MSU Says Goodbye to its Philosopher Cowboy
May 2, 2008
You begin to get some inkling of the vast range of thought Gordon "Corky" Brittan holds in his head if you look at his boots while he talks.
At the moment he's talking about predestination's incompatibility with free will, his lectures on Kant, the philosophy of technology, his love of teaching metaphysics.
In his voice and manners is the cultivated civility of an Amherst graduate who traveled to Europe while young and grew up in a well-off world with every educational advantage.
But the boots send a different message. They are cowboy boots: straightforward, brown, a scuff here and there, well-worn and well-loved. It's the footwear of a man who fixes fence, rides horses and at one time raised pigs for a little extra household income on his ranch outside of Livingston.
In 35 years of teaching philosophy at Montana State University, Brittan has always had his feet planted firmly in a love of the state and its people. His retirement this spring leaves behind some impressive footprints.
Brittan came to MSU in 1973. At the time he was teaching at the University of CaliforniaÐIrvine. Having earned his doctorate at Stanford under Donald Davidson -- widely considered one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century -- Brittan was poised to enter the highest ranks of his profession.
But California did not feel like home. Already drugs were in the schools where Brittan and his wife, Vanessa, sent their two children. The couple longed for the beauty of Montana, a place where they had vacationed often with Brittan's parents. Brittan's father, an electronic manufacturer and businessman from Chicago, had bought a ranch outside of Livingston with two other couples.
"When I said I was moving onto a ranch in Montana, my friends at Irvine thought I was crazy," Brittan said. "I was really unsure about the move, too, but my wife was certain this was a good thing."
From the first, Brittan's experience teaching at MSU only reinforced the sense that his wife knew what was best.
"When I taught in California, I had a lot of very affluent kids and I found I had to compete for their attention," Brittan said. "Here I had their attention. Man, I mean wow! They couldn't believe it -- Plato, Aristotle, Socrates -- they loved it, the whole thing. It was a new world to them. There was an excitement when I walked into the classroom that I didn't get in Irvine."
The students and Brittan's peers responded in kind. Brittan won almost every major teaching and research award the university system offers. In 1985, he was named the first Regents Professor, which honors those recognized nationally and internationally in their field. The award has been bestowed on only three other MSU professors: paleontologist Jack Horner, physicist John Carlsten and chemist/biochemist Paul Grieco.
"He was my first connection to the world of the philosophy of science," said Peter Kosso, who attended Brittan's lectures as a physics graduate student. Kosso went on to earn a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Minnesota and now teaches at Northern Arizona University. He is the author of four books.
"I remember him as an inspiring teacher with a rich know-ledge of history, science and philosophy," Kosso said. "He got me started on what has turned out to be very rewarding career."
Outside of the classroom Brittan worked to create institutions for the benefit of Montana and its people. With funding from Susan and Jack Heyneman of Fishtail, Mont., Brittan helped create the Wallace Stegner Professorship in Western American Studies in 1991. Stegner is considered one of the most important writers, historians and conservationists of the West. He died in 1992.
"The chair is meant to focus attention on the historical, philosophical and literary dimensions of the land-use problems the West faces," Brittan said. "Stegner told me that the biggest land-use issues are ahead of us, not behind us. And I believe that's true.
"For much of the history of the West, the shots have been called by distant interests. I wanted us to provide our own answers to Montana questions. I want young people who come through this campus to be the leaders of change in the West."
The current chair is internationally known natural science writer David Quammen.
Brittan also assisted former MSU president Mike Malone in establishing the Burton K. Wheeler Center in 1988. Named after the U.S. senator who served Montana from 1923 to 1947, the center hosts major statewide conferences for vigorous, non-partisan discussion on Montana's most pressing issues, such as transportation, crime, taxation, and this spring, climate change and its intersection with agriculture and energy.
Brittan has been the center's director for 17 years. He will step down this spring and be succeeded by Ralph Johnson, MSU professor of architecture.
"Part of Corky's vision for the center was that it be involved in finding solutions to community problems around the state," said Brad Snow, Wheeler's great-grandson and a center board member.
The center bears an indelible mark from Brittan's leadership, Snow said. "Corky is someone who doesn't want the university to be an ivory tower. He sees community outreach as part of his mission. In the Wheeler Center he saw a way to put his fascination with public policy to use and tie it to his idea that a professor be a public intellectual."
Brittan's retirement this spring seems like anything but. In addition to remaining on the Wheeler Center's board, he plans to write more than a half-dozen books on philosophy and raise money for the Stegner professorship.
Then there are the chores on his ranch outside of Livingston: fencing, spraying weeds and taking care of 15 horses.
He also will continue teaching. In the fall he will lead an Honors course on war and a graduate seminar on public history.
"I get the biggest kick out of teaching," he said. "I'm still as excited and nervous today as when I entered my first classroom more than 40 years ago."
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