Portrait, 1914, from the Josiah Royce Collection
Ms. 29, Special Collections
The Milton S. Eisenhower Library of
The Johns Hopkins University High Resolution Scan of Image
At the suggestion of the Royce Edition Director, Scott Pratt, the Royce Edition website (royce-edition.iupui.edu) has two new categories—Reviews of Royce’s Books and Responses to Royce’s Articles. (These categories are presently empty.) With the public domain classification now extending through December 31, 1924, all of the reviews and responses to Royce’s work written during his lifetime are available for posting on the website. The website would like to post these materials. No convenient way of finding these writings is readily available. A search will begin in the future. However, if you have references to such writings, please send the bibliographic information to: depfeife@iupui.edu. These new postings will make a nice addition to the website. Thank you for your ongoing interest and support.
Frank M. Oppenheim, a prolific scholar whose deep knowledge of the life and thought of Josiah Royce was unsurpassed and whose personal warmth and self-effacing concern for others touched the lives of many, passed away on April 3 in Clarkston, Michigan.
Oppenheim was born in 1925 in Coldwater, Ohio. He attended Xavier, Loyola, and Saint Louis universities, before joining the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus in 1942. He was ordained in 1955.
Oppenheim wrote four books on Royce: Royce’s Journey Down Under (1985), Royce’s Mature Philosophy of Religion (1987), Royce’s Mature Ethics (1993), and Reverence for the Relations of Life: Re-imagining Pragmatism via Josiah Royce’s Interactions with Peirce, James, and Dewey (2004). He also authored scores of journal articles and, with Dawn Aberg and John Kaag, a 750-page Comprehensive Index of the Writings of Josiah Royce. He was a founding member of the Josiah Royce Society and its first president.
While the impact of Oppenheim’s work on Royce Studies and American philosophy more broadly can hardly be overstated, Oppenheim himself eschewed the role of the haughty academic don. Those who knew him will remember his unassuming warmth, gentle sense of humor and genuine concern for students and colleagues alike.
Over the decades, Oppenheim’s work defined a generation of Royce scholarship--- one that recovered Royce’s philosophy after a long period of neglect, that sought to elucidate the complex relations between Royce’s thought and biography and that delighted in debates over the fine points of Royce’s theories.
Yet behind the purely academic features of Oppenheim’s work, impactful as those features were, was an irreplaceable individual, Oppenheim, whose character and personality left an even deeper impression. Reading Oppenheim, one senses the philosopher behind the philosophy--- the humble questioner, the joyful seeker, the wise and avuncular mentor.
We can be thankful not only for the insights Oppenheim gave us as a thinker but also for the virtues he exemplified as a person. Those insights and virtues continue to inspire and sustain our community even as we mourn his passing.
The Josiah Royce Society (JRS) invites the submission of papers or abstracts for a special JRS session to convene at the March 5-7, 2020 meetings of the Society for Advancement of American Philosophy (SAAP). Those meetings will be held in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Please prepare your paper or abstract for blind review. Papers should be capable of being presented in 20-25 minutes; abstracts should be at least 250 words in length.
Please e-mail your paper or abstract to michael.brodrick@gmail.com by Tuesday, October 1, 2019.
Keynote Speakers: Professor Cheryl Misak, University of Toronto Professor Jackie Kegley, California State University at Bakersfield Professor John Clendenning, California State University at Northridge
Submissions:
The Josiah Royce Society and the Philosophy Department at Vanderbilt University announce the 2019 Douglas MacDonald Conference on the life and work of Josiah Royce, his colleagues and students.
This special conference seeks to explore the richness and diversity of American philosophy. The Conference Committee accordingly invites submissions on any aspect of the life and work of Josiah Royce, his colleagues and students. Submissions dealing with Royce’s colleagues, such as William James and George Santayana, or his students, such as W. E. B. DuBois and T. S. Eliot, are most welcome, as are those dealing with some aspect of Royce’s own life and work.
Submissions should be approximately 3,000 words.
Please prepare your submissions for anonymized review and e-mail them to michael.brodrick AT gmail.com by May 01, 2019.
Keynote Speakers: Professor Cheryl Misak, University of Toronto Professor Jackie Kegley, California State University at Bakersfield
Submissions:
The Josiah Royce Society and the Philosophy Department at Vanderbilt University announce the 2019 Douglas MacDonald Conference on the life and work of Josiah Royce, his colleagues and students.
This special conference seeks to explore the richness and diversity of American philosophy. The Conference Committee accordingly invites submissions on any aspect of the life and work of Josiah Royce, his colleagues and students. Submissions dealing with Royce’s colleagues, such as William James and George Santayana, or his students, such as W. E. B. DuBois and T. S. Eliot, are most welcome, as are those dealing with some aspect of Royce’s own life and work.
Submissions should be approximately 3,000 words.
Please prepare your submissions for anonymized review and e-mail them to michael.brodrick AT gmail.com by March 1, 2019.
I write to you with a heavy heart to acknowledge the passing of Professor John J. McDermott.
