As an occasional reader and long-time fan of The Stone, I often went to the column specifically to see what Gary Gutting might have written recently. This morning over coffee I opened it for the first time in a while hoping to see his name. Imagine my sadness to see his name — but not on a byline. I will miss Gary’s thoroughly decent and measured reflections on the practical implications of philosophy.
1
I teach an ethics class and use "Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments" as one of the texts. Both my students and myself appreciate Professor Gutting's work in that book. It is accessible, critical, and fair. Each of his essays that we discuss has the spirit of "energetic debate" and "conversation," as Mr. Catapano so rightly describes. My students, who had never heard of him before, found themselves deeply appreciative of his work. Professor Gutting will be missed!
1
RIP Gary. Thank you for your contributions to philosophy and your dedication to the field. You will be missed.
1
Gary’s death is a shock to so many. Just two weeks ago I wrote him a lengthy response to his most recent encouragement of a discussion on affirmative action. He answered immediately, gently and encouragingly, as was his wont. Gary and I started our professorial careers at the same time, with offices across a narrow corridor in the basement of the “Touchdown Jesus” library. I left ND a decade later for the dark side of academic administration, having become bored with my research. Gary matured into that wonderful teacher, scholar and kind person that Peter Catapano so beautifully describes. Gary and I corresponded quite regularly when he was associated with “The Stone,” and it was then that I rediscovered his kindness while I appreciated his philosophical intelligence more than ever. Especially welcome, cherished and often reread is his essay on being an agnostic Catholic. Requiescat in Pace, gentle soul.
1
So inspiring to read these comments. I was very happy when The Stone appeared. I always hated how philosophy was like some dirty little secret. I enjoy esoteric philosophy, I love engaged philosophy. I have a strong opinion of what's missing in The Stone but I will save that for another time. The comments section is used so well here, it is underrated.
I remember Professor Gutting's columns well, and I regret that we did not have the opportunity to thank him properly for his contributions here at The Times.
I offer my sincerest condolences to his family, friends, former students, and admirers.
2
The mark of a true philosopher is convincing others of something he hasn't (yet?) convinced himself of: the argument is made; let others judge it.
1
I just finished The Stone Reader and returned it to the library. As I read this column, there's another library book sitting right next to me waiting for me to start: Gary Gutting's What Philosophy Can Do. Thank you for the great writing, Mr. Gutting.
2
"Does a commitment to democratic elections require one to accept a fair election that puts an anti-democratic party into power?"
When Professor Gutting wrote that in 2012 who might have guessed what was coming?
3
No and this is the reason for constitutions and an independent judiciary.
1
Rest In Peace, Gary Gutting
I always enjoyed reading his op-eds. In a world where some are hell bent on suppressing and oppressing critical thinking and analysis, as well as legitimizing moral and ethical incompetence, Gary's writings were a reminder that people can be better than that. While most of his students didn't go on to be professional philosophers, I'm certain that they left his classes with superior thinking skills and a knowledge and appreciation of the Western intellectual tradition and the overall value of humanistic thought.
He will be missed.
4
As an atheist who was raised Catholic I looked forward to Gutting’s columns, not so much for what he said but for the way he said it. His “mission of making philosophy useful and meaningful to the broader public” was refreshing. Philosophy is meaningless unless it has practical application. His demonstration of how a well-reasoned argument should be presented was always consistent. His columns took time and focus to read – a virtue lost in today’s wilderness of instant gratification and social media.
Although I appreciated his “Enlightenment” approach to religion, what I found frustrating was his defense of a Catholicism that made religion much more complicated than it needed to be - a dense jungle of labyrinthine abstractions, buried under layers of arcane ritual. “Can reflective and honest intellectuals actually believe that stuff?” is how he voiced my confusion is his essay “On Being Catholic.”
His answer in the same essay was a confident “yes - that because he was brought up in the Church, it was the only “live option” for him —“the only place I feel at home.” So, after an entire essay of metaphysical and historical argument, what it surprisingly came down to in the end was “habit,” a sentimental attachment. I appreciated his honesty.
Gutting and I had a very similar Catholic upbringing and education, but different outcomes: the Church was never home, never “central to my moral being.” Nevertheless, I’ll miss the opportunity to engage with his thinking.
7
I am sorry to hear of Prof. Gutting's death.
