Peter C. Appleby

Professor Peter Appleby died on May 27, 2000 of complications due to stomach cancer.

Peter was born in New York City on March 9, 1937. In 1942 his family moved to Illinois. He received his B.A. from Hamilton College and then spent a brief period at the Episcopal Theological School and Harvard Divinity School. He did his graduate work in Philosophy at the University of Texas from which he received his Ph.D. in 1963. His dissertation was entitled "A Critical Study of C.S. Peirce's Philosophical Theology". His first teaching job was at Southwest Missouri State College. He came to the University to Utah in 1965 and taught here for thirty-five years.

Peter was an excellent teacher, much appreciated by several generations of students. His main interests were Philosophy of Religion, Ancient Philosophy, Ethics and Applied Ethics, and Kant. He also taught our large Introduction to Philosophy and World Religions courses. Peter was a demanding and much sought after teacher, who inspired great respect and loyalty. His main scholarly interest was in Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology. He published essays on the nature of God and faith and the epistemology of religious belief. In later year Peter became very interested in ethical issues in the practice of psychology and psychotherapy and presented papers on topics in that area.

Peter chaired the Philosophy Department from 1990 to 1996. In the 1980's he was co-director of the Department's Applied Ethics Program and served as Acting Director and then Associate Director of the Tanner Humanities Center from 1995 though 1997. He was a dedicated colleague who gave the department and university conscientious and effective service. He also served on several local hospital ethics committees and on the University Institutional Review Board for Research on Human Subjects. He was a much valued 'outside' member of a variety of ethics committees of the American Psychological Association.

Peter was a committed social activist, lending his voice and his time to a variety of enterprises dedicated to helping the poor and underprivileged. His moral outrage was sparked by the segregation he came across in Austin in the 60's and he was a dedicated and active opponent of the Vietnam War. He was a member of the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Amnesty International, and a founding member of the Utah Peace and Freedom Party. Peter directed the Horizons Runaway Shelter for a time and was on the board of directors of Citizens for Penal Reform. He served on the Committee on Community Service of the Utah State Bar's Task Force on Ethnic and Racial Diversity. He served most recently on the new Salt Lake City Mayor's Advisory Committee on Ethics.

Besides being a fine teacher, scholar, colleague and citizen, Peter was an excellent human being, and a fine and cherished friend. He was esteemed and loved by those he touched. He had a gift of speech which he used to accomplish admirable ends. In many ways he was our department's eloquent 'voice' and we deeply cherish the time we spent in his presence.