Melvin Rader

Melvin Miller Rader (November 8, 1903 – June 14, 1981) was an American academic and civil rights advocate. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Washington, teaching ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy. In the late 1940s, he was accused of being a Communist by the Canwell Committee, although he was later exonerated. Rader was born in Walla Walla, Washington. His father's defense of a communist during the Red Scare influenced him. He earned multiple degrees from the University of Washington. He taught English at the University of Idaho and later philosophy at Western Reserve University before returning to the University of Washington for the rest of his career. His early work focused on aesthetics and philosophy in Wordsworth's poetry. He edited "A Modern Book of Esthetics" and wrote extensively on fascism, liberalism, socialism, and communism. He also authored "Ethics and Society," "Ethics and the Human Community," "No Compromise: The Conflict Between Two Worlds," "The Enduring Questions," "Wordsworth: A Philosophical Approach," "False Witness," "Art and Human Values," "Marx's Interpretation of History," and "The Right to Hope: Crisis and Community." Rader was a civil libertarian and served as president of the Washington chapter of the ACLU. He was a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case *Baggett v. Bullitt*, which abolished loyalty oaths for university faculty. He died in Seattle.