I wrote an email to Prof. Gutting a few years ago in response to an article he wrote about gun control. To my surprise, he responded immediately. Just a short, thoughtful note, thoughtful and humane, like much of his writing. His voice will be missed.
2
As a former philosophy major I've grown increasingly dismayed at the abstruseness and impotence of philosophy, at professors who are content to insulate their conversations from the public, as though their ideas are too good and too grand to be appreciated by the masses.
We need more Gutting's.
4
In memory of Gary Gutting >>
Grateful in whose image we come
Lead us for which creation's creativity
Literally longs in life
Death's last judgment
Upholding relative suffering
Cross-referent in absolute grace
That in the beginning had been 'The Word'
Commuting our greatest gift now
Made flesh free-will confirmed.
As a student of religious thought and literature, including biblical and Christian, I was very glad for Gary Gutting's presence here, and his calm assurance that the tradition of philosophical and theological discourse that was his home had much of great interest to open-minded, reasonable readers of The New York Times. It was then rather less calming to turn from an essay of his in The Stone to the Comments (and this has been true of essays by other contributors as well), and find that there were always a not tiny number of them expressive of some mistrust or disapproval of religion (however crudely or reductively understood), of theology, and even of the philosophic enterprise itself, with attitudes ranging from impatience to indignation ("How dare you waste our time with this nonsense . . . "; "How low The New York Times has fallen to print such rubbish . . ."). I wonder what Professor Gutting made of those routine contributions to the conversation; did he find them as dismaying as I did, on his behalf? I hope not!
3
Mark,
You refer, partly, to me.
Obviously, I cannot speak for all atheists, but I believe I am representative. We do not mistrust or disapprove of philosophy; to the contrary, we elevate it against religion's depredations. Good conduct, reasoning, evidence, analytics, morality, and ethics, are crucial. Personal responsibility is paramount.
So why, then, because of "wish fulfillment" and other motives far more sinister, should our civilization be so entirely derailed in these pursuits by religion; i.e., by those who glibly tell us what a supernatural being says, what ancient, primitive, ignorant, and evil books say, why (at least as to some aspects of morality) the religious are exculpated from their responsibilities by the dictates of some priest/imam or "scripture"?
We can and must find ways to live purposeful, valuable lives; philosophy is critical to that. This has nothing to do with the childish (albeit, perhaps, comforting) dream of seeing your deceased parent or pet (healthy again!) once more in heaven.
I liked reading Prof. Gutting, and he seemed like a nice person. I'm sorry he is gone. My sole complaint about him was that he took religion so seriously, accepting perhaps that if we wished for something so much our wishing might make it true; thus impeding us a bit in our efforts to get on with the important, reality-based work of understanding our world, ourselves, our communities, and our duties to our fellow humans. I prefer a more direct path to enlightenment.
4
@AM "I prefer a more direct path to enlightenment." Wow, that's brilliant.
2
@AM I applaud your high regard for philosophy, the practice of which you and I evidently agree is a most valuable part of human thriving. Whether it is best understood as a weapon to be used "against religion's depredations" is a matter on which we do not agree, however.
I earlier referred to commenters of a few kinds, including those who do think little of philosophy, and could be counted on to make silly dismissive remarks on Stone essays of great sophistication. Outside of The Stone, we might note that a fashion nowadays among some scientists, e.g. the astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, seems to be to mock philosophy as either pointless or impractical.
Now re religion: Scholars in religious studies recognize thoughts, mentalities and behaviors of many kinds under the heading of "religion," without themselves satisfying themselves with any simple definition of it. So your summary characterizations of it as "wish fulfillment," or a lazy avoidance of a serious examination of difficult issues by means of an appeal to unquestionable authority, or what is worst, a play for an authority in society that is unmerited and that is regularly abused to promote injustice of one kind or another, simply do not correspond to the vast field that scholars of religion study. To be sure, a not small number of the religious are neither good thinkers nor good actors, and deserve our disapproval. But they do not represent all religion. And more to the point, Gary Gutting was not one of them.
This is heartbreaking. Bombastic, careless, abusive and corrupt authoritarianism is sweeping across the USA, but it seems to be swamping Poland.
I remember the leadership of Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement and Poland's rise upward from a dark history The image of the country grew brighter. How shameful that the current leadership is so obviously corrupt, careless with human rights, and abusive to those who speak up in opposition.
