John Sallis (1938-2025), the “dean” of continental philosophy in the United States and one of the foremost thinkers in the phenomenological, hermeneutic and deconstructive traditions of philosophy, died on February 18, 2025. His life and his work had an unparalleled impact upon philosophy in our times, shaping discussions and opening avenues for thinking. His many works on imagination constitute some of the most original and creative treatments of this topic, but the span and breadth of his work ranges beyond this central interest of his to include seminal works on nature, art, music and painting. In regard to his work on nature, his recent analysis of the elemental in its relationship to sensible being is particularly striking. Sallis has shown in many of his works that unearthing original insights goes hand in hand with careful readings of the history of philosophy. His many works on Plato are particularly noteworthy in this regard, but one found an equally brilliant originality in his writings on Nietzsche, Hegel, Fichte, Merleau-Ponty and others in the history of Western philosophy. Sallis’ formative works on Heidegger and later on Derrida helped set the stage for the reception of these authors in the United States. He is the author of over forty books. His writings have been translated into more than a dozen languages. He lectured extensively in Europe and Asia. In short, his impact upon philosophy today is extensive and will shape philosophy in the future.
John Sallis received his doctorate from Tulane University in 1964. For twenty years, he held the Frederick J. Adelmann Chair at Boston College. Before that he was full professor and chair at Duquesne University and then held research chairs at Loyola University of Chicago, Vanderbilt University, and Pennsylvania State University. Sallis was also a Visiting Professor at Warwick University (UK), Staffordshire University (UK), Universität Freiburg (Germany), and University of Bergen (Norway). In 2007 he received a doctorate honoris causa from Universität Freiburg. In 2012 he was the recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize.
John Sallis was the founding editor of Research in Phenomenology, the premiere Journal in this field of research. He also co-founded the Ancient Philosophy Society,which has grown in membership and influence over its 25 years in existence, thanks in no small part to the participation of many of John’s students. In the mid-1970s, he co-founded and remained at the helm of the Collegium Phaenomenologicum, which has gathered leading scholars of continental European philosophy and graduate students from around the world, each year in Umbria, Italy. John Sallis was a generous host and organized countless conferences over the years. In 2012 he curated a major exhibition of works by Paul Klee at the McMullen Museum of Art in Boston and in 2018, at this same museum, he curated Hymns to Nature, renowned Chinese artist Cao Jun’s first exhibition of his work in the United States.
John Sallis had a lifelong commitment to the interpretation of the Platonic texts. His early monumental work, Being and Logos: Reading the Platonic Dialogue is a classic that has influenced generations of scholars and students. Sallis speaks about what it is that he wishes students and colleagues will take away from his studies of Platonic dialogues. He says that he hoped through his writings and seminars that philosophers would be provoked to “an engagement in that movement which the dialogues themselves aim to provoke, the movement into philosophy, the movement which coincides with the beginning of philosophy.” His work, Chorology: On Beginning in Plato’s Timaeus is one of his many texts in which his treatments of Plato speak profoundly to contemporary philosophical issues. Sallis’ work on phusis in ancient thought is intimately connected to his contemporary work on cosmology. His recent attention to earthbound thought—stones and landscapes—is an example of his insistence that what is needed for thought today is a return to the sensible. One might say that all of Sallis’ work in one way or another is committed to the recovery of archaic beginnings and their power to open up new vistas for us.
One cannot underestimate the importance of Sallis’ scholarship for an appreciation of music, painting, and sculpture, and for his capacity to bring philosophy back together with poetry and literature. His love for the arts was visceral and permeated much of his philosophical work. John Sallis’ mind and eyes sparkled with the wonder that Aristotle says is the core element of philosophizing. That wonder had a captivating effect on his students. Despite the necessary emphasis on scholarship when speaking of one of the most eminent philosophers of our time, it would not be wrong to say that Sallis was first and foremost a teacher. He directed over sixty dissertations. That is an amazing fact, but even more amazing is the quality of his students’ work and their unfailing gratitude and appreciation of his mentorship. His current students at Boston College, as well as his colleagues and all of us who knew him, now have the responsibility to carry forward his contributions to philosophy. John Sallis knew about the intimate connection between philosophy and friendship and we are all grateful for his presence in our lives.
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