McDermott was a giant in the field of American philosophy, a founding member of the Josiah Royce Society and its President for two years. His The Basic Writings of Josiah Royce, first published in 1969 by the University of Chicago Press and reissued in 2005 by Fordham University Press, almost single-handedly brought Royce’s philosophy back to prominence after a long period of neglect. McDermott’s brilliant introduction to the Vanderbilt University Press edition of Royce’s The Philosophy of Loyalty has become the classic introduction to the text. These landmark achievements barely begin to scratch the surface of McDermott’s matchless contribution to Royce studies.
Those of us who were fortunate enough to know John personally know that there was much to admire about him. There was his indefatigable work ethic, his keen pedagogical instinct, his unmistakable presence in a room or behind a podium and his massive intellectual and moral courage.
Those who were close to John will also recall his near-boundless generosity, his irrepressible sense of humor and his deep devotion to family and friends. With that devotion he allowed neither time nor space to interfere. Even at a distance, whether over the phone or when reading a short note from him sent through the mail, one felt that he really cared.
Philosophers of McDermott’s legendary stature are few and far between, but rarer still are those individuals whose example inspires us to become better and whose love touches our lives deeply. John was one of those irreplaceable individuals.
I know that I speak for many in the Royce Society when I say that I will always remember the fine example that John set for us. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this sad and painful time.
Josiah Royce Society Meeting at the American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting, February 20-23, 2019, Denver, Colorado.
The Royce Society will hold an affiliated group meeting at the APA Central Meeting in Denver, February 20-23, 2019. We now open a Call for Papers. Papers on the work of Josiah Royce, his influence on other thinkers, and his relevance to contemporary issues are welcomed. Papers from junior scholars and advanced graduate students are encouraged.
This session will include two or three paper presentations and possibly brief commentary on each presentation. Papers should be able to be read in c. 25 minutes (c. 3000 words).
Please prepare your paper or abstract for anonymous review, and attach a separate document with the paper title, author name, and contact information.
Full program information must be submitted by October 1, 2018. Thus, the deadline for submission of papers is midnight, Friday, September 7, 2018. Submissions are to be emailed to depfeife@iupui.edu. Decisions on which papers are accepted will follow in seven to ten days.
One of the greatest things about American communities is that they create and foster a surprising amount of diversity. Take, for instance, the rough and tumble pioneer community captured in Claudine Chalmers’ Grass Valley. A combination of rare images of the Grass Valley, California community and Chalmers’ own commentary and discussion, Grass Valley shows how much there is to be learned from studying local communities. https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Community/Arcadia-and-THP-Blog/May-2018/Guest-Post-Grass-Valley-and-the-Philosopher
Thursday, 02/22, 07:40-10:40 PM, Palmer House Hilton G8E. Josiah Royce Society Topic: Report on Josiah Royce Society activities, report on progress of the Josiah Royce Critical Edition
Speakers:
Michael Brodrick (Arkansas Tech University) “A Critique of Royce’s Theory of Loyalty”
David E. Pfeifer (Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis) “Charles Peirce and Josiah Royce’s Semiotic Move”
"If this is a version of loyalty, it’s loyalty of a low order — fragile, transactional and much closer to simple fealty. It fails Royce’s expectation that real loyalty be based in 'willingness,' rather than in fear."
Call for papers/abstracts for Josiah Royce Society Sessions at the 2018 Eastern APA, to be held 01/03-01/06 in Savannah, GA.
This session will include two or three paper presentations and possibly brief commentary on each presentation. Topics are open to anything related to the thought of Josiah Royce. Papers should be able to be read in 20-25 minutes (around 2500-3000 words). If submitting an abstract, it should be no shorter than 250 words.
Please prepare your paper or abstract for anonymous review, and attach a separate document with the paper title, author name, and contact information. Prospective presenters are asked to email their proposals to Daniel Brunson at danieljamesbrunson@gmail.com by June 30th, 2017.
Notification regarding submission status will be made by July 7th, 2017.
Call for papers/abstracts for Josiah Royce Society Sessions at the 2018 Central APA, to be held 02/21-02/24 in Chicago, IL. This session will include two or three paper presentations and possibly brief commentary on each presentation. Topics are open to anything related to the thought of Josiah Royce. Papers should be able to be read in 20-25 minutes (around 2500-3000 words). If submitting an abstract, it should be no shorter than 250 words. Please prepare your paper or abstract for anonymous review, and attach a separate document with the paper title, author name, and contact information. Prospective presenters are asked to email their proposals to David Pfeifer at depfeife@iupui.eduby September 1st, 2017. Notification regarding submission status will be made by September 15th, 2017.
Special issue of The Pluralist dedicated to the legacy of Frank M. Oppenheim, SJ
The Josiah Royce Society in partnership with The Pluralist invites submissions that make substantial use of Oppenheim’s scholarly work and/or substantively address his legacy as a Royce scholar.
Submissions should be approximately 6,000- 8,000 words and prepared for blind review. Please e-mail your submission to michael.brodrick@gmail.com by August 1, 2017. The best submissions will be published in the journal next year.