By comparison it makes our own shameful Executive Branch, GOP, and Fox News seem a little less horrible.
2
Professor Gutting was also a professor of mine at Notre Dame, where he had a decisive influence on my understanding of Nietsche, Kierkegaard, and God. More memorable, though, was his approach to teaching, which was less lecturing than thinking through each question or issue carefully with his class. He managed to turn even the most puerile statements (usually mine) into serious lessons. He was also unfailingly civil in a way we can hardly comprehend now but which was obvious to everyone at the Stone.
Now, teaching undergraduates, I realize that I have tried to model my own way in every classroom after his. It is harder than one imagines, but that is the greatest tribute I can offer, and I hope it means that Gary Gutting's legacy will continue for at least one more generation.
9
I was very lucky to have taken a philosophy course from professor Gutting many years ago as a freshman at Notre Dame. Even though it was only an introductory course, Professor Gutting's intellect and humanity deeply affected me. I loved those lectures and still have my notes from them, as well as the texts he assigned. I can only imagine the thousands of other students and colleagues he inspired and whose lives he made better.
5
I will miss his op-eds and way he conducted this blog. He helped bring out dissonant and opposite views to this forum, which fostered engagement and some joy on my part. I liked it very much how he challenged the positivist currents among us.
Condolences to his survivors.
2
Truly a big loss to read of Gary Gutting’s passing. He was one of the few philosophers who took my work as an artist seriously. A few years ago I emailed Gary out of the blue, and even though he did not know me from anybody; he kindly email me back with a few thought of his own. This started a correspondence that lasted until now. For him, it was probably minor, but for me, it was astonishing. He will be missed.
2
I really enjoyed reading Gary Gutting. I was struggling with my faith, and I submersed myself in philosophy. NYT's The Stone was there to add to my newly found interest.
I transitioned from Christian to atheism after a long battle of deconversion. Gary Gutting's work helped me understand humanism. I could be good without God.
Without Gary Gutting, the Stone was not nearly as good.
3
Gary Gutting, so far as I can determine from Mr. Catapano's column and from some of the pieces the professor wrote for the Stone, embodied the values and principles without which a modern democracy cannot long endure. His humane respect for people who disagreed with him prevents political contests from deteriorating into blood feuds. Gutting's adherence to high standards of thinking and conduct remind us that, in a free society, political power should serve the needs of the citizenry rather than the ego or narrow interests of the officeholder.
At any time in history, the numbers of such men and women fail to match our society's need for them. Professor Gutting will be sorely missed.
3
Gay Gutting was a professor of mine at ND. He taught me to understand Rene Descartes' complex philosophy. In doing so, he also taught me to calmly and reasonably assess arguments for and against the existence of God. I have been a believer ever since. For this, I am forever indebted to him. May he rest in peace.
1
This lover of "Continental" (German, French, Italian) Philosophy." is touched by Prof. Gutting's passing, with the bittersweet thought of the mortal vulnerability of the embodied subjects of the making and making sense of worlds in art and thought with the perfection of the well-made.
I most know Gutting through his superb and lucid histories of French philosophy of the last century, both religious and leftist. But he was also a generalist. Catapano captures the value of the kind of applied philosophy commenting on various subjects that Gutting apparently helped popularize. I have learned from his example and others in the Times column he co-edited of what this involves. It is not unlike a French philosophy exam: Faced with a topic you come across rather than having chosen to fit a theoretical agenda, you think out loud, and with the conceptual resources of the discipline.
For the skill and task of the philosopher is to solve theoretical or practical problems by thinking about them, using concepts and arguments (with logical entailments) with precision and rigor. Finding and representing facts is not our concern; we are not journalists but thinkers. The aim of thinking is not to represent or reveal fact or experience but to make conceptual sense of, to "think," what we know. That is why we need the humanities, which can train for excellence at citizenship and living. We also should, like the French, require philosophy in high school.
I met Dr Gutting my freshman year at N.D. back in 1973. He changed my life forever with his unique perspective of inquiry and contemplation of the "Big Questions." He knew for we who shared his zest for seeking those answers, it would be a life-long, endless quest . . .
