Dr. Michael Ruse, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy, has died.
Dr. Michael Ruse, distinguished philosopher of biology and Professor Emeritus, died on Nov. 1. Here are some reflections on his time at Guelph, from his friend and colleage Ken Dorter, University Professor Emeritus:
Michael Ruse joined the Guelph philosophy department in its first year, 1965, on a sessional contact when enrollments exceeded expectations and they needed someone in a hurry. Guelph was the only school to take a chance on Michael because he did not do well as a PhD student, but he thrived at Guelph. Because he read a lot, remembered what he read, and was good at drawing conclusions, he was able to write 5,000 words at a sitting without any effort, so he went on to publish some seventy extensively researched books. I asked whether he could identify with the composer Camille Saint-Saens who said he produced music the way a tree produces apples, and Michael said yes, once I do the research the creative juices start flowing and things happen.
Michael has been accused of “casual rudeness” and he didn’t deny that he liked to poke at people’s sore spots, but he was generous in his actions. When Florida State University offered him an endowed chair with a generous salary and perks, he told the university of Guelph that Rozansky that he felt a loyalty to Guelph because they helped him when no one else would, and he preferred to stay at Guelph even though Guelph couldn’t match Florida State’s offer, but he would need Guelph to waive his mandatory retirement at 65 which was only five years away. The university refused so Michael went to Florida State. One of his new colleagues mentioned that he had written 1,000 pages on Plato but had no idea how to organize them into a book. Although Plato was hardly Michael’s field he read the thousand disorganized pages, organized them into a coherent monograph, and helped get it published by Cambridge University Press.
His generosity was also evident when one of his acquaintances in the sciences at Guelph died and Michael was asked to speak at the memorial service. Michael explained that he couldn’t do it because he had a flight booked the next day from Tallahassee to take his students to Belgium where they would research World War I. The department urged him to reconsider because the faculty member had requested that give the eulogy. So Michael flew to Guelph on a Friday, gave the eulogy Saturday and immediately left for the airport to return to Tallahassee in time to meet his students for their Sunday flight to Belgium.
While he was at Florida State Michael noticed that the 50th anniversary of the Guelph philosophy department was approaching, and offered to help organize a commemoration. He suggested a series of papers by department members from different eras, but the department rejected his idea in favour of something more informal. Michael knew himself pretty well and described himself as “Quick to take offence, quick to get over it,” and when his proposal was rejected he did indeed take immediate offence and sent a scathing reply to the department by return mail, refusing to attend the ceremony and accusing them of not being serious about philosophy. But when he retired from Florida State at the age of 81, it was at Guelph rather than FSU that he wanted to become a professor emeritus, because it was to Guelph, which gave him his start, that he owed his loyalty and affection.
When I joined the department in 1966, a year after Michael, he befriended and mentored me, and we've remained close friends ever since. I will miss him greatly, as will all his friends and readers. He survives not only in our memory but in the astounding number and wealth of his publishing. His approximately seventy books are all the more impressive because of the rare combination of careful scholarship, engaging writing, and pervasive wisdom that they embody.
The Globe and Mail published an obituary for Dr. Ruse on Nov. 8