OBITUARY OF PETER A. REDPATH

By Curtis L. Hancock

Peter A. Redpath

Peter A. Redpath entered eternal life on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025. In Heaven, Dr. Redpath will pursue a friendship with Saint Thomas Aquinas since he dedicated decades of his life to working in Saint Thomas’ philosophical vineyard. Peter believed that Saint Thomas’ philosophy was no museum piece but a living philosophy that contained the principles to remedy many of the world’s ills. Peter believed that the best way to study philosophy was in the laboratory of history. In that laboratory, Peter became convinced that Western philosophy divides between the centuries that antedate Saint Thomas, who died in 1274, and the centuries that come afterward. Dr. Redpath devoted 50 years of his life to understanding what philosophy looked like before Saint Thomas and what it has looked like since. Peter’s own work has rendered a verdict that the Western world has drifted into crisis from neglect of the wisdom of Saint Thomas. The rationale for this verdict is elaborated in his magisterial trilogy, Cartesian Nightmare (1997), Wisdom’s Odyssey (1997), and Masquerade of the Dream Walkers (1998). These books are nothing short of a definitive interpretive history of philosophy, from ancient times to the present.

While the power of his intellect shone brightly, Peter was not loved just for his academic acumen and achievement. Those who knew him well were struck by his humanity. He was a man in full, one measure of which was pride in his family. He loved Lorraine deeply and was devoted to his marriage of 54 years and to his children, Peter, Paul, and Korri, and in turn to his grandchildren. The Redpath family will have lives permanently warmed by memories of Peter. His charisma as pater familias also touched other people’s lives. People were attracted to him because his heart was available as a potential friend. He was generous with his time. He personally took me on a tour of New York, a fascinating excursion as Peter was a walking encyclopedia of New York legend and lore. He regarded his friends as part of the Redpath extended family. He formed innumerable friendships and motivated his friends to organize in solidarity to bring to fruition Redpathian projects. Those close to Peter knew that he got up each day contemplating how to inspire his friends to pursue common goals. Peter had a remarkable gift for forming a community. He knew how to persuade people to become team players. For this reason, Peter’s good friend Tom Michaud called him “Chairman of the Board.”

Peter traveled extensively and along the way formed friendships. Peter described himself as a philosophical Paladin, one who travels to motivate others to advance wisdom. His work as a Paladin took him to Poland, where he made many friends and became immersed in the philosophical personalism of Saint John Paul the Great. Saint John Paul teaches that Christianity is about appreciating the immeasurable dignity of the human person. Peter’s Christian faith was deepened by the personalism of John Paul. Of course, his affection for John Paul was fortified by the many friendships he formed in Poland, which he visited innumerable times and where he found a spiritual home in its Catholic culture.

A tribute to Peter Redpath would not be complete without addressing another distinctive feature of his character. In addition to being an admirable intellect, organizational genius, and loyal friend, Peter was endowed with extraordinary willpower. He applied his powerful will to every undertaking. His daily rule of life is expressed in a short poem attributed to Goethe:

To this I hold with firm persistence,
The last report of wisdom says it’s true,
He only earns his freedom and existence
Who every day conquers them anew.

Peter engaged every day as something new to conquer. He filled “the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run.” He loved life intensely and fought mightily to foster and protect the things and the people he loved.

He conspicuously fought for his health. He developed his own naturopathic regimen, supported by the advice of his daughter, Korri. During a given week he might report that he is keeping his body alkaline, managing lymphatic drainage, scheduling red-light therapy, and undergoing some kind of ionization treatment. Through years of effort, he became a self-taught naturopathic expert. Some people were bemused by his health program, dismissing it as eccentric. He was indifferent to their judgment. “If you have the determination to learn, why not become your own doctor. And when the day arrives that you need professional doctors, they should appreciate your experience and invite your voice into the conversation.” It turns out that Peter’s doctors were open-minded and encouraged his observations and recommendations about his own healthcare.  I dare say that his regular personal health measures and autonomous treatments extended his life by a decade.

Because of his strength of will, Peter was exceedingly patient, and as a rule, tolerant of people who were annoying. But on occasion, his patience could be tested. I was witness, up close and personal, to one such episode. Peter and I arranged a session at a meeting of the National Association of Scholars in New Orleans. I was the chair and moderator of the session. Peter was on the program as principal speaker. There was also a professor (unnamed here) seated next to me, assigned the task of reacting to and commenting on Peter’s presentation. Even before Peter spoke, this professor conveyed hostility, which he compounded after Peter’s talk. Many issues were discussed in the session, but the subject of Descartes generated a heated exchange. Peter demonstrated, using clear and distinct ideas, that the contentious professor’s understanding of Descartes was wrong. The professor became unhinged, and in a fit of emotion overturned the table at which he and I sat, scattering books, papers, and briefcases. Peter stood by remaining calm in the storm. No doubt, his Bouncer’s Persona came in handy. Once the commotion settled so that he could be heard, he concisely refuted both the professor and Descartes. I called the session to a close. Later, reflecting on the day’s episode, I asked whether we should have any regrets concerning how we handled the event.  We agreed that we had no regrets. We put the episode behind us, recalling Henry Kissinger’s quip that academics can be violent because the stakes are so small.