I was lucky to enroll in his "Introduction to Metaphysics" which he taught within the context of the (sharp) limits of human kinds' rational aptitude. Man simply CAN NOT KNOW, but he may be moved to BELIEVE, and he is often compelled from his inner nature to consider, these eternal questions to better ground his existence on this Earth, in a temporality not even Ramses could escape. Outside his truly riveting and challenging classroom dialogues, Dr. Gutting delighted in hosting we students at his home with his amazing & talented wife & children, as well as taking a few of us sampling $3 French Cote de Rhones in Chicago on the weekend at a bargain basement he only knew (we college kids were more used to Boones Farm in those days). May the Universe bless Gary Gutting. He forever changed my life and perspective, and did so for about a hundred thousand others of us questioning mortals! MK Class of 77 (Philosophy)
BTW, Dr. Gutting talked me out of pursuing a doctorate in his discipline as he felt it too constraining for me (and as usual, he was wiser than his students) -- in later years when I visited him at school he chuckled about his realism when it came to career choices for his students.
4
For a brief time in the late '70's I was graduate student at ND, and Professor Gutting was the only one who treated me with respect, didn't taunt me for taking philosophy seriously -not ironically - and respected my decision to leave academia for "the real world." A decision I've never regretted.
When I discovered his columns in the NYT it took me a few minutes to realize this was the self-same person who was so
centered and thoughtful and kind. We need more of that. My condolences to his friends and family.
1
I'm very sorry to read this. I always enjoyed Prof. Gutting's contributions to The Stone, from the very beginning.
3
The idea that a newspaper could carry a column of philosophical ideas was as odd to me as the reality that it was often deeply engaging and topical. Mr. Gutting provided the readership of the Times with ideas, usually connected to the world in enduring or topical ways. I was often riveted to each new edition, and I'm deeply grateful for all he gave.
8
Shame he rode on the coattails of Santa Claus. When a philosopher relies on God the balance of equality is lost. The morality of riches not shared is acceptable.
1
@William
As much as it is impossible for me to believe there is a God the need for people to believe there is a God is an argument well worth having.
I'm very sorry to hear that Gary Gutting has died. His columns in the Stone were always interesting and thought-provoking, and while I may have disagreed with his theistic views, only yesterday I mentioned him in a comment in another blog, where I expressed the view that I wished all defenders of religious faith could be as intelligent, fair-minded and open to dialog as he was. My condolences to his family and friends.
26
Thank you, too, Peter. I just formally edited my first piece. I had assumed it was going to be a relatively low effort way to get out someone else’ important work. Boy, did I underestimate the time to go through drafts, and even the time periods between all participants’ abilities to work on things, to say nothing of negotiating respective differences over goals and style. Still very much worth it, of course, to try to bring out the best of another. It makes me better appreciate the role of the editor for such, in a number of ways, contrarian jewel of a Philosophy column in The Times.
2
The Stone was important to me. I often read its columns and commented on them at least several times. It ran them on the status of economics as a science, on the meaning (if any) of life, on the end of life.
It has been observed that philosophy has become an exceedingly arcane and technical subject. Gutting followed in the steps of Bertrand Russell and others who tried to make the abstract concrete. A most worthy endeavor.
We will never find out "what it's all about" but we must keep trying. Garry Gutting was one of the foremost who did.
4
He made me wish I had been raised in an expression of religion grounded in rituals. One of the often overlooked, I think, negatives of evangelical Christianity is that when/if you lose your faith you also lose the comfort rituals can provide for the most important and difficult experiences in life. Low church Protestantism, in my case Baptist, reduces ritual as much as possible. That is sort of the main point. So all that remains is the evangelical interpretation of scripture - nothing can be separated from it. Which, in my opinion, is really unfortunate.
Without faith, which at this point I would need to have some sort of intellectual persuasion to even attempt, I am left without the comfort ritual can provide. I think religion performs and important function. He expressed that well. Sort of shifted my anger into a way to think about the underlying anger, which, in part, is due to the loss of the comfort of ritual which, even with the loss of faith, I think I would have been able to access.
Opening one of his pieces always made me a little nervous. I mean that as a compliment. I am glad he chose to give his time to this medium.
5
As we celebrate the extraordinary life of Gary Gutting, and recount his contributions to our nation's discussion of morality and public policy, I regretfully find myself drawn to a sense of regret and forboding.
