Paul Bestor Woodruff (August 28, 1943 – September 23, 2023) was an American professor of philosophy and dean at The University of Texas at Austin.
Life and career
Born in
New Jersey (though raised in western
Pennsylvania), Woodruff attended Princeton University, where he completed a major in
classics in 1965. His studies then took him to
Merton College of Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar, where he completed a bachelor's degree in Literae Humaniores in 1968. Inspired by the
Socrates beliefs on rule of law, he served in the United States Army in the
Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971, during which time he attained the rank of captain. Returning to the
United States, he again attended Princeton University, where he completed his
doctorate in philosophy, studying under
Gregory Vlastos.
Woodruff joined the department of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin in 1973, retiring from the department in the fall of 2022.
He directed the Plan II Honors program from 1991 until 2006, when then University President William C. Powers, Jr. named Dr. Woodruff the inaugural dean of undergraduate studies.
Woodruff later published an essay in The Washington Post describing his philosophy of life as he faced death, as the result of bronchiectasis.[ 'Renaissance man': Paul Woodruff, beloved University of Texas professor, dies at 80]
Bibliography
Books
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Reverence; Renewing a Forgotten Virtue Oxford University Press (2001)
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First Democracy; The Challenge of an Ancient Idea Oxford University Press (2005)
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The Necessity of Theater; The Art of Watching and Being Watched Oxford University Press (2008)
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The Ajax Dilemma: Justice, Fairness, and Rewards Oxford University Press (2011)
Translations
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Plato: Two Comic Dialogues (Ion and Hippias Major) Hackett (1983)
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Plato: Symposium (with Alexander Nehamas) Hackett (1999)
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Thucydides on Justice, Power, and Human Nature Hackett (1993)
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Plato: Phaedrus (with Alexander Nehamas) Hackett (1995)
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Euripides Bacchae Hackett (1998)
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Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus (with Peter Meineck) Hackett (2000)
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Sophocles: Antigone Hackett (2001)
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Sophocles: Theban Plays, with Introductions by Paul Woodruff (with Peter Meineck) Hackett (2003)
Editor
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Facing Evil; Light at the Core of Darkness. (with Harry A. Wilmer) Open Court Press (1988)
-
Early Greek Political Thought from Homer to the Sophists (with Michael Gagarin) Cambridge University Press (1995)
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Reason and Religion in Socratic Philosophy (edited, with Nicholas D. Smith) Oxford University Press (2000)
Critical studies and reviews
See also
-
American philosophy
-
List of American philosophers
-
Reverence (emotion)
External links
