The American Academy of Arts and Science inducted two former Dartmouth professors, Robert John Fogelin and Christian Wolff, as fellows Tuesday. Fogelin, professor emeritus of philosophy, and Wolff, professor emeritus of classics and music, were elected to the Academy alongside 196 other new fellows and 17 new foreign honorary members.
Fogelin and Wolff underwent a highly discriminating and secretive selection process to be elected as fellows. Each was nominated by a member within the Academy, and then reviewed by the entire membership before being accepted. The process is kept so quiet that Fogelin did not even know the Academy was considering him until he received his acceptance yesterday.
"I had no idea I was being nominated until I heard a rumor yesterday on the web," Fogelin said.
Besides its role as an honorary society, the Academy also conducts research across a vast array of fields, according to Phyllis Bendel, director of publications for the Academy. The current membership of 4,000 domestic members and 600 foreign members includes leaders in the fields of math and sciences, social sciences, humanities, the arts, public affairs and business. Members also contribute to publications and lecture at Academy events.
Wolff is a prominent musician, composer and professor who began teaching at Dartmouth in 1971 in the music, comparative literature and classics departments. Largely a self-taught composer, he has authored over 150 musical pieces and has made 14 CDs containing his work. He retired from teaching in 2000.
Wolff's musical work has primarily focused on uniting the traditionally isolated parts of music making, including composing, performing and listening. In composing his music, he has also tried to reflect current social conditions.
Fogelin joined the Dartmouth faculty in 1980 after teaching at Yale University and Pomona College. As a philosopher, Fogelin has studied topics ranging from the historic philosophers Hume, Berkeley and Wittgenstein to figurative language and informal logic. While at Dartmouth, he taught courses on ethics and logic, and coauthored the textbook used in Philosophy 3, "Reason and Argument," with current Philosophy Department Chair Walter Sinnott-Armstrong.
Fogelin is perhaps most renowned for his work regarding skepticism, which, according to Fogelin, is "roughly the claim that you can't know the things you think you know." His approach, called Neo-Pyrrhonism after the ancient philosopher Pyrrho, questions the theories of knowledge and justification, Sinnott-Armstrong said.
Since his retirement from teaching in 2001, Fogelin has authored three books, including "Walking the Tightrope of Reason," a book he said is more accessible to the general public.
Sinnott-Armstrong, who had Fogelin as a thesis advisor at Yale and later as a colleague in Hanover, was proud of Fogelin's accomplishment.
"I think it is a great honor, not only for Bob but for the entire department and Dartmouth College," he said.