Professor Gutting had a deep understanding of the complexity of human nature, and made a valiant effort combine pragmatism and idealism in his approach to philosophy; to temper each with the other while respecting the necessity of both. This is a difficult and often thankless task, but vitally important to this country and, increasingly, the world.
We value democracy, diversity, freedom, and the rule of law, but to enjoy them together we need to take the wise counsel of our Gary Guttings, and act accordingly. Far to many of those with political and institutional power seem to be unable, or unwilling, to take this step; to bear this burden.
I believe that this, in a broad sense, is now our nation's greatest challenge. We will miss Gary Gutting, and need more like him to step forward and take his place.
3
Peter Catapano's comments, concerning Gary Gutting, are right on the mark and very much appreciated. Gary was and, through his writings remains, a very capable and brave scholar and philosopher. Few in academia are as willing to so publicly jump into the theological and civic thickets.
http://dailynous.com/2019/01/20/gary-gutting-1942-2019/ notes:
Professor Gutting was once asked about the role of philosophy in a world in crisis. He answered:
I learned long ago from Candide that both optimism and pessimism are just ways of avoiding the work of improving the world. For optimism, improvement is unnecessary, for pessimism it’s impossible. But it always makes sense to do what we can to make things better in our immediate locale, where we have some reasonable chance of alleviating what Voltaire rightly saw as the three great evils of vice, poverty, and boredom. It might seem that philosophy would have little relevance to such immediate and mundane concerns, and it’s true that theory, high or deep, won’t tell us how to work in our gardens. But effective action requires accurate thought, and in our culture at least, the basic ideas we need for thinking trickle down from philosophy, as do the methods of thinking well.
HJB
NDL 65
11
Growing up Catholic lead me to becoming a bitter atheist for a time. But after reading Mr. Gutting in my mid 20s I was able to rethink my bitterness and appreciate religion for what it means for it's practitioners while still confident in my belief that there ultimately is no one true God.
Life is more complicated than simple belief and Mr. Gutting got at this in every article he wrote. And I read them voraciously.
We need more voices like Mr. Gutting's. Calm, wise, curious and yet critical without condescension. We hunger for words and thought that can expand our lives and give structure to our often discombobulating contemporary culture and world.
Thank you Gary. Thank you so much.
7
Not sure if the list at the end of the article is supposed to be exhaustive, but it's missing at least one little essay I liked quite a bit: Mozart vs. The Beatles. I've often used it to introduce my students to the concept of aesthetics and judgment. It's both modest and humane, like much of Professor Gutting's writings. His voice will indeed be missed.
12
@g. harlan
Thank you. I will add that link here, and add it to the list as well. No list of Gary's work could be exhaustive, but that one was a lot of fun. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/opinion/gary-gutting.html
1
@g. harlan
I just read Professor Gutting's essay from the link, "On Being Catholic."
"liberal drive for reform is the best hope of saving the Church."
Gutting spoke incisively on the "Ethics of Love" as taught by Jesus, especially for modern times..
Outstanding words for a modern world.
9
In an age when there are so few real, undiluted heroic people Gary G. was one of the few who stand out. He did everything possible to combat ignorance, but never blamed the ignorant, regretted the decline of American scholarship but remained a stalwart supporter of the academy, and understood the true meaning of empathy even when his detractors and opponents were at issue.
8
You note that the philosopher Simon Critchley described Professor Gutting's work as “a properly American voice, clear, without ever being shrill, tolerant without ever being uncritical." While those are admirable traits, unfortunately in today's polarized political climate it's hard to see how communicating in a clear, not shrill, manner and being tolerant without ever being uncritical could be accurately described as "properly American."
10
Keen observation. Adopting Gutting's principles would pretty much end the NYT's business model. But I'm always surprised how philosophy survives, and I am grateful that the NYT makes a little place for it. I was trained in philosophy, and I was happy to be reminded here of Gutting's involvement with the NDPR. Every time I slow down and engage with that Review, I am grateful all over again for my training.
Many thanks for the link to the 3AM interview. It was energizing to see such a clear example of Gutting's thinking in action, at work.
4
As an avid reader of the Stone I will miss Dr. Gutting' voice. Though my religious beliefs (none) do not align with his I appreciated his logic and calm presence.
11
How sad to hear of his death. I live only 30 miles from ND and have never met him, but I so appreciated his largeness of mind and heart in the pieces I read in the Times. May he rest in peace.
5