(1935-2008)
Peter H. Hare, philosopher and educator, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, died peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of Thursday, January 3, 2008 at his home in Guilford, Connecticut. Born in New York City on March 12, 1935, son of the late Jane Perry and Michael Meredith Hare, Peter is survived by his second wife, the poet Susan Howe, a brother Michael, a sister Sarah, his son Clare, daughter Gwen, and grandchildren Danielle and Monty, and numerous friends and students. His first wife Daphne Hare preceded him in death in 1995.
While an undergraduate at Yale University, Peter Hare began his life-long relationship with philosophy, writing a thesis on Alfred North Whitehead as an exemplar of multi-disciplinary integration. After graduating from Yale, he earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at Columbia University where he wrote a dissertation on G. H. Mead’s metaphysics.
At the age of 36, Dr. Hare was appointed Full Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department of the State University of New York at Buffalo. His experience working with a heterogeneous group of Marxists, logicians, linguists, and Americanists inspired him to continue the work of bringing together disparate strands of 20th century thought into a unified vision of a modern philosophy department.
Through his own writings and teachings, Hare left an indelible impact upon the history of American philosophy, helping to draw the works of C.S. Peirce, G. H. Mead, William James, A. N. Whitehead, and John Dewey into international centrality. As a committed educator, editor, and participant in professional organizations, he never ceased in the work of bringing together disparate stands of philosophy, literature, poetry and art. He was an accomplished photographer, and at his death he was at work photographing the Central Park neighborhood of Buffalo for a publication about the architecture of that area. Many of his works hang on view at the Philosophy Department where he taught for so many years.
Dr. Hare traveled widely in the service of philosophy. Among other posts, he served as President of the New York State Philosophy Association, the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, the Charles Sanders Peirce Society, and the William James Society. He was the recipient of numerous awards and honors for distinguished contributions to the understanding and development of the rich diversity of the American tradition. Since the early 1970s he was co-editor of the Transactions of the C. S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal in American Philosophy. He was editor or co-editor of numerous volumes, and he was author of more than one hundred articles in scholarly journals.
A man of abiding pragmatism, optimism, kindness, enthusiasm, generosity and energy, Dr. Hare will be remembered by students, philosophers, and people of every walk of life, from Poland and Russia, to South America to Buffalo.
[text courtesty Hare family]
