Steven M. Cahn

{{Short description|American philosopher and academic administrator}} {{Moresources|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox scientist | name = | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1942}} | birth_place = Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | fields = Philosophy | workplaces = Dartmouth College Vassar College University of Rochester New York University University of Vermont Graduate Center of the City University of New York | alma_mater = {{ubl|Columbia University (BA, PhD)}} }}

'''Steven M. Cahn''' (born 1942) is an American philosopher and academic administrator who served as Provost and Acting President of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Former Presidents|url=https://www.gc.cuny.edu/About-the-GC/President-s-Office/Former-Presidents|access-date=2021-07-06|website=www.gc.cuny.edu}}</ref>

== Biography == Cahn was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1942, performed extensively as a pianist and organist, graduated from Columbia College in 1963 and received his PhD from Columbia University in 1966.<ref name=":0" />

After graduating from Columbia, Cahn taught at Dartmouth College, Vassar College, and the University of Rochester.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Steven M. Cahn|url=https://www.gc.cuny.edu/getattachment/f388333a-8e91-4cd2-a99c-6e0e3418ea90/attachment|website=Graduate Center, CUNY}}</ref>

From 1968 to 1973, he was a professor and served in various administrative roles at New York University. He then joined the University of Vermont as a professor from 1973 to 1980, heading the department of philosophy. Between 1978 and 1983 Cahn held executive positions in the Exxon Education Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, where he was the Director of General Programs.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Agencies|first=United States Congress House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of the Interior and Related|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ht1pKoZgdq4C&dq=%22department+of+the+interior%22+%22bachelor%27s+degree+from+columbia%22&pg=PA1076|title=Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1983: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session|date=1982|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|language=en}}</ref>

He joined the Graduate Center of the City University of New York as Dean of Graduate Studies in 1983, before being promoted to Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.<ref name=":1" /> Upon the death of President Harold Proshansky, Cahn was appointed acting president of the Graduate Center in Spring 1991. He stepped down as Provost in 1992 and returned to his teaching post, serving as a professor of philosophy and urban education.<ref name=":0" /> In 2015, he became professor emeritus.

Cahn is the author of twenty books and editor of fifty others, including the popular philosophy textbooks ''Political Philosophy: The Essential Texts; Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology; Exploring Ethics: An Introductory Anthology; Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues;'' and ''Classics of Western Philosophy''.

== Published works == Cahn is known for his work on fatalism, religious belief, happiness, and academic ethics, as well as his interest in the teaching of philosophy. Among his major works are ''Fate, Logic and Time''; ''Religion Within Reason''; ''Saints and Scamps: Ethics in Academia''; ''From Student to Scholar: A Candid Guide to Becoming a Professor: 25th Anniversary Edition'', (with Christine Vitrano) ''Happiness and Goodness: Philosophical Reflections on Living Well''; ''Philosophical Adventures''; ''Inside Academia: Professors, Politics, and Policies''; ''Navigating Academic Life''; and ''Professors as Teachers''. His shorter philosophical writings are collected in a trilogy: ''The Road Traveled and Other Essays'' (which includes an autobiographical account of his career);

''A Philosopher's Journey: Essays from Six Decades''; and ''Philosophical Debates''. A collection of essays written in his honor, edited by two of his former doctoral students, Robert B. Talisse of Vanderbilt University and Maureen Eckert of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is titled ''A Teacher's Life: Essays for Steven M. Cahn''.

== References == <references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cahn, Steven M.}} Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:CUNY Graduate Center faculty Category:20th-century American philosophers Category:Vassar College faculty Category:Dartmouth College faculty Category:University of Rochester faculty Category:University of Vermont faculty Category:American university and college faculty deans Category:1942 births Category:People from Springfield, Massachusetts Category:Living people Category:21st-century American philosophers