RIP Denis Dutton
December 29th, 2010 at 11:49 am by David FarrarIncredibly saddened to hear yesterday of the death of Denis Dutton. I’d been fortunate enough to meet Denis on a few occassions, through mutual conferences we attended. He was a wonderfully clear thinker, and a a real gentleman.
His family and close friends suffer the biggest loss, but many New Zealanders will miss his presence amongst us.
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December 29th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
His lecture on the cold reading technique was one of my favourite ever to have attended
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Agreed, Skeptics conferences will be the poorer without him.
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Yes, the passing of one of the old guard. I think ALD was one of the first non-technical or search website I ever visited, way back then. The breadth of his interests and what he chose to include was and remained a key strength. And only 66, from Prostate cancer.
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Arts & Letters Daily (aldaily.com) is dressed in black today to mark Denis Dutton’s death.
He created one of the most stimulating and most useful sites on the internet, bless him, and it continues to be a great site.
An energetic academic, a doer as well as a thinker, Denis Dutton brought a refreshing Californian optimism and drive to Canterbury University and to NZ generally, IMHO.
Denis was one of the deeper thinking members of ACT, a modest, feet-on-the-ground, yet studious man.
Condolences to his family, his friends, and his colleagues.
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
When Denis appeared to accept the University of Canterbury Research Medal, we, his colleagues, stood as one to applaud him. He loved to argue – in the best sense of the word, and most of us on the platform that morning had had many such encounters with Denis through the years, and he graciously acknowledged those wonderful discussions in his response to the award. The exchange of ideas, without judgement or ego, was paramount to Denis. I remember going out of my way to attend his seminars on the philosophy of art, when his ideas that formed the book The Art Instinct were still being formed.
He will be sorely missed by us all.
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
I met Denis Dutton twice at symposia we jointly attended and after one we rode back to Christchurch together. We differed ideologically on some issues issues (religious mainly) and agreed on most and on the ones we differed he embodied the term “lets just agree to disagree”. He was the most amiable and delightful sparring partner and was fascinated by the stories of others and in what drove others ideologically and/or theologically. A great intellect and yet not prone to academic pretentiousness that is sadly common in acedemia.
One of life’s true gentlemen. His can-do American optimism tempered by realism was refreshing.
He will be sorely missed. My sincerest condolences and may he rest in peace!!
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
That’s terrible. I met him a couple of times, and I am very grateful for all the stimulating articles on A L Daily. Rest in peace.
sincerely
David Prosser
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
In the compendium spirit of Arts & Letters Daily , a few of the many tributes on the net to Denis Dutton:
Wikipedia describes him as “academic, web entrepreneur and libertarian media commentator/activist…”
The New Yorker describes Denis as the “intellectual’s Matt Drudge”.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/12/denis-dutton.html
Denis created the “the world’s greatest coffee house and magazine rack”
http://reason.com/blog/2010/12/28/denis-dutton-rip
New English Review : “Denis was a gentleman – always kind and considerate, even in the midst of heated debate…”
In NZ, Denis saw Emperor Jackson with X-ray vision in “Lord of the Rings”:
Vote:http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2010/12/denis-dutton-has-died.html
December 29th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
I never met Denis in person but he was a regular “go to” interviewee on anything dubious. I kept his details in my contact book and no matter where I worked I’d find an excuse to work some of his incisive common sense anti-quackery into a story.
Though I had the privilege of speaking to the powerful and the famous there were few interviewees I genuinely enjoyed talking to (inevitably, I’d look up at the clock and realise an entire half hour had passed rather than the four minutes or so that had been scheduled, and that we were actually on the radio and not debating in my lounge). Denis was amongst these. His knowledge seemed without end and his ability to utterly debunk something, or even someone, without it being churlish or nasty was unparalleled.
And unlike most of the powerful and famous, I truly cannot think of anyone who can replace him.
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
We could start a “Well Dutton” award or compliment, for a well considered non-churlish, non-nasty debunking.
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
I suspect Denis would have a good chuckle over that one.
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
It’s terrible to lose an import of his caliber. He has set an ideal here that will always be inspiring. My condolences to his friends & family. RIP
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Yes, very sad news. Denis was a hero of mine. Because of the Skeptics, Arts & Letters Daily, The Art Instinct etc, but he was also in my experience very tolerant of people less sharp and polymathy than him, i.e. me.
I met him a few times and I was lucky enough at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival in May? this year to spend a half-hour with him in the green room talking about Karl Popper and Paul Feyerabend – and also philosophy groupies, whom I had seen in action at Auckland Uni. Denis said a trifle wistfully that Canterbury Uni didn’t see a lot of that.
A very nice man, very clever and funny, and a huge advocate for reason. Re what Pete George says above at 3:59, I hope there will be a tangible way of remembering him.
Vote:December 29th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Very sad. Arts & Letters Daily is a pure pleasure.
Vote:December 30th, 2010 at 9:36 am
I did not meet Denis Dutton but I heard him speak on the radio several times and I have been a long time reader of A&L Daily.
Denis seemed to be not only an extremely cultured, clear thinking, erudite and intelligent man – but he also appeared to be a gentleman and I am sure he will be remembered as such by his friends and his colleagues.
A very sad loss. Thank you Denis for your enormous contribution to intelligence, culture and the rational mind.
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