Lynne Rudder Baker unexpectedly died a year ago. She has been a member of the Advisory Board of Philosophical Explorations for a very long time and an advocate of the journal’s mission to overcome traditional boundaries between disciplines and schools of thought.
Lynne Rudder Baker defended a view called “practical realism”, according to which the core notions that define our everyday human world are irreducible. They are not second-class, to be replaced by science in the long run. In a very impressive oeuvre of 5 books, 87 papers and 62 book chapters, she explains why the world of persons, intentional attitudes, social institutions, language and artefacts, agency and moral responsibility is as real as the world of the physical sciences. Practical realism is an attack on scientism, reductionism and eliminativism as different forms of anti-realism with respect to these notions, and a defense of the first-person perspective as a condition for agency, for assessing one’s beliefs and desires, and for moral responsibility. It is a very rich, detailed and coherent philosophy that takes a strong stance on the one hand, but is nuanced and most certainly not anti-scientific on the other.
While she had clear influences, ranging from American pragmatism and Wittgenstein to Aristotle, Lynne Baker’s style of doing philosophy is unique. It is deeply human in its concern to protect notions that are essential to defining the value of human life, and in that sense more related to the existential themes that continental philosophy is known for. At the same time her writing is characterized by the razor sharp, crystal clear precision that distinguishes only the best analytic philosophy. It is this combination that leads to a long list of highly valuable arguments, insights and proposals that makes Lynne Baker’s oeuvre an important and lasting contribution to philosophy.
As a person, Lynne was equally impressive: she was a very warm personality, not interested in status, but deeply interested in other people and their views. She was an open-minded all-round intellectual with a strong interest in art, music and history—and part of an inspiring and inseparable duo with her husband Tom Baker. We will miss her dearly as a colleague and friend, and are grateful for her contributions to the journal.
On behalf of the Editorial Board,