Alan Musgrave 1940-2026

Alan Musgrave, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Otago, died this past January. The following obituary is by Charles Pigden, professor of philosophy at the University of Otago. Alan Musgrave: Life and Work by Charles Pigden We mourn the death of Emeritus Professor Alan Musgrave (1940-2026) who will be remembered as a dominating presence at the University of Otago for over forty years. Alan was only 29 when he was appointed as Professor and Head the Department of Philosophy in 1970. Born in 1940, in the Manchester area, he was raised until the age of five by his mother, his grandmother and his aunts, since all their men were away at the War. (Alan’s father, a veteran of the Malaysia campaigns, returned from the East with his health shattered and suffered thereafter from recurrent bouts of malaria). A big event in Alan’s life, as for many another working class lad, was passing the Eleven Plus exam which meant that he got into Grammar School thereby accessing an academic education. ‘Good Student; Bad Attitude’ rather sums him up, since he worked hard, passing exams and winning prizes, but annoyed his teachers because of his stroppy disposition. Having passed his O-levels with flying colours, he considered leaving school at 16 to get a job to help support his family who were not well-off, but his mother told him not to as it would break her heart. He went on to Sixth Form to do his A-Levels and her heart remained unbroken. Although Alan was good at most things, he was slightly better at the science-side subjects and was told, rather peremptorily, that he should do Pure and Applied Maths, Physics and Chemistry. The Bad Attitude reasserted itself and he chose to do English, French, Geography and History instead. In later life Alan delivered spell-binding lectures on the History and Philosophy of Science. The History A- Level probably helped with the History part, but his knowledge of science and mathematics was made up later and in a very peculiar way. After completing his A-Levels Alan went on to the London School of Economics to do Law. When he heard that he needed a rich father to support him as a lawyer.. The post Alan Musgrave 1940-2026 first appeared on Daily Nous.