Richard E. Flathman (August 6, 1934 – September 6, 2015) was the George Armstrong Kelly Professor of

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, Emeritus, at

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 ...

. He is known for having pioneered, with

Brian Barry Brian Barry, (7 August 1936 – 10 March 2009) was a moral and political philosopher. He was educated at the Queen's College, Oxford, obtaining the degrees of B.A. and D.Phil. under the direction of H. L. A. Hart. Along with David Braybrooke ...

, David Braybrooke, Felix Oppenheim, and

Abraham Kaplan Abraham Kaplan (June 11, 1918 – June 19, 1993) was an American philosopher, known best for being the first philosopher to systematically examine the behavioral sciences in his book ''The Conduct of Inquiry'' (1964). His thinking was influenced ...

, the application of

analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a branch and tradition of philosophy using analysis, popular in the Western world and particularly the Anglosphere, which began around the turn of the 20th century in the contemporary era in the United Kingdom, United Sta ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He was a leading advocate of

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

and a champion of

individuality An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own need ...

. He defended a conception of social

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

according to which it is "negative, situated, and elemental." Flathman was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

in 1934. He received his PhD from

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

in 1962. He has been a professor at Johns Hopkins since 1975, and was chair of his department from 1979-1985. Prior to joining Hopkins, he taught at the Universities of Washington and Chicago, and at Reed College. With his colleague and interlocutor

William E. Connolly William Eugene Connolly is an American political theorist known for his work on democracy, pluralism, capitalism and climate change. He is the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. His 1974 work ''The Ter ...

, Flathman founded what is sometimes called the "Hopkins School" of

political theory Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

. He died on September 6, 2015 at the age of 81."Political theorist Richard Flathman dies at 81," Johns Hopkins University HUB, http://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/2015/09/18/richard-flathman-obituary

Selected publications

* ''The Public Interest: An Essay Concerning the Normative Discourse of Politics'' (1966) * "Equality and Generalization: A Formal Analysis" ''NOMOS IX: Equality'' (1967) * ''Political Obligation'' (1972) * ''The Practice of Rights'' (1976) * ''The Practice of Political Authority: Authority and the Authoritative'' (1980) * "Rights, Needs, and Liberalism" ''Political Theory'' 8 (1980) * "Egalitarian Blood and Skeptical Turnips" ''Ethics'' 93 (1983) * "Moderating Rights" ''Social Philosophy and Policy'' 1 (1984) * "Culture, Morality and Rights: Or, Should Alasdair MacIntyre's Philosophical Driving License Be Suspended?" ''Analyse & Kritik'' 6, 1 (1984
(PDF)
* ''The Philosophy and Politics of Freedom'' (1987) * "Convention, Contractarianism, and Freedom" ''Ethics'' 98 (1987) * ''Toward a Liberalism'' (1989) * ''Willful Liberalism: Voluntarism and Individuality in Political Theory and Practice'' (1992) * ''Thomas Hobbes: Skepticism, Individuality, and Chastened Politics'' (1993) * ''Reflections of a Would-Be Anarchist: Ideals and Institutions of Liberalism'' (1998) * ''Freedom and Its Conditions: Discipline, Autonomy, and Resistance'' (2003) * ''Pluralism and Liberal Democracy'' (2005) * "Perfectionism without Perfection: Cavell, Montaigne, and the Conditions of Morals and Politics," in Andrew Norris (ed.) ''The Claim to Community: Essays on Stanley Cavell and Political Philosophy'' (Stanford University Press, 2006) * "Here and Now, There and Then, Always and Everywhere: Reflections Concerning Political Theory and the Study/Writing of Political Thought," in David Armitage (ed.) ''British Political Thought in History, Literature, and Theory, 1500-1800'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006) * "The Philosophy and Politics of Freedom," in ''Freedom: A Philosophical Anthology'', ed. Ian Carter, Matthew Kramer, and Hillel Steiner (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006) * "Legitimacy," in ''A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy'', Second Edition, ed. Robert Goodin, Philip Pettit, and Thomas Pogge (Blackwells, 2007) * "Response to Critics," ''The Good Society'' 15 (3) (2006), p. 27 * "In and out of the ethical: The realist liberalism of Bernard Williams," ''Contemporary Political Theory'' 9 (1) (2010): 77-98

As editor

* ''Concepts in Social and Political Philosophy'' (1973)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flathman, Richard 1934 births 2015 deaths Reed College faculty American political philosophers Johns Hopkins University faculty

Selected publications

As editor

See also

Further reading

References