Virgil Aldrich facts for kids

Virgil Charles Aldrich (born September 13, 1903, in Narsinghpur, India – died May 28, 1998, in Salt Lake City, Utah) was an American philosopher. He studied and taught about art, language, and religion.

Early Life and Education

Virgil Aldrich was the son of Floyd Clement Aldrich and Ann Hanley. He earned his first college degree, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1925. This degree usually takes about four years to complete.

He continued his studies at Oxford University in 1927. After that, he went to the Sorbonne in Paris, France. There, he earned a Diplôme d'Études Supérieures de Philosophie in 1928. This is a special diploma in philosophy.

Finally, he completed his highest degree, a Ph.D., at the University of California, Berkeley in 1931. A Ph.D. is an advanced degree that shows a person is an expert in their field. He married Louise Hafliger on September 3, 1927, and they had one son, David Virgil Aldrich.

Academic Career

Aldrich began his teaching career in 1931 as an instructor in philosophy at Rice University. An instructor is a teacher at a university. He also worked as a Sterling Fellow at Yale University for a year.

He became an assistant professor at Rice University and stayed there until 1942. From 1942 to 1946, he was a visiting professor at Columbia University. A visiting professor teaches for a short time at another university.

In 1946, he became a full professor of philosophy at Kenyon College. He taught there until 1965. During this time, he was also a visiting professor at Brown University in 1962-63.

In 1965, he moved to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught there until he retired in 1972. After retiring, he moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. He became an adjunct professor at the University of Utah. An adjunct professor teaches part-time.

Aldrich also served as the Director of the Kyoto American Studies Institute in Japan. He was a visiting professor at other famous universities like Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Texas. He was also a leader in important groups for philosophers, serving as a trustee and president of the American Society of Aesthetics and president of the American Philosophical Association.

Honors

Virgil Aldrich received special awards for his work:

• L.H.D., from Ohio Wesleyan University, in 1963. This is an honorary degree, meaning it's given to honor someone's achievements.
• L.H.D., from Kenyon College, in 1972.

Writings

Virgil Aldrich wrote several books and contributed to many other collections of essays.

Books:

• Language and philosophy (Kyoto: Kyoto American Studies Seminar, 1955)
• Philosophy of Art (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1963)
• The Body of a Person (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1988)
• My Century (Nantucket, Massachusetts, EditAndPublishYourBook.com/Lulu, 2010)
• Philosophical Reflections (Nantucket, Massachusetts, EditAndPublishYourBook.com/Lulu, 2010)

Contributions:

• Readings in Philosophical Analysis (1951)
• Reflections on Art (1958)
• Religious Experience and Truth (1961)
• Faith and the Philosophers (1962)
• World Perspectives on Philosophy (1967)
• "Design, Composition, and Symbol", The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (1969)
• Studies in philosophy: a symposium on Gilbert Ryle (Houston, Tex. : William Marsh Rice University, 1972)
• "Pictures and Persons" in Review of Metaphysics (1975)
• "Description and expression: Physicalism restricted," Inquiry vol. 20 (1977)
• Falling in love with wisdom: American philosophers talk about their calling (New York : Oxford University Press, 1993)

Festschrift

• Body, mind, and method: essays in honor of Virgil C. Aldrich (Dordrecht and Boston: D. Reidel Pub. Co., 1979). A Festschrift is a book of writings presented to a respected person, usually a scholar, by their students or colleagues.

See also

In Spanish: Virgil Aldrich para niños

• American philosophy
• List of American philosophers