Call for papers/abstracts for Josiah Royce Society Sessions at the 2018 Eastern APA, to be held 01/03-01/06 in Savannah, GA. This session will include two or three paper presentations and possibly brief commentary on each presentation. Topics are open to anything related to the thought of Josiah Royce. Papers should be able to be read in 20-25 minutes (around 2500-3000 words). If submitting an abstract, it should be no shorter than 250 words. Please prepare your paper or abstract for anonymous review, and attach a separate document with the paper title, author name, and contact information. Prospective presenters are asked to email their proposals to Daniel Brunson at danieljamesbrunson AT gmail.com by June 15th, 2017. Notification regarding submission status will be made by July 1st, 2017.
The Royce Society is in search of a Chair for its Central APA session, which is scheduled for 7:00- 10:00 PM on Friday, March 3 in Kansas City, MO. If you are planning to attend Central APA and would not mind serving as Chair of the Royce session, please let us know by writing an e-mail to: michael.brodrick AT gmail.com.
Special issue of The Pluralist dedicated to the legacy of Frank M. Oppenheim, SJ
One can hardly study Josiah Royce without coming across and benefiting from the scholarship of Frank M. Oppenheim, and generations of Royce scholars have been recipients of Oppenheim’s brilliant mentoring.
The Josiah Royce Society in partnership with The Pluralist invites submissions that make substantial use of Oppenheim’s scholarly work and/or substantively address his legacy as a Royce scholar.
Submissions should be approximately 6,000- 8,000 words and prepared for bind review. Please e-mail your submission to michael.brodrick AT gmail.com by May 1, 2017. The best submissions will be published in the journal next year.
The Josiah Royce Society (JRS) proudly announces a special session to be held during the annual meeting of the Society for Advancement of American Philosophy, March 16-18, 2017. The session commemorates the centennial of Royce’s death in 1916.
JRS invites submissions from graduate students and junior faculty members not more than five years out of graduate school. Submissions may address any aspect of Royce’s thought and should not be longer than 3,000 words, exclusive of notes
.
Submissions should be prepared for blind review and e-mailed to Prof. Michael Brodrick (michael.brodrick AT gmail.com) by 11:55 PM on Wednesday, December 21st, 2016.
Show your support for Royce by submitting a paper. We look forward to hearing from you.
The Josiah Royce Society (JRS) proudly announces a special session to be held during the annual meeting of the Society for Advancement of American Philosophy, March 16-18, 2017. The session commemorates the centennial of the philosopher’s death in 1916.
JRS invites submissions from graduate students and junior faculty members not more than five years out of graduate school. Submissions may address any aspect of Royce’s thought and should not be longer than 3,000 words, exclusive of notes. Submissions should be prepared for blind review and e-mailed to Prof. Michael Brodrick ( michael.brodrick AT gmail.com ) by 11:55 PM on Tuesday, November 15, 2016.
Show your support for Royce by submitting a paper. We look forward to hearing from you.
The Josiah Royce Society (JRS) proudly announces a special session to be held during the annual meeting of the Society for Advancement of American Philosophy, March 16-18, 2017. The session commemorates the centennial of the philosopher’s death in 1916.
JRS invites submissions from graduate students and junior faculty members not more than five years out of graduate school. Submissions may address any aspect of Royce’s thought and should not be longer than 3,000 words, exclusive of notes. Submissions should be prepared for blind review and e-mailed to Prof. Michael Brodrick ( michael.brodrick@gmail.com ) by 11:55 PM on Tuesday, November 15, 2016.
Show your support for Royce by submitting a paper. We look forward to hearing from you.
Call for papers/abstracts for a Josiah Royce Society Session at the Eastern APA, to take place January 4th-7th, 2017, in Baltimore, MD, at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel.
This session will include two or three paper presentations and brief commentary on each presentation. Topics are open to anything related to the thought of Josiah Royce. Papers should be able to be read in 20-25 minutes (around 2500-3000 words). If submitting an abstract, it should be no shorter than 250 words.
Please prepare your paper or abstract for anonymous review, and attach a separate document with the paper title, author name, and contact information.
Prospective presenters are asked to email their proposals to Daniel Brunson at danieljamesbrunson @ gmail.com by May 27th, 2016.
Notification regarding submission status will be made by June 1st, 2016.
The Royce Library Recovery Project seeks to provide the scholarly community with an unprecedented glimpse into the personal library of Josiah Royce. Based upon recent archival research, I have discovered leads for recovering more than 40% (i.e. 385 volumes) of an estimated 934 volumes that formerly belonged to Royce prior to being donated to Harvard College Library.
This website serves the purpose of raising funding to facilitate archival and library research that will reclaim significant portions of Royce’s personal library. By giving to the Royce Library Recovery Project your support will help fund research that will make an important contribution to the Royce community by making available texts and marginalia that will deepen our understanding of Royce’s life and work. To learn more about this project and its principal researcher, please browse before going to the Donation Page.