“This is a valuable account of the transition of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame from one in the 1930s when it served the founding purpose of the university to its heterogenous present.” —The Catholic Historical Review

“This detailed account offers an inside view of Notre Dame’s Department of Philosophy and the challenges, difficulties and tensions that accompanied its development into one of the most distinguished philosophy departments in the world today. The author, who has been on the Notre Dame faculty for more than 50 years, focuses on the people of the department, describing their relationships and personalities, and how their ambitions affected department affairs overall.” —Notre Dame Magazine

"Ken Sayre's Adventures in Philosophy at Notre Dame, a narrative history of nearly eighty years, divides the decades into three distinct periods: textbook Thomism, pluralism, and professionalism. Sayre, who came to Notre Dame in 1958 with a PhD. from Harvard, has witnessed them all." —NDWorks

"Kenneth Sayre has a splendid cast of characters and stories. In recounting the history of a single department over the last seventy years, he also tells the story of the development of academic philosophy. Along the way he shows how the notion that a university should be run as a business gradually took hold and transformed, not only his university, but U.S. academic culture." —Patricia Curd, Purdue University

"Kenneth Sayre tells the story of the transition of the philosophy department at Notre Dame with a keen eye for how these transitions illuminate transitions in the developments in philosophy, broadly speaking. I think the great achievement of this book is not only its well-crafted history of the Notre Dame philosophy department, but its reminder to us that philosophers are human beings. By bringing to life the extraordinary people who have been associated with the Notre Dame philosophy department, Sayre has written a book that is deeply humane and uplifting." —Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law, Duke Divinity School

Kenneth M. Sayre is professor of philosophy and director of the Philosophic Institute at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of numerous books, including Unearthed: The Economic Roots of Our Environmental Crisis (University of Notre Dame Press, 2010).

Preface and Acknowledgments

Prologue

Part 1. From Thomism to Pluralism

1. A Bastion of Thomism

• Joe Bobik and the Pope Philosophy and Football
• The Cage
• The Early Curriculum
• People and Places
• Distinguished Visitors
• Early Specialists
• The Status Quo
• The “Campus Maverick”

2. Breaching the Ramparts

• Early Steps in the Pursuit of Excellence
• Fr. Hesburgh Takes Charge
• Joseph I. M. Bochenski, OP, a Force of Nature
• Ernan McMullin, a Man of Many Parts
• Thomism on the Wane

3.. The Gates Swing Open

• Ralph McInerny, Kierkegaard Scholar
• Bochenski’s Logicians
• The Fribourg Aristocrats
• Analytic Philosophy Enters the Scene
• Thomism Exits under a Cloud

4. Pluralism

Pluralism in the Offing Priests in the Department from 1960 Onward The “Wittgenstein Reading Group” Friday Colloquia McMullin’s Conference on the Concept of Matter The Carnegie Summer Institute The Perspective Series The Committee on Appointments and Promotions The Sellarsians Pluralism, Pros and Cons

Part 2. From Pluralism to Professionalism

5. Centers and Institutes

• Philosophers at the Helm of the Medieval Institute
• Ralph Takes Command of the Maritain Center
• The Glory Days of the Philosophic Institute
• ND’s Celebrated Center for Philosophy of Religion
• The Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values

6. Sea Change

• Keeping Different Company
• The Princeton Incursion
• Philip Quinn and the APA
• Gender and Related Matters
• Specialization Takes Over
• Reshaping the Graduate Program
• Correlative Changes in the Undergraduate Program

7. Professional Philosophy

• Rankings CVs and Other Forms of Self-Presentation
• The Business of Academic Research Endowed Chairs
• The Marketing Power of Professional Journals
• Developing the Product Line
• The Department Adrift

8.. Entering the New Millennium

• The 2000 External Review
• The Department’s Response
• The Center for Ethics and Culture
• Fr. Jenkins and The Vagina Monologues
• The Alternative Commencement
• The Obama Commencement: Three Speeches
• Time Present and Time Future
• Heartwood and Sapwood
• Both Parts of a Living Tree

Epilogue: Ernan’s Memorial Mass

Appendix A. Philosophy Faculty, 1950–2010

Appendix B. CAP Membership, 1967–2010

Appendix C. Administrators

Philosophy Department Chairs, 1920–2010 — Arts and Letters Deans, 1919–2010 — University Provosts, 1970–2010 — University Presidents, 1946–2010

Notes

Bibliography

Index