This Day in Philosophy

This Day in Philosophy — 26 August: the death of William James

William James, the founding figure of American philosophy, died at his New Hampshire home on 26 August 1910. The same date in 1728 saw the birth of Johann Heinrich Lambert, the first man to prove that pi is irrational.

This Day in Philosophy — 25 August: Hume and Nietzsche, on the same date

David Hume died in Edinburgh on 25 August 1776; Friedrich Nietzsche died in Weimar on 25 August 1900. A hundred and twenty-four years separate them, yet both shook reason's claim to ground itself, and both did it from the same place.

Friedrich Nietzsche

This Day in Philosophy — 24 August: the death of Simone Weil

She gave up a philosophy post to work in a factory, went to Spain to fight, and died in England at thirty-four. Simone Weil lost her life on 24 August 1943, leaving behind unfinished notebooks and a single concept: attention.

This Day in Philosophy — 23 August: the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, the birth of Kenneth Arrow

On 23 August 1927 two Italian anarchists went to the electric chair despite protest across the world. On the same date in 1921, Kenneth Arrow was born, who would demonstrate the mathematical limits of collective decision.

This Day in Philosophy — 22 August: the Haitian uprising and the first Geneva Convention

The uprising that began at Saint-Domingue on 22 August 1791 became the hardest test the universality of human rights has faced. On the same day in 1864 the first Geneva Convention was signed, committing to paper the idea that even war has limits.

This Day in Philosophy — 21 August: the death of Alexander of Hales

Alexander of Hales, the Franciscan theologian who changed the shape of scholastic teaching at the University of Paris by making Peter Lombard's Sentences a regular textbook, died in the city on 21 August 1245.

This Day in Philosophy — 20 August: the death of Schelling

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, one of the three great figures of German idealism, died at Bad Ragaz in Switzerland on 20 August 1854. He had taken over Hegel's chair in Berlin.

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling

This Day in Philosophy — 19 August: the death of Blaise Pascal

The mathematician, physicist and thinker Blaise Pascal died on 19 August 1662 at the age of thirty-nine. What survived was the notes for an unfinished book: the Pensées.

This Day in Philosophy — 18 August: helium was discovered in the sun

On 18 August 1868, during a total solar eclipse in India, Pierre Janssen saw an unknown line in the sun's spectrum. An element that had never been found on earth had been discovered in the sky.