Richard Watson (philosopher)

Richard A. Watson
Born	(1931-02-23)23 February 1931[1]
Died	18 September 2019(2019-09-18) (aged 88)
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
Main interests	History of philosophy

Richard Allan Watson (23 February 1931 – 18 September 2019) was an American philosopher, speleologist and author.[2]

Biography

Watson taught philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis for forty years. He was considered one of the foremost living authorities on Descartes.[3][4] He was an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy for Washington University.[5]

Watson earned a degree in geology specializing in "paleoclimatology of 10,000 years ago." This involved the development of agrarian societies in the Fertile Crescent.[6] From July 1965 to July 1967, he was president of the Cave Research Foundation.[7]

His book, Cogito, Ergo Sum: a life of René Descartes is a travelogue in the form of following Descartes's travels around Europe. It was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of its "25 Books to Remember from 2002."[6]

Criticism of animal rights

Watson authored the article Self-consciousness and the Rights of Nonhuman Animals and Nature, which argued that most animals do not have rights such as the rights for freedom or from unnecessary suffering because they are not moral agents, do not possess self-consciousness, free will, or have the capability for understanding moral principles or the physical capability to act according to given principles of duty.[8] According to Watson, an animal deserving of rights must have a well developed brain to discern "right from wrong".[8]

Selected publications

Richard A. Watson's publications include the following books and articles:

• Cogito, Ergo Sum: a life of Rene Descartes. David R Godine. 2007 [2002]. ISBN 978-1-56792-335-3. Was chosen by the New York Public library as one of "25 Books to Remember from 2002"[9]
• The Philosopher's Demise: Learning French. David R Godine. 2003. ISBN 978-1-56792-227-1.Has been translated into Italian
• The Philosopher's Diet: how to lose weight and change the world. David R Godine. 1999. ISBN 978-1-56792-084-0.Has been translated into nine languages.
• Niagara. Coffee House Press. 2000. ISBN 978-1-56689-006-9.. The biography of the first person to cross the Falls on a wire, and the first person(a woman) to go over the Falls in a barrel. The French translation has featured at the Saint-Malo Ettonants voyageurs Festival International du Lirre in 1997, where it won a translation award.
• Descartes's Ballet: His Doctrine Of Will & Political Philosophy. St. Augustines Press. 2004. ISBN 978-1-58731-175-8.
• In the Dark Cave. Star Bright Books. 2005. ISBN 978-1-59572-038-2.
• Watson, Richard A. The Downfall of Cartesianism. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1966.
  • Watson, R.A. The breakdown of Cartesian metaphysics. - Atlantic Highlands (N.J.) : Humanities press intern., 1987. - XII, 240 p. Bibliogr.: p. 223-235. Name ind.: p. 237-240.[10]
  • RICHARD A. WATSON. The Breakdown of Cartesian Metaphysics. Hackett Publishing Company, 1998. ISBN 9780872204065[11]
• Representational Ideas from Plato to Patricia Churchland (Kluwer Academic Publishers)
• Under Plowman's Floor
• The Runner
• The Longest Cave (with Roger W. Brucker) (hb Alfred A. Knopf, pb Southern Illinois University Press)
• The high road to Pyrrhonism / Ed. by Watson R.A., Force J.E. - San Diego: Hill, 1980. - XIV, 385 p. - (Studies in Hume a. Scott. philosophy; 2) Indices.: p. 369-385.

Articles

• Watson is the author of the Encyclopædia Britannica article on Descartes.[4]
• "Berkeley in a Cartesian Context". // Revue Internationale de Philosophie 65 (1963), 381–94.[12]
• "Berkeley in the Cartesian Tradition." Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters 48 (1963):587-97.
• "The Breakdown of Cartesian Metaphysics." Journal of the History of Philosophy 1 (1963):177-97.
• "Self-Consciousness and the Rights of Nonhuman Animals and Nature". Environmental Ethics (1979) Vol. 1, N 2. pp. 99-129.
• "What moves the mind: An excursion in Cartesian dualism". Amer. philos. quart. - Oxford, 1982. - vol. 19, N 1. - p. 73-81.
• "Having ideas". Amer. philos. quart. - Oxford, 1994. - Vol. 31, N 3. - P. 185–198.
• "Malebranche and Arnauld on ideas" // Mod. schoolman. - Saint Louis, 1994. - Vol. 71, N 4. - P. 259–270.

References

1. Richard A. Watson's Biography at the Amazon.com website.
2. "DR. RICHARD ALLAN WATSON Obituary (1931 - 2019) Boston Globe". Legacy.com.
3. Brothers Judd reviews.
4. Watson, Richard A. (31 March 2012). "René Descartes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
5. "Richard Watson Emeritus Professor of Philosophy". Washington University in St. Louis. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
6. Watson, Richard (March 31, 2012). "Autobiography". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
7. Brucker, Roger W.; Watson, Richard A. (1987) [1st pub. 1976 New York: Knopf]. The Longest Cave. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 198. ISBN 0809313219.
8. Povilitis, Anthony J. (1980). "On Assigning Rights to Animals and Nature". Environmental Ethics. 2 (1): 67–71. doi:10.5840/enviroethics19802110.
9. Watson, Richard (2007). Cogito, Ergo, Sum at Google Books. David R. Godine Publisher. ISBN 9781567923353. Retrieved 27 July 2010. See book back cover.
10. For reviews, see:
    • Alan Hausman (Ohio State University) reviewed in Noûs Vol. 27, No. 2 (Jun., 1993), pp. 272-275.
    • Brothers Judd review: Richard A. Watson. The Breakdown of Cartesian Metaphysics (1987)
11. A reissue of the Humanities Press Edition of 1987.
12. A section on Berkeley in R.A.Watson's book "The breakdown of Cartesian metaphysics" constitutes a revised and completed variant of this paper.

Notes

• Daues, Jessica (April 2, 2008). "Campus Author: Richard A. Watson". Washington University in St. Louis.

External links

• "Richard Watson's Home Page". Retrieved 27 July 2010.
• Amazon's Complete Selection of Richard A. Watson's Books
• Watson, Richard (March 31, 2012). "Autobiography". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2012-03-31.