Jonathan Lear

Jonathan David Lear (October 9, 1948 – September 22, 2025) was an American philosopher and psychoanalyst. He held the John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor position in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago and directed the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society from 2014 to 2022. Born in New York City, Lear was a cousin of Norman Lear. He was raised in West Hartford, Connecticut. Lear's academic journey included a B.A. in history from Yale University (1970), a B.A. in philosophy from Cambridge University (1973), and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Rockefeller University, where his dissertation focused on Aristotle's logic under the direction of Saul Kripke. He also completed psychoanalytic training at the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis in 1995, receiving multiple Gradiva Awards for his contributions to the field. Before his tenure at the University of Chicago, Lear taught philosophy at Cambridge University (1979-1985) and Yale University, where he also chaired the philosophy department. He was a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association and received the Mellon Distinguished Achievement Award in the Humanities in 2009. His directorship at the Neubauer Collegium facilitated collaborations, including an exhibit with the Apsáalooke Nation. Lear was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017 and a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019. His personal life included a marriage to Cynthia Farrar, with whom he had a daughter, and a subsequent marriage in 2003 to Gabriel Richardson, with whom he had a son. Lear passed away from stomach cancer at his home in Chicago at the age of 76. His philosophical work spanned formal logic, ancient Greek philosophy, and the complex interplay between psychoanalysis and philosophy, addressing thinkers like Freud, Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard, and Wittgenstein. He explored concepts of the human psyche and the ethical management of existential fears, emphasizing mourning as a crucial human practice for confronting transience and finding meaning. Lear received numerous accolades, including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship.