The Analytic group built by Bruce Aune but (really) around Fred Feldman at Amherst, has received considerable criticism from Robert Wolff in his very amusing memoirs. As an outsider it is hard to tell if the animosity between the Analytic and Continental types was primarily intellectual or personal. Be that as it may, there is (was?) a distinct Amherst school of analytic philosophy; we should judge it by its products. What makes it important sociologically is that it (together with Rochester and Syracuse) was, as far as I can tell, completely outside the nihilistic spell of Burton Dreben and kept analytic philosophy alive when it easily could have become a degenerate research program. (The story is more complicated, of course!)
This week's most underrated philosopher of the week is a product of Amherst, Joseph La Porte, who teaches at Hope college. The author of a highly acclaimed and widely discussed book, Joe is that very rare bird: a terrific analytic metaphysician (and philosopher of language) who does not merely engage with (text-book) science, but is attuned to the complexity and contingency of the scientific record, that is, a first class philosopher of science. His 1996 NOUS piece is a classic of the genre. Unusually for the species, he has wide learning, including a lovely piece on Locke and detailed knowledge of Aquinas. The impact of his work (as measured, say, by citations and reviews) is a standing rebuke to my suspicion about the profession--that one only gets cited and read if one teaches at a high profile department or is a relentless self-promoter (preferably both).
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