Paul Kashap
July 01, 1927 - December 03, 2015
Resident of Santa Cruz
Surajnayan Paul Gurdayal Kashap, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at UC Santa Cruz, died at his home in Santa Cruz on Dec. 3, 2015 after a long struggle with cancer. Paul, as he was known to his family and friends, joined the UC Santa Cruz faculty in 1969 and was a Fellow of Cowell College.
Paul taught philosophy at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and then at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island before coming to UC Santa Cruz. He was a recognized scholar of Spinoza's philosophy (principally his Ethics), and published two main works on this subject, Studies in Spinoza, and Spinoza & Moral Freedom. At UCSC, Paul also taught popular seminars on the life and thought of Mahatma Gandhi and courses on Sanskrit texts such as the Bhagavad Gita.
Born July 1, 1927 in the family's ancestral home in Jalalpur, India (now part of Pakistan), Paul grew up in Pachmarhi, a small hill station in central India where his father was the army doctor. He studied at the University of Lahore until 1947, and received his BA and first MA from the University of Bombay (Wilson College). He went on to receive a second MA from the University of Edinburgh and later a BLitt from the University of Oxford (St. John's College). He also spent several summers as a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies in Simla, India.
Paul had many other interests during his long life. For instance, as a star struck teenager, he managed to get a part in a 1940's Bollywood film! He was also a natural athlete. He played on the St John's College tennis team while at Oxford, and enjoyed a friendly competition with his sons at tennis, ping pong, racquetball and golf. Paul also generously shared his mastery of Punjabi cooking, providing great pleasure to his family, colleagues, friends and students with delicious Indian meals over many years.
Throughout his life Paul was an excellent artist, particularly gifted in sculpture. Inspired by ancient Indian carvings, Paul took up sculpting in bronze and wood more seriously after retirement. He attended many sculpture classes at UCSC and Cabrillo College and showed his art at a one-man retrospective at Cowell College's Smith Gallery in 2012.
He is survived by his wife, Nancy, three sons and their wives: Philip and Martha (Rockwood), Christopher and Michele (Chase), Andrew and Monika (Batra) and nine grandchildren, Joseph, Albert, Helen, Philip, George, Alessandro, Isabella, Kabir and Karishma.
The family thanks Dr. Amy McMullen, Hospice of Santa Cruz County, PAMF Palliative Care and all the physicians and nurses who cared for Paul during his illness.
A celebration of Paul's life will be held on Sunday, January 31 at 2:00 p.m. at the Cowell College Provost's house on the UCSC campus, to which the public is invited.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that you make a contribution in Paul's name to the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery at Cowell College. Please make checks payable to the UC Santa Cruz Foundation and put Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery in the memo line. Please send the checks to Cowell Provost, UCSC, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064.

View the online memorial for Paul Kashap