Colleagues and friends are remembering , a political theorist and 人妻少妇专区 professor emeritus in the , whose work on political philosophy and ethics endures.
鈥淗e was someone who early on looked at medical ethics, as developments in human biology聽allowed us to ask questions that we could never have imagined before,鈥� says , the Don Alonzo Watson Professor Emeritus of Political Science.
Niemi arrived in the department as a young assistant professor a few years before Bluhm was promoted to full professorship. 鈥淎s life could be extended further and more diseases could be cured, many more serious questions about ethics and medicine came to the fore. Ted was one who was exploring those questions.鈥�
Bluhm, who was a member of the Rochester faculty for 36 years鈥攆rom 1957 to 1993鈥攄ied in November at the age of 95. His research focused on political philosophy, ethics and public policy, and political culture.
During his long academic career, he worked on systematic philosophical questions regarding聽the ways humans arrive at moral judgments and decisions. In later years, Bluhm studied how evolving technologies necessarily created new moral challenges and dilemmas.
As work got under way to sequence the human genome, Bluhm predicted that eventually scientists would be able to write a description for creating a human being, which would necessarily lead to the essential ethical and philosophical question of what exactly 鈥渉uman鈥� means. With the advance of life-extending health care technologies, he asked pointedly what constituted 鈥済ood quality of life鈥� and 鈥渨ho or what, at what point, cuts off life?鈥�
His most recent research, framed in the classical, philosophical tradition, focused on the systematic ethical frameworks available to help answer complex policy questions.
In a 1988 paper presented at the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) research conference in Seattle, he asked his audience how 鈥渋n a pluralist and secular society such as ours鈥� one can satisfactorily bring to bear the ideas of ethics, that are often privately held beliefs, to general 鈥渄ilemmas of public policy.鈥�
鈥淭he 鈥榚thical鈥� is a word that has always been used interchangeably with the expressions 鈥榯he good鈥� and 鈥榯he right,鈥� and these conceptions have traditionally been governed by religion, philosophy, and (more recently), ideology,鈥� wrote Bluhm in his conference paper. 鈥淥ne will find a Christian ethic, a Jewish ethic, a Libertarian ethic, or a Welfare Liberal ethic. How does this congeries of differing principles of 鈥榞ood鈥� and 鈥榬ight鈥� fit with the concept of 鈥榩ublic聽policy鈥�?鈥�
鈥淏luhm was widely well liked,鈥� says 鈥�71 (PhD), the Ernestine Friedl Professor of Political Science at Duke University, who took two of Bluhm鈥檚 graduate classes.
Rohde came to Rochester when the PhD program in political science was still in its infancy鈥攂arely five years old. 鈥淲e were the largest cohort of PhD students then,鈥� recalls Rohde. 鈥淎ll 12 of us鈥攎ore than faculty members.鈥澛� As part of a 鈥減assionate, assertive鈥� group, Rohde remembers plenty of interaction and lively arguments in Bluhm鈥檚 seminar on political philosophy, which was a required introductory class for all incoming PhD students.
鈥淚t was always a challenge for Ted to manage us,鈥� chuckles Rohde. 鈥淪ometimes he would just get elbowed out of the way.鈥� Rohde also interacted with Bluhm on a more personal level: the then newly married Rohde and his wife sometimes looked after Bluhm鈥檚 young children when Ted and Eleanor (Elly) Bluhm went out of town for a weekend.
Over the course of his distinguished career, Bluhm authored seven books spanning more than four decades: Theories of the Political System聽(Prentice-Hall, 1965), Building an Austrian Nation: The Political Integration of a Western State聽(Yale University Press, 1973), Ideologies and Attitudes: Modern Political Culture聽(Prentice-Hall, 1974),聽The Paradigm Problem in Political Science聽(Carolina Academic Press, 1982),聽Force or Freedom? The Paradox in Modern Political Thought聽(Yale University Press, 1984),聽The World of the Policy Analyst: Science, Values, and Rationality聽(co-author) (Chatham House, 1990), and聽聽(co-author) (Prentice-Hall, 2007).
His last book was co-authored with ,聽the Joseph Kruson Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Alfred University. Heineman, who had been a collaborator and friend for almost 40 years, says what impressed him most was Bluhm鈥檚 deep knowledge of political philosophy and classical thinkers. 鈥淭ed did not study the thought of the past in isolation from other considerations. Probably his most important contribution to his field was his ability to apply philosophical thought as both a foundation and framework for current issues and controversies,鈥� Heineman wrote on Bluhm鈥檚 memorial page. 鈥淭he profession has lost an outstanding scholar, and I have lost a good friend.鈥�
Born in 1923 in Newark, New Jersey, Bluhm served during World War II in the US Army Signal Corps from 1943 to 1946 that took him to North Africa, Italy, France, Germany and Austria, and聽was awarded the聽Bronze Star聽Medal for bravery under fire.聽Upon discharge from the Army, Bluhm resumed and finished his undergraduate studies at Brown University. In 1949, he earned a master鈥檚 degree from Tufts University鈥檚 Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and subsequently a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1957, where he wrote his dissertation on 鈥淐atholic Theories on the Corporate State.鈥�
He returned to the 人妻少妇专区 that same year, having already worked at the University as an instructor in political science in 1952.聽 Back for good in 1957 and with a PhD under his belt, he started as an assistant professor and by 1967 had risen through the ranks to full professor. Along the way, Bluhm received numerous research awards, including a year’s Fulbright fellowship to Vienna, Austria.
鈥淭ed was the guiding force behind the University鈥檚 Stammtisch, or German table, which met for years in the Faculty Club,鈥� recalls , professor of political science at the University.
鈥淗e kept the conversation roaring along in German with his good humor and personal anecdotes.聽One I remember in particular was his imitation of the German-born Harvard professor Carl Friedrich, when trying to explain to his students how to pronounce the name of the ancient Greek historian, Thucydides:聽鈥楴o, it is Zukidides, not Zuzidides!鈥欌��
He often wore a green Austrian Loden sports coat to those lunches, remembers Stone, and the last time they met, brought along a bottle of Sp盲tlese (a German late harvest wine).聽Stone says Bluhm鈥檚 children tell the story of how they used to beg him to talk to them in Morse code at the dinner table鈥攁 remnant from his US Army Signal Corps days鈥攚hich he was always willing to do.
Few knew that sandwiched between his master鈥檚 degree and his PhD was a five-month stint at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a research assistant in the Division of International Relations.聽 This was immediately followed by a one-and-a-half-year assignment as an intelligence officer in Washington D.C. with the US government from 1950 to 1951, during the onset of the Cold War. His wife Elly also worked as an intelligence officer during that time.
The political scientist had many interests and especially enjoyed traveling, bird watching, and reading mystery novels.聽 He also painted water colors and wrote poetry, says Elly Bluhm, to whom he was married for 68 years.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by their children Catherine Dolan, Susanna Cullen, and Andrew Bluhm, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
