July 2010. * 2019, ''The Book of Hylas.'' (Text by Peter Caws with illustrations by

Line Hoven Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

( de); accompanying recording with music by the Parkington Sisters.) Seattle: Barsuk Records.Barsuk Records page for The Book of Hylas
Retrieved 16 November 2019.

References

External links

Webpage
at Gwu.edu.
Peter Caws's personal website
contains several of his full length papers.
"The Unconscious is Structured Like a City"
article by Peter Caws, 2001.
"First and second order unification in the social and human sciences"
article by Peter Caws, 2005.

article by Peter Caws.
"Structuralism"
article by Peter Caws in The Dictionary of the History of Ideas. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caws, Peter 1931 births British philosophers 2020 deaths People from Southall Columbian College of Arts and Sciences faculty British systems scientists Alumni of the University of London Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Presidents of the International Society for the Systems Sciences