This piece originally appeared in Notre Dame’s College of Arts & Letters News.
Winfried “Fred” Dallmayr, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Notre Dame, died June 5. He was 95.
A native of Germany, Dallmayr’s tumultuous childhood in World War II impacted him greatly and shaped his trajectory as a political theorist and philosopher. His research focused on modern and contemporary European thought, with an interest in comparative or cross-cultural philosophy.
“He fervently believed that political theorists should not limit themselves to Western ideas, but they should be open to global political philosophy and theory,” said A. James McAdams, the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs. “He was also a proponent of the idea that morality should not be left up to the individual to determine but rather should grow out of the meaningful interactions of fellow human beings. In this sense, especially given the emphasis that he put on spirituality, Fred was a true Notre Dame intellectual.”
While a part of Notre Dame’s Department of Political Science, Dallmayr was a recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities fellowship in 1978 and a Fulbright Research Grant in India in 1991. He retired in 2004 as the Packey J. Dee Professor of Political Science.
He authored 40 academic books, averaging a production of one book a year, many of which were translated into varying languages. In addition to writing, he also co-wrote and edited books until he was 94.
“He was extraordinary in that sense, and they were high-quality books based on first-rate scholarship, and his works were recognized as such by people around the world,” said McAdams, who noted he saw Dallmayr give a book presentation only four weeks before his death. “Until the very end, he was the consummate intellectual.”
Dallmayr began his academic career in Germany and Italy. After immigrating to the United States in 1955, he received a doctorate in political science from Duke University in 1960 and taught at Purdue University until he joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1978, holding a joint appointment in the Department of Philosophy.
He also served as the president of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy, an advisory member of the scientific committee of Reset Dialogue on Civilizations (ResetDOC) in Rome, the executive co-chair of World Public Forum — Dialogue of Civilizations (WPF-DOC) in Vienna, and was a member of the supervisory board of the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute in Berlin.
Dallmayr is survived by his wife, Ilse Dallmayr; two children, Dominique and Philip, and two grandchildren, Keegan and Josefina. A funeral was held at noon on June 13 at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in South Bend.
Notre Dame Press is proud to be the publisher of Fred Dallmayr’s scholarship:
“Horizons of Difference is a probing study of the crisis of our time, revolving around scientific, technological, economic, political, and cultural globalization. Many studies have focused on one or more of these dimensions, but only Dallmayr’s approach dives deeply into the cultural roots of ‘Western’ modernity and its alleged clash with ‘non-Western’ traditions.”
—David Ingram, author of World Crisis and Underdevelopment
“This book is a must-read for advanced interdisciplinary classes of religion, philosophy, ethics, and peace/justice studies.”
—Religious Studies Review
“[Dallmayr] provides here a constructive reading that makes apparent how mystical traditions can be seen as ways to critically approach contemporary Western political, economic, and spiritual culture.”
—Reading Religion
“A sophisticated journey toward a more developed personal spirituality.”
—Spirituality & Religion
“This book has great strength…. The most important service it offers is that it gives both general readers and scholars a sense of the tremendous powers for peacemaking contained in the world’s philosophical and religious traditions. . . . the book is extremely interesting and useful. It is a helpful guide through the resources of peacemaking found throughout the world’s cultural traditions.”
—Perspectives on Politics
“Dallmayr… intends for this study to be a call for peace in this age of strife, destruction, and desolation. . . . the scope of Dallmayr’s erudition here is a tour de force.”
—Cistercian Studies Quarterly
“Dallmayr leads us through the subterranean depths of the issues of subjectivity and objectivity, communication and interpretation, dialogue and praxis. He is right in insisting that political thought must explore these issues or be trapped in a discipline flooded with conventional assumptions . . .”
—Perspective
“A difficult but rewarding book . . . [it] consists of a collection of essays on leading figures in 20th-century philosophy that represents a number of different philosophical traditions primarily Continental, although not entirely. Each essay focuses on interpretation of the philosopher, revealing Dallmayr’s tremendous grasp of a difficult body of contemporary philosophical literature.”
—Choice
“This book is a much-needed vision of international politics that goes well beyond the dichotomies of idealism and realism, internationalism and nationalism, ethical obligation and pure interest.”
—Recent Books on Ethics and International Affairs
“Elshtain’s book is intriguing, and of special interest to students of ethics and sovereignty. . . As we reach the dawn of a new millenium, scholars and practicioners alike would be wise to heed the ideas put forth in this book.”
—Rhertoric & Public Affairs