Abstract

Although the recent generation of philosophers remembers him mostly from his massive onevolume abridged edition of the Aristotelian Corpus, Richard McKeon wrote extensively on many other subjects including Abelard, science, and democratic culture. He was a student of Frederick Woodbridge and John Dewey at Columbia University, and made his published debut with his work on Spinoza. He also wrote on medieval thought, to which Spinoza inevitably led him. McKeon’s years in Paris working with Etienne Gilson were formative in producing what has become his trademark—finding patterns and unity in philosophical diversity. McKeon spent the greater part of his life in Chicago holding both academic and administrative posts; he was also active in the formation of the United Nations charter of human rights. Under the auspices of UNESCO he helped found the International Institute of Philosophy as well.