Pitt philosophy professor wins Mellon Achievement Award

Pitt professor John McDowell’s work in philosophy is award-winning, and his students in… Pitt professor John McDowell’s work in philosophy is award-winning, and his students in Pittsburgh describe him as the smartest man alive.

With the same University of Oxford accent acquired during his 20 years of teaching at the British institution — and thus, displacing his original South African accent in the process — McDowell has brought a prestigious reputation to Pitt, as well as the Andrew W. Mellon’s Achievement Award for the year 2010.

The Mellon Award is given annually by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to three professors in the U.S. who research humanities. Along with the title, the Foundation will also award McDowell a $1.5 million grant to support his research.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation website describes the award’s recipients as people whose “past scholarship has had a creative effect in their disciplines and on their own students, has affected the thinking of scholars in other fields, and whose current work promises to make significant new contributions through both teaching and research.”

Award recipients are chosen based on world reputation in their disciplines, but also on the effect their disciplines have had on academia in general, said Robert Brandom, a co-worker of McDowell’s who received the award in 2003.

Brandom described McDowell’s achievements and interests as broad, but also unusually expert on all topics that he has written about.

Brandom was the head of the Pitt philosophy department when McDowell came to Pitt in 1986, and he said McDowell was well-known as a world-class philosopher. At that time, McDowell held a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Oxford, but nothing more.

Brandom explained that McDowell’s degree makes his achievements even more impressive.

“He doesn’t have a doctorate, but obtained a permanent faculty position at Oxford by the age of 23,” Brandom said.

McDowell’s studies focus on the work of philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the philosophy of the mind and language, but he is also interested in “questions that arise because of the idea that human beings are special, among animals, in being responsive to reasons,” as he has said.

McDowell explained at the time of his undergraduate education, British professors were not expected to have a graduate education. His lack of a doctoral degree did not stop him from obtaining faculty positions at both Oxford and Pitt.

McDowell teaches undergraduate courses for the School of Arts & Sciences, as well as courses for Pitt’s graduate philosophy program.

Graduating Pitt Ph.D. student Joshua Stuchlik worked with McDowell on his dissertation on philosophy of action.

McDowell’s book, “Mind and World,” inspired Stuchlik to attend Pitt for his Ph.D. in philosophy in order to work directly with McDowell.

“He has been both an inspiration and a mentor to me,” Stuchlik said. “Taking one of his graduate seminars, you truly feel you are in the presence of a great philosopher.”

In 1991, McDowell also received the honor of delivering the John Locke series of lectures, which Brandom said is the most prestigious lecture series in the philosophy field.

As an educator, McDowell offers discussions that leave his students impressed with his ability to dissect arguments and philosophical theory.

“The thing that most impresses me about his teaching is his ability to take a bad argument that looks compelling and carefully dissect it to show exactly how it goes wrong — usually in a surprising way,” Stuchlik said.

Senior Adam Jones is currently taking Wittgenstein, a course McDowell teaches. Jones describes McDowell’s teaching style as advanced.

“He’ll start with something that Wittgenstein wrote. Then he will try to explain it. The ideas always seem so abstract, and then he reaches some conclusion and we are all just like, ‘aha, okay,’” Jones said.

“He is the smartest. I have never seen him make any mistakes; never seen him stumble over his words,” Jones said, “It is just abstract thoughts, directly turned to words.”

Despite its abstract concepts, McDowell describes philosophy as a fun discipline.

“My usual view is that the questions turn out to be unreal when we think them through, so it isn’t surprising that they have no answers,” McDowell said. “It’s rewarding to understand why smart people think there are questions where there really aren’t.”

Brandom said when McDowell was first offered the job at Pitt, he required one very specific condition to be fulfilled.

“Their cat — Archie — needed to come with them, and they were not keen on him riding in cargo. So, little Archie McDowell got to ride to Pittsburgh in his own seat on the airplane,” Brandom said.