Paul Kurtz

Paul Kurtz

BORN21 December 1925, Newark, New Jersey, USA

DIED20 October 2012, Amherst, New York, USA

OCCUPATIONPhilosopher, professor emeritus

KNOWN FORFounding CSICOP, the Council for Secular Humanism, and the Center for Inquiry

STATUSDeceased

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Paul Winter Kurtz (21 December 1925 – 20 October 2012) was an American philosopher, scientific sceptic, and secular humanist, widely called "the father of secular humanism." He was the founder and longtime chair of the organisation now known as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP).

Early life and war service

Kurtz was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Martin and Sarah Kurtz. He enrolled briefly at Washington Square College of New York University before enlisting in the U.S. Army during the Second World War, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and serving with a unit that liberated the Dachau concentration camp. He carried a copy of Plato's Republic with him throughout the war, an experience he later credited with solidifying his lifelong commitment to philosophy. After being demobilised, he resumed his studies at New York University, where an encounter with pragmatic naturalist philosopher Sidney Hook — a student of John Dewey — became what Kurtz called "his most important intellectual experience." He earned his BA from NYU in 1948, then went on to Columbia University, completing an MA in 1949 and a PhD in philosophy in 1952 with a dissertation titled "The Problems of Value Theory."

Academic career

Kurtz taught philosophy at Trinity College in Connecticut from 1952 to 1959, and subsequently at Vassar, Union College, and the New School for Social Research, before joining the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1965, where he remained until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1991.

Founding CSICOP

In April 1976, Kurtz and others founded the world's first organisation dedicated solely to the scientific investigation of paranormal claims at a conference at SUNY Buffalo, attended by Isaac Asimov, Martin Gardner, and James Randi among others. Originally named the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), the word "Scientific" and the organisation's broader framing were partly intended to distinguish its work from ideological or politically motivated scepticism. CSICOP launched Skeptical Inquirer as its flagship magazine the same year.

Secular humanism and the Center for Inquiry

Kurtz founded the independent publishing house Prometheus Books in Amherst, New York, in August 1969, which went on to publish extensively in skeptical and secular literature and remains active today under his son, Jonathan Kurtz. In 1980, he founded the Council for Secular Humanism and its magazine Free Inquiry, for which he served as editor-in-chief, and helped draft A Secular Humanist Declaration the same year. In 1991, Kurtz founded the Center for Inquiry (CFI) as an umbrella organisation bringing together CSICOP, the Council for Secular Humanism, and his other institutions, based in Amherst, New York, with the stated goal of promoting and defending "science, reason, and free inquiry in all aspects of human endeavor." He also served as co-chair of the International Humanist and Ethical Union from 1986 to 1994.

Later years

Kurtz's departure from the Center for Inquiry in 2010 followed what the Kurtz Institute has described as a difficult, years-long leadership transition; he went on to found the Institute for Science and Human Values and its journal The Human Prospect: A NeoHumanist Perspective that same year. He authored more than fifty books over his career, many translated into multiple languages.

Death

Kurtz died on 20 October 2012 in Amherst, New York, aged 86. The American Humanist Association described the loss of "one of secular humanism's most prominent advocates."

VAULT PROFILE ASSESSMENT

CATEGORY

Philosopher / Skeptical Advocate

VAULT RELEVANCE

Significant

CONNECTION

Founder of CSICOP (now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry), the Council for Secular Humanism, the Center for Inquiry, and Prometheus Books

ASSESSMENT

Paul Kurtz is arguably the single most institutionally significant figure in the modern organised scepticism movement — CSICOP, which he founded in 1976, remains the direct institutional ancestor of most of the skeptical publishing and investigation referenced elsewhere in this archive, including Skeptical Inquirer itself. Unlike figures such as Derren Brown or Ciarán O'Keeffe, whose work is largely public-facing demonstration or academic research respectively, Kurtz's legacy is primarily organisational and institutional: he built the infrastructure — publishing houses, magazines, umbrella organisations — that much of Anglo-American scientific scepticism still operates within.

See also

• Skepticism
• Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
• Martin Gardner
• James Randi
• Ray Hyman

External links

• Center for Inquiry — Memories of Paul Kurtz
• Free Inquiry — Paul Kurtz (1925-2012)
• Kurtz Institute — Legacy