David Sidorsky

David Sidorsky (July 7, 1927 – December 28, 2021) was an American professor emeritus of philosophy, who joined the faculty of Columbia University in 1959.^[1][2][3]

Background[edit]

David Sidorsky was born on July 7, 1925, in Calgary, Alberta, after his Zionist parents emigrated from Lithuania.^[4] He received a BA in 1948 and MA in 1954 from New York University. He received his doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University in 1962.^[1][2][3] He wrote his doctoral dissertation on "The Nature of Disagreement in Social Philosophy: Four Criticisms of Liberalism."^[5]

Career[edit]

Military[edit]

Sidorksy served in the Israeli army during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. After the fighting stopped, he studied at Hebrew University, where professors included Hugo Bergman.^[4]

Academics[edit]

After visiting home in Calgary after the war and studies in Israel, he returned to New York City and taught at New York University.^[4] In 1959, Sidorsky began teaching philosophy at Columbia University, with primary interests in moral and political philosophy, as well as philosophy of literature and the 20th century philosophy and American philosophy.^[1] He also taught philosophy at New York University.^[2] Sirdorsky's doctoral students include Elliot N. Dorff (1971).

Politics[edit]

In 1981, Sidorsky began an association lasting more than three decades with the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) by joining its board of directors.^[6] By 1987, he had moved to JINSA's advisory board,^[7] where he remained a member until at least as late as 2011.^[8] (JINSA, is a pro-Israel non-profit think-tank, founded in 1976 and based in Washington, DC.)

Personal life and death[edit]

Sidorsky was a lifelong disciple of John Dewey. Teachers and colleagues include: Frank Tannenbaum, James Goodman, Horace L. Friess, John Herman Randall Jr., J. L. Austin, and Gilbert Ryle.^[2]

Sidorsky studied Arabic.^[4]

Sidorsky appeared in the documentary Tom's Restaurant - A Documentary About Everything (2014).^[9] Eater.com described Sidorsky as "doe eyed cupid of a classics [sic] professor."^[10]

David Sidorsky died age 94 on December 28, 2021.^[11][12]

Legacy[edit]

Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff dedicated his book To Do the Right and the Good (2004) to Sidorsky.^[2] Costin Alamariu dedicated his book Selective Breeding and the Birth of Philosophy (2023) to Sidorsky.

Works[edit]

Sidorsky's works include:^[1]

Essays:

• "Contemporary Reinterpretations of the Concept of Human Rights," Iyyun
• "The Third Concept of Liberty and the Politics of Identity," Partisan Review
• "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Pluralist Perspectives," NOMOS
• "Modernism and the Emancipation of Literature from Morality: Teleology and Vocation in Proust, Joyce, and Ford Maddox Ford," New Literary History
• "The Historical Novel as the Denial of History: From Nestor via the Vico Road to the Commodius Vicus of Recirculation," New Literary History
• "The Uses of the Philosophy of G.E. Moore in the Works of E.M. Forster," New Literary History
• "Pragmatism: Method, Metaphysics, and Morals," German Encyclopedia of Pragmatism
• "A Note on Three Criticisms of Von Wright," Journal of Philosophy (1965)
• "Philosophy, Politics and Society," with Peter Laslett and W. G. Runciman, Philosophical Review (1966)
• "Are rules of moral thinking neutral? A note on liberty and equality," Mind 77 (1968)
• "Contextualism, Pluralism, and Distributive Justice," Social Philosophy and Policy (1983)
• "Moral Pluralism and Philanthropy," Social Philosophy and Policy (1987)
• "Razón, igualdad y el dilema de la práctica," Apuntes Filosóficos (1993)
• "Contextualismo, pluralismo y justicia distributiva," Apuntes Filosófico (1994)
• "Correspondencia" with Roberto Bravo, Apuntes Filosofico (1994)
• "Incomplete Routes to Moral Objectivity: Four Variants of Naturalism," Social Philosophy and Policy (2001)
• "Incomplete Routes to Moral Objectivity: Rationalism and Pluralism," Yearbook for Philosophical Hermeneutics
• "The Uses of the Philosophy of G. E. Moore in the Works of E. M. Forster," New Literary History (2007)
• "Sidney Hook," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2008)^[13]

Books Edited or Introduced:

• The Alliluyev Memoirs: Recollections Of Svetlana Stalina's Maternal Aunt Anna Alliluyeva And Her Grandfather Sergei Alliluyev with David Tutaev (1968)
• The Liberal Tradition in European Thought (1970)
• The Future of the Jewish Community in America: Essays Prepared for a Task Force on the Future of the Jewish Community in America of the American Jewish Committee (1973) with Walter I. Ackerman
• John Dewey: The Essential Writings (1977)
• The Later Works of John Dewey, Volume 3, 1925 - 1953: 1927-1928, Essays, Reviews, Miscellany, and "Impressions of Soviet Russia", edited by Jo Ann Boydston (1988)
• Vision Confronts Reality: Historical Perspectives on the Contemporary Jewish Agenda (1989) edited by Ruth Kozodoy

See also[edit]

• John Dewey
• Sidney Hook
• Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA)

References[edit]

External sources[edit]

• Philosophical Papers - David Sidorsky
• IMDB - David Sidorsky
• Center on Capitalism and Society - (Video) "The Impact of Individualism: The Age of the Individual: 500 Years Ago Today (2017)
• Toldot Yisrael (Oral history of June 1, 2021)
• Jewish Museum of Maryland (Photo 1965)