By
Rev. Arthur R. Madigan, SJ, chairman of the Philosophy Department and a Boston College faculty member for 32 years, has been appointed to the Albert J. Fitzgibbons Professorship in Philosophy.
The Fitzgibbons Professorship was established in 2007 by 1967 graduate Albert J. “Trey” Fitzgibbons III for a BC faculty member to engage contemporary philosophical and ethical issues facing modern society. Associate Professor of Philosophy Marina McCoy was the inaugural Fitzgibbons Professor.
“Arthur Madigan commands enormous respect across the College of Arts and Sciences and around the University,” said A&S Dean David Quigley. “Since arriving on campus in 1979, he has established a reputation as an inspiring teacher, discerning scholar and trusted campus wisdom figure. I’m delighted that he has been appointed to the Fitzgibbons Professorship as he symbolizes so much of the best of Boston College.”
Fr. Madigan said, “I just never expected that I would be honored with an appointment like this. I am grateful to the Fitzgibbons family for trusting us in philosophy with this mission and these resources. We’ll try to make it a perfect home.
“I also want to express gratitude to [University President] William P. Leahy, SJ, for the appointment. The Fitzgibbons family gave the resources, but it was Fr. Leahy who selected me. I am deeply grateful for the honor and for his trust,” said Fr. Madigan, who is director of the University Core Curriculum.
The Fitzgibbons Professor is responsible for helping to organize and direct a lecture series engaging contemporary themes, which Fr. Madigan acknowledges might seem a substantial academic challenge for a scholar whose expertise is rooted in ancient and Aristotelian philosophical studies.
“Some could ask ‘where do you come in?’ in terms of emphasis on philosophical and ethical issues facing the world today. Actually, I have been working on issues of ethics and political philosophy, but I haven’t written that much about them.
“Am I the most advanced political-social philosopher? No, I wouldn’t claim that, but I have done enough work in these areas to be enthusiastic about taking up the mission of the Fitzgibbons Professorship.
“I am not going to turn it into something antiquarian,” he says. “I think that I am a Jesuit helps with the other aspect of the professorship – that we should be tackling not just the narrowly philosophical issues, but religious issues as well. I think that I have enough of a background in theology and enough of a Catholic commitment that I feel very comfortable working on that.”
Fr. Madigan and fellow faculty have invited several notable guest speakers for campus lectures, starting with the Nov. 9-10 visit of Professor Emeritus Charles Taylor of McGill University in Montreal for a lecture that will be co-sponsored by the University’s Church in the 21st Century Center. Fr. Madigan describes Taylor as “one of the two or three most prominent Catholic intellectuals, Catholic philosophers in the English-speaking world,” and praises Taylor’s recent book, A Secular Age, as “a reflection on how we have moved from a world where it was natural to believe in God to a world where it is just one option amongst others.
“I can’t imagine a topic that is closer to the heart of what the Fitzgibbons Professorship is than that one.”
Other future campus speakers will include Vanderbilt University Professor Kelly Oliver, who will speak on the theme of trauma and recovery from trauma; University of Notre Dame Professor Robert Audi, who will address rationality and religious commitment; Yale University Global Justice Program Director Thomas Pogge; and Loyola of Maryland Prof. Bret Davis, whose expertise combines contemporary European philosophy with knowledge of Buddhism.
For information on these and other Philosophy Department events click here.