Samuel Todes (June 27, 1927October 21, 1994) was an American philosopher who made notable contributions to

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning Meaning most comm ...

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 ...

, and

philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are ad ...

Biography

Todes taught philosophy at MIT after graduation from Harvard, alongside Hubert Dreyfus. He taught courses on Kant, Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. Todes developed a philosophy of needs, based on his critique of Kant's schematism and Merleau-Ponty's critique of Heidegger. This contribution was never published, beyond its basis in his dissertation. Gerry Stahl and Ralph D. Sawyer attended his courses as undergraduates. When Todes and Dreyfus were dismissed from MIT for their critique of artificial intelligence, Todes moved to Northwestern University's Department of Philosophy. Todes was Associate Professor of Philosophy at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

at the time of his death in 1994. His

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

doctoral dissertation, ''The Human Body as Material Subject of the World'', written in 1963, was chosen as one of the most important philosophy dissertations at Harvard and thus published close to three decades later in a special dissertation-series of publications, connected with Harvard itself, using Todes' original title. It gained such a following therefrom that it was published again in 2001 as ''Body and World'' (MIT Press). According to philosopher Piotr Hoffman, "Had odes' dissertationbeen published at the time it was written, it would have been recognized as one of the most valuable contributions to philosophy in the postwar period and as the most significant contribution to the field of

existential phenomenology Existential phenomenology encompasses a wide range of thinkers who take up the view that philosophy must begin from experience like phenomenology, but argues for the temporality of personal existence as the framework for analysis of the human condi ...

since the work of Merleau-Ponty." ''Body and World'' also makes a notable contribution to contemporary interdisciplinary research in the field of embodied cognitive science. In addition to his important philosophical work, Todes was a pioneer in the struggle for gay rights and visibility in the academic world; openly gay himself, he was among the founding members of the Gay Academic Union. His life partner of over 30 years was the distinguished Canadian-American poet and translator Daryl Hine (1936-2012).

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External links

Samuel Todes Blog
1927 births 1994 deaths Harvard University alumni Northwestern University faculty 20th-century American philosophers {{US-philosopher-stub

Biography

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External links