UVA Professors of Philosophy, Law Among This Year's Inductees to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences inducted two University of Virginia professors into its ranks this week.
The elections of retired professor Cora Diamond of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Philosophy and Professor G. Mitu Gulati of the School of Law were announced Wednesday, part of a 250-member class of new inductees.
The other 248 new members include New York Times columnist — and 2009 UVA alumnus — Jamelle Bouie, as well as author Jhumpa Lahiri, ecologist and evolutionary biologist Judith Bronstein, cancer researcher David A. Tuveson, Apple CEO Tim Cook and actor/director George Clooney. The organization dates to the American Revolution, when elected members included Benjamin Franklin (1781), Alexander Hamilton (1791) and Thomas Jefferson (1787).
“We honor these artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders in the public, non-profit, and private sectors for their accomplishments and for the curiosity, creativity, and courage required to reach new heights,” said David Oxtoby, president of the academy. “We invite these exceptional individuals to join in the Academy’s work to address serious challenges and advance the common good.”
Diamond, University Professor Emerita and William R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emerita of Philosophy and Law, retired from the University of Virginia in 2002, concluding a 32-year career on Grounds. An acclaimed scholar of the 20th-century Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, Diamond remains an influential figure in contemporary philosophy. In the 2008 book she co-authored, “Philosophy and Animal Life,” Diamond helped to introduce a new way of thinking about animal rights, challenging analytical philosophy and accusing it of deflecting the responsibility of human beings toward animals.
“Professor Diamond remains one of the liveliest minds in the world in the area of moral philosophy,” said Christa Acampora, UVA’s Buckner W. Clay Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. “She has had a profound influence on the understanding of the moral status of animals, philosophy of language, and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. This recognition by the academy is truly well deserved, and it is an honor that redounds to the university as a whole.”
Antonia LoLordo, chair of the Department of Philosophy and UVA’s George C. and Clare F. Downing Memorial Professor of Philosophy, praised Diamond's originality and contributions to contemporary ethics.
"She may have done more than any other living philosopher to illuminate the synergy between literature and philosophy, and the perils and limitations of philosophical argument. She has persistently combatted the inveterate tendency of philosophers to permit the tidiness of their own theories to lull them into affirming ethically dubious and sometimes even preposterous conclusions.”
Gulati, whose work focuses on how to help countries in financial distress, is the Perre Bowen Professor of Law and the John V. Ray Research Professor of Law. He has written more than 200 scholarly articles, has edited or authored 10 books, and is the co-host of the “Clauses & Controversies” podcast. He writes on topics as wide-ranging as issues in mergers and acquisitions contracts, municipal debt, the art of judging, the Supreme Court and the impact of the COVID pandemic on the global financial system.
In addition to advising national governments, Gulati frequently volunteers his time to international governing bodies on matters relating to the global sovereign debt market and how to stabilize the financial markets of countries in crisis.
With the elections of Diamond and Gulati, UVA has 61 University-affiliated members (active and deceased) in the academy, dating to the 1834 election of chemist and natural philosopher Robert Maskell Patterson.
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences “honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world and work together to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.”
The induction ceremonies for new members will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts in September.