Eleonore Stump, Ph.D., the Robert J. Henle Chair in the
philosophy department, is one of the main reasons that Saint Louis
University’s philosophy department is considered on par with UCLA,
Notre Dame, Oxford and Yale.
Stump, in her 10th year at SLU, has received many job offers
from other schools, but she is in no hurry to leave.
“She loves this university, Father Biondi and the faith
community at SLU … those three things are why she stays,” said
John Kavanaugh, S.J., an associate professor of philosophy.
Currently, Stump is one of three finalists for Baylor
University’s Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching. Two
professors from Yale are also finalists.
As a finalist, Stump will present a lecture; afterward, Baylor
will award Stump $15,000 and the philosophy department $10,000.
If Stump is chosen the top award winner, she will receive an
additional $200,000, and the department will receive an additional
$15,000.
In March, Stump gave the Gifford Lectures at the University of
Aberdeen in England. This honor places her among the ranks of such
scholars as William James, the founder of American scientific
psychology, 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winning humanitarian and
theologian Albert Schweitzer and Iris Murdoch, one of just two
novelists ever to receive both the Whitbread and Booker awards.
Aquinas, Stump’s latest book was published this year. The book
is a historical account of medieval philosopher St. Thomas
Aquinas.
Aquinas was one of the first philosophers to argue that
philosophy and theology could support each other.
On Friday, Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. in Busch Student Center, Room 173
Stump will present “The Holocaust: Guilt, Repentance and Stain on
the Soul.”
The second lecture, “The Vocation and Moral Vision of a
Philosopher,” will be held in the Knights Room of Pius XII Memorial
Library at 3:30 p.m.
These two lectures give undergraduate students a chance to hear
Stump, who teaches moral and ethical philosophy exclusively to
graduate students.
For more information, contact the philosophy department at (314)
977-3149.
