Paul Weiss (philosopher)
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Paul Weiss (May 19, 1901 – July 5, 2002) was an American philosopher, known for his work in metaphysics and for his efforts to reverse age discrimination policies at American universities.
Born in New York City, he received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from City College of New York and his doctorate from Harvard (1929), where he studied under Alfred North Whitehead. He taught at several universities, but spent most of his career at Yale, where he eventually held an endowed chair.
He was the author of more than 30 books. Very early in his career, he (with Charles Hartshorne) edited the six volumes of the collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. He was the prime mover behind the founding of the Metaphysical Society of America and its journal, the Review of Metaphysics. One of the volumes in the Library of Living Philosophers is devoted to his work.
Weiss, who lived to be 101 and was still teaching at Catholic University when he was 93, was repeatedly denied appointments or reappointments due to his increasing age. He filed lawsuits against several universities; when Catholic University refused to reappoint him due to his age (at the time, 91), his son Jonathan, a lawyer in New York City, helped him win reinstatement for an additional two years. The Supreme Court declined to hear an earlier appeal against Fordham University.
His spouse Victoria died in 1953. They had two children, Jonathan and Judith.
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