Charles Chastain ’59

Charles Chastain ’59 passed away on April 12, 2007. Born in Tampa, Fla., Chastain received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Before joining the philosophy department at the University of Illinois Chicago in 1974, he taught at Princeton, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, UCLA, Cornell University, and the University of Toronto. Chastain’s principal interests were in epistemology, philosophy of language, and ethics-but his expertise extended far beyond those areas, and one could learn from discussing virtually any area of philosophy with him. His main publication is the highly influential “Reference and Context” in the Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. VII, Language, Mind, and Knowledge. After 1975, Chastain continued to contribute philosophically as a teacher and in conversation with colleagues, students, and friends. Many leading philosophers credit Chastain for the contributions he made to their thought.