JOSEPH MARGOLIS

MARGOLIS--Joseph. On his 97th birthday, renowned American philosopher Joseph Margolis received the advance copies of his latest book: "The Critical Margolis," first in a new series published by SUNY Press on American Philosophy and Cultural Thought. That book surveyed the last 25 years of his 70-year career, but Joe did not rest. When he died on June 8, 2021, surrounded by family, friends and students, he was working on a paper to anchor his new project: gathering the many strands of his work into something like a "unified field theory" of philosophy. When he graduated from Drew University in 1947, Joe was fluent in French, Spanish, and Italian. (Well, and English too). Later, he added German. A professor suggested that philosophy would be a better field than languages in which to let his brilliant analytical mind play. And play it was for Joe; after obtaining his M.A. (1950) and Ph.D (1953) in philosophy at Columbia University, his favorite things to do were read, think, talk, teach, and write philosophy. He always lectured and spoke without notes, yet when debating other philosophers' ideas, he easily, and from memory, quoted and cited from this apt footnote or that critical passage. In addition to countless shorter pieces, Joe wrote 30-odd books as the sole author. Their titles suggest his range of thought and elegance of expression: Pragmatism without Foundations; The Unraveling of Scientism; Selves and Other Texts; What, After All, Is a Work of Art?; Life without Principles; The Art of Freedom. Various of his works have been translated into Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. The covers of most of Joe's books featured artworks from his small but excellent and eclectic collection, each piece carefully chosen by the superb eye of a man who had wandered entranced through museums all over the world. Joe was a careful writer, yet he rarely needed to make major edits to his first drafts. (He would want to rewrite this obituary). Joe wrote exclusively on his beloved Olympia manual typewriters, model SG-3. Many SG-3s gave up the ghost before he did. Joe's children from his first marriage, to Cynthia Baimas of Fitchburg, MA, Paul Margolis (Becky), Naki Margolis and Mike Margolis grew up to the sound of keys clacking through the night in different locales: Long Island University; University of South Carolina (where, Joe recounted, he was asked to leave after publicly defending a Black man under professional attack, at a time when "Whites Only" signs were still displayed in the South); University of California at Berkeley; University of Cincinnati; University of Western Ontario. In 1967, Joe started teaching at Temple University, and shortly afterward his second wife, Clorinda ("Coco") Goltra of Cincinnati, OH (deceased), and his two step-daughters, Lovegrove Hunter (deceased) and Jennifer Friedman (William), joined him in Philadelphia. At Temple University, Joe held the Laura H. Carnell Chair of Philosophy (1991-2021) and stayed active until the end, becoming the longest-ten- ured professor in the history of the University. Joe is survived by six grandchildren, three step-grandchildren, and many dear friends around the world, most of whom he met on his frequent trips abroad to give lectures at the invitation of universities in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the former Yugoslavia. Joe and his twin brother Israel were born in Newark, NJ, to Harry and Bluma Margolis, Israel on May 15 and Joe on May 16, 1924, separated by minutes before and after midnight. Although Joe became an atheist at an early age, living a righteous life, without judging others, was important to him. In the Second World War, Joe, a private in the U.S. Army, volunteered to be a paratrooper partly to 'hold up the side' (he was the only Jewish paratrooper in his unit). He was injured during the Battle of the Bulge and received a Purple Heart medal. Joe lived his life with courage and integrity and died with dignity. His family, friends, students and colleagues will miss him very much. Memorial services will be held on Sunday, July 25, 2021, from 12 noon to 3:pm Eastern Time, at Banca, 600 Spring Garden, Philadelphia, PA 19123 (+1-215-665-1659). If you have photos, letters, or memories of Joe that you would like to share, please email them to: JoeMargolisMemories @gmail.com