 "Photo: Photo by Josh O'Bright")
According to Professor John Burr, “The Greeks really discovered what the good life was: endless conversation and endless bull sessions, when you talk about things that really interest you.”
Philosophy professor Burr has lived up to this mantra during his teaching career at UW-Oshkosh, which started in 1964, making him one the longest serving professors on campus. When asked why he has stayed here for so long, he simply answers, “I certainly enjoy it. If I didn’t, I could retire at any time.”
Burr’s story starts in Oshkosh, too; he was born here but spent his childhood in Ripon, later attending UW-Madison to earn a degree in philosophy. His interest in the subject started when he was young.
“I can remember reading skeptical essays when I was 14 or 15,” Burr said. “I had an interest in philosophy long before I decided to be a philosophy major.”
Burr received his bachelor’s degree from Madison in philosophy and almost immediately moved to New York to attend Columbia, where he would earn both his master’s and Ph. D. During his time there, he lived very close to Broadway for a year and enjoyed the city life.
“Of course it was much cheaper then. You could get theater tickets for five dollars,” Burr said. “When I first arrived there, I was showed around New York City not by an official guide, but by the son of a professor of sociology at Ripon College. He was an officer on the New York police force who gave me some tips, common sense tips.”
After graduating from Columbia, Burr headed off to Franklin Marshall College, where he spent one year filling in for another professor. Burr then moved to Fredrick, Md. to teach at Hood College, where he met his future wife, a mathematics professor at the same college. They had a somewhat classic meeting.
“When I first arrived they had an affair for new arrivals and I was passing through a line with refreshments,” Burr said. “There were a couple of women standing around who asked me, ‘Is there a Mrs. Burr?’ And of course I had to say no and there was a long silence and I knew then that I was lost.”
After spending three years in Maryland, Burr decided to move back home to teach at UW-Oshkosh after an acquaintance offered him the teaching position. From there, he helped start the philosophy department and began his long career at Oshkosh.
During Burr’s lengthy tenure at Oshkosh he has covered certain philosophical movements that are no longer in existence. Currently though, Burr said, we are still living on ideas based in the 1880s to the World Wars.
“When I started, Logical Positivism was riding high, but that has declined,” Burr said. “Right at the moment there doesn’t seem to be, speaking about the U.S., a dominant school of philosophy.”
As the head of the philosophy department, Burr does what he can with the resources he has to keep the department as balanced as possible when teaching different periods and movements in philosophy.
“We always followed the policy of having as many philosophical views represented as we can,” Burr said.
Senior Jenna Labey, a student in his Introduction to Philosophy class, is enjoying Burr’s class.
“I think what he talks about is pretty interesting and he knows what he’s talking about,” Labey said.
Freshman Callan Mueller, also in the intro class, says Burr’s knowledge and passionabout the subject are apparent.
“He published the book and he really makes you think about philosophy,” Mueller said. “He puts a different outlook on philosophy.”
Both students didn’t know Professor Burr before they took the class and were both surprised to find out he’s been here since the early 1960s.
Burr served as department chair from 1966 to 1976, then moved to the office of the dean of letters and sciences until 1980. He was called back into duty as chair of the department when the current chair retired in 2000.
“The chair keeps the department running on an even field and above all else, do whatever you can to help improve the department,” Burr said.
A colleague of Burrs, philosophy professor Laurence Carlin, had nothing but positive things to say about Burr’s performance as chair and his contribution to the department.
“He’s good with people and he’s somebody that is very easy to get along with,” Carlin said. “He can be serious and mix it with humor. All of it comes together and that’s why he is successful as he is.”
Another big part of the department’s success is due to the fact that everyone in the department gets along so well. The entire staff is involved in the hiring process, so they can get the most qualified person who will also mesh well into the group, Burr said.
Carlin also added that the reason everyone in the department gets along is because of Burr’s dedication.
“He’s very thorough; he reads everything,” Carlin said. “He communicates to the department. We all know what’s going on and we all get along around here. There are no divisions in the department and that starts in the top, in the chair.”
Carlin is grateful to know him, both inside and outside of the University.
“He has encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the campus,” Carlin said. “He knows the whole history of our department. It’s so much fun having him around and it’s a pleasure to talk to him.
Another part of Burr’s accomplishments for the department include a textbook he has helped create. It has nine editions, with a 10th edition currently in progress.
“We take great care in picking the selections,” Burr said. “We try to find selections that haven’t been printed before and fill two main objectives. One being that they have philosophical substance and two being they can be comprehensible to beginning students.”
Burr certainly hasn’t lost his sense of humor during his years at Oshkosh. He has seen some things change and some things stay the same.
“Back then, the university was called high school with ashtrays; now they’ve just moved the ashtrays from inside the room to outside the building,” Burr said with a chuckle. “I can also attest that there has been a 45-year parking problem, and apparently it’s getting worse.”
In the end, anyone who talks to Burr can tell just how much he cares about philosophy and getting the message of philosophy out there to students.
“If you’re intellectually alive, it just makes life more interesting,” Burr said. “It helps keep you mentally alive.”
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