Amélie Rorty

Amélie Oksenberg Rorty (May 20, 1932 – September 18, 2020) was a Belgian-born American philosopher known for her work in the philosophy of mind (in particular on the emotions ), history of philosophy (especially Aristotle, Spinoza and Descartes ), and moral philosophy. She began her academic career at Wheaton College (Mass.) (1957–1961), then began teaching at Rutgers (Livingston College) in 1962 and taught there through to 1988, by which time she had achieved the rank of distinguished professor. She was also a lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard School of Medicine. Rorty was the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships over the course of her career: Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Studies (1968-1969), King's College, Cambridge (1971-1973), Institute for Advanced Study (1980-1981), John Simon Guggenheim (1990-1991), Woodrow Wilson Center (1994-1995), and the National Humanities Center (2007-2008). She enrolled at a young age at the University of Chicago, and went on to pursue a doctorate at Yale, where she married Richard Rorty, a fellow graduate student and philosopher. They had a son, Jay, and divorced in 1972. She wrote about her upbringing in "Dependency, Individuality and Work" and in "A Philosophic Travelogue," The Dewey Lecture, American Philosophical Association, Proceedings and Addresses, vol. 88, 2014. Oksenberg's younger brother, Michel, was an American political scientist and key architect of President Jimmy Carter's China policy.

Additional awards and fellowships 1971–1973, Fellow, King's College, Cambridge 1984–1985, Visiting Honorary Research Associate, Philosophy, Harvard University 1980–1981, Member, Institute for Advanced Study 1990–1991, John Simon Guggenheim Fellow 1994–1995, Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow 2001–2002, Distinguished Woman Philosopher of the Year, Society for Women in Philosophy 2007–2008, Fellow, National Humanities Center