Harry Deutsch

1942 - 2025

Harry Seton Deutsch died at his home in Normal, IL, on July 14, 2025. He is survived by his son, Max Deutsch, his daughter in-law, Ann Baldoni, and his grandkids, Jack and Sadie Deutsch. His beloved pug dogs, Mario, Champ, and Frankie, have been adopted by loving new families, as per Harry's last wishes.

Harry will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He was a brilliant scholar of philosophy and logic, had a keen sense of humor and the absurd, and was often affectionate and loyal towards those with whom he was close. He was passionate about his intellectual endeavors and about many other things besides, including poetry (a profound and lasting interest throughout his life), jazz, opera, boxing, Porsche sports cars, and Los Angeles, California and the Hollywood Hills (where he lived in several different periods of his life).

Harry was Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Illinois State University, where he spent the bulk of his career and inspired many students in further study in the discipline. He was a UCLA PhD whose work in philosophy is highly esteemed and has had a significant impact in several philosophical subfields. Before his death, he was at work on a comprehensive coauthored book about the work of the great philosopher/logician, Alonzo Church. Harry was lucid and able to discuss his ongoing projects until the very end of his life. His professional collaborators knew him as an extremely talented and knowledgeable interlocutor and all have expressed deep sadness about the loss to philosophy and philosophical logic that Harry's death represents. Harry's father, Robert (predeceased), was a professor of literature, and Harry's son, Max, is himself a professor of philosophy. Harry was justly proud of the Deutsch family's legacy of three generations of scholars.