Peter Redpath left an impression in this world, a legacy of Christian love, wisdom, and team building. We will always remember how he made us feel by loving us.

Peter A. Redpath Obituary by Thomas A. Michaud, Ph.D.
Retired Professor of Philosophy and Dean – School of Professional Studies, West Liberty University, Wheeling, WV
Author of After Justice: Catholic Challenges to Progressive Culture, Politics, Economics and Education

Tom Michaud, Steve Bertucci and Peter Redpath on Bainbridge Island, WA, 2006

It is with much sadness that I offer this recollection of Peter A. Redpath. Peter was a longtime friend, whom I admired greatly, and a trusted mentor, who profoundly influenced my philosophical growth.My friendship with Peter began at a conference in Tempe, Arizona in 1996. I came to know him through Curtis Hancock who was often a third traveling partner. Over the years, while attending conferences, lectures, and various other occasions, we developed our friendship through fourteen states and three foreign countries (Spain, Canada, and very many trips to Poland). Peter consistently impressed me as a faithful Roman Catholic, an entirely devoted family man, and a genuine contemporary spoudaios, a morally mature person, citizen and patriot, whose conservative politics were securely rooted in his philosophy. There are at least two traits of Peter that are not commonly known. Firstly, he was a practiced DIY handyman. His work with his Staten Island, NYC home was a testimony to his accomplished skills. And, secondly, Peter loved to laugh, which made him a most congenial travel partner. I always felt quite pleased when I would tell a story or snap a relevant quip that would make him laugh heartily.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” Peter knew how to be a friend. His loyalty, generosity, and focus on higher things brought a nobility to our friendship. I pray that I was being a friend to him as much as he was an exemplary friend to me. Though I had heard many of the stories he recounts in his autobiography about his colorful youth in Brooklyn, reading them in the context of his intellectual meditations enabled deeper insight into his often-unconventional philosophical themes. I believe Goethe once offered words to this effect: The best compliment a student can give a teacher is to tell him that he has become superfluous. I suppose Goethe was implying that when a student becomes an independent learner based on the knowledge the teacher has imparted, the teacher then becomes unnecessary. Contrary to what Goethe claims, however, as a mentor Peter never became superfluous in any way. Peter was a relentless culture warrior. His unconventionality spurred him on to offer an unceasing trove of fresh insights, which exposed and effectively challenged the cultural deformations of our times. In his autobiography, Peter relates that he first learned the uncommon common sense of Brooklyn Existentialism while growing up amid a “rogues gallery” of Cosa Nostra figures, some lovable and some deadly. This Existentialism matured into his culture warrior philosophy as a Paladin – one who battles for an honorable cause – and as a Samuari Thomist, a member of a professional class of noble fighters after the fashion of St. Thomas Aquinas. Peter understood how Thomistic thought provided a solid foundation for criticizing current culture. Some of the unconventional Thomistic themes for criticizing culture that I learned from Peter are as follows. These themes are expressed in my own words and are capsulized, and thereby very much truncated.
1) History has become the new metaphysics. The practice of genuine metaphysics is almost entirely gone. The study of history is understood as the study of the first principles of what is, of being, of reality. So, if one aims to change the nature of reality itself, simply change history.
2) The wreckage wrought by Enlightenment abstract humanism is the missing individual human person in contemporary culture.
3) Prudence is the master virtue, and the true scientist is a prudential knower. There are many more such unconventional themes that I could include, but a final one is a theme that occupied Peter for at least the past decade, namely the paramount importance of the nature of organization in Thomistic thought. Applying Thomistic principles of organization, Peter focused on organizational psychology and leadership aiming to elucidate what is truly good leadership in today’s politicized and “lost” culture. I believe that Peter’s unconventional focus on organizations is an expected result of his being influenced in his youth by “organized” crime. I can imagine Peter laughing in his robust way at this pun. I hope it did make you laugh, Peter, my friend. It always made me feel good and not sad to make you laugh. We all will miss you: our noble, patriotic and hopeful “knight without armor in a savage land.”