Rogers Albritton

Rogers Garland Albritton (August 15, 1923 – May 21, 2002) was an American philosopher and academic who served as chair of the Harvard and UCLA philosophy departments. He published little, with only five research papers during his lifetime, leading to the term "albritton" in the Philosophical Lexicon. Albritton's specialties included ancient philosophy, philosophy of mind, free will, skepticism, metaphysics, and the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. He was highly respected, with P. F. Strawson describing him as "one of the 10 best philosophers in the world.” Hilary Putnam noted his unique impact, comparing him to Socrates. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Albritton served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He earned his B.A. from St. John's College and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. He taught at Cornell before joining Harvard in 1956, where he was tenured in 1960 and chaired the department from 1963 to 1970. In 1972, he moved to UCLA, chairing its philosophy department from 1972 to 1981. He was president of the Western Division of the American Philosophical Association in 1984 and retired in 1991, though he continued teaching. Albritton died in 2002 from pneumonia, having suffered from emphysema. His infrequent publication was attributed to his tendency to constantly question conclusions.