Corliss Lamont (March 28, 1902 – April 26, 1995), was a humanist philosopher and civil liberties advocate. He was born in Englewood, New Jersey to Thomas W. Lamont, a Partner and later Chairman at J.P. Morgan & Co.. Lamont graduated as valedictorian of Phillips Exeter Academy in 1920, and magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1924. In 1924 he did graduate work at New College University of Oxford, while he resided with Julian Huxley. The next year Lamont matriculated at Columbia University, where he studied under John Dewey. In 1928 he became a philosophy instructor at Columbia and married Margaret Hayes Irish. He received his Ph.D. in 1932. Dr. Lamont taught at Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, and the New School for Social Research (see New School University). March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (88th in leap years). ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities—particularly rationalism. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Map highlighting Englewoods location within Bergen County. ... Thomas William Lamont (1870-1948) was a American banker. ... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. ... In the United States and Canada, the title of valedictorian (an anglicized derivation from the Latin vale dicere to say farewell) is given to the top graduate of the graduating class (compare dux) of an educational institution. ... The Academy Building Phillips Exeter Academy (also called Exeter, Phillips Exeter, or PEA) is a co-educational independent boarding school for grades 9-12, located on 471. ... Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. ... Harvard University campus (old map) Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... College name New College Named after Mary, mother of Jesus Established 1379 Sister College Kings College Warden Prof. ... The University of Oxford (often called Oxford University), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Sir Julian Sorell Huxley, FRS (June 22, 1887 – February 14, 1975) was a English biologist, author, Humanist and internationalist, known for his popularisations of science in books and lectures. ... Columbia University is a private university in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ... John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, whose thought has been greatly influential in the United States and around the world. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... This is about the university. ... The New School is an institution of higher learning in New York City. ...

Lamont's political views were socialist. During the 1930s he was sympathetic to Soviet communism, but never joined the Communist Party, and later came to reject his earlier views. In 1953 he published a pamphlet entitled Why I am not a Communist. Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... Soviet redirects here. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

A leading proponent of civil rights, he served as a director of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1932 to 1954, and subsequently as chairman until his death, of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, which successfully challenged Senator Joseph McCarthy's senate subcommittee and other government agencies. In 1965 he secured a Supreme Court ruling against censorship of incoming mail by the U.S. Postmaster General. In 1973 he discovered through Freedom of Information Act requests that the FBI had been tapping his phone, and scrutinizing his tax returns and cancelled checks for 30 years. His subsequent lawsuit showed the surveillance had no justification in law, and set precedent for other citizens' privacy rights. He also filed and won a suit against the Central Intelligence Agency for opening his mail. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a major national non-profit organization based in New York City, whose stated mission is to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. ... Joseph Raymond McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908–May 2, 1957) was a Republican Senator from the U.S. state of Wisconsin between 1947 and 1957. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... The Postmaster General is the executive head of the United States Postal Service. ... Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... CIA redirects here. ...

Lamont wrote sixteen books, hundreds of pamphlets and thousands of letters to newspapers on significant social issues during his life long campaign for peace and civil rights. His most famous book is probably The Philosophy of Humanism, which is considered a definitive study of Humanist philosophy. Another contribution to the field was the 1935 book The Illusion of Immortality, which was a revised version of his Ph.D. dissertation. He also published intimate portraits of such luminaries as John Dewey and Bertrand Russell. John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, whose thought has been greatly influential in the United States and around the world. ... Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, and mathematician, working mostly in the 20th century. ...

Following the deaths of his parents Lamont became a philanthropist. He funded the collection and preservation of manuscripts of American philosophers, particularly George Santayana. He became a substantial donor to both Harvard and Columbia. During the 1960s he and Margaret had divorced, and he married author Helen Boyden, who died of cancer in 1975. Lamont married Beth Keehner in 1986 and they shared their mutual interests for the remainder of his life. George Santayana George Santayana (16 December 1863 in Madrid, Spain – 26 September 1952 in Rome, Italy), was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. ...

Lamont was president emeritus of the American Humanist Association and received the Gandhi Peace Award in 1981. In 1998 Lamont received a posthumous Distinguished Humanist Service Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union. The American Humanist Association (AHA) is an American humanist group serving secular humanism, but tending to favor Humanism as defined by the world body for Humanism, the IHEU. Founded in 1941, the AHA has served its members by initiating social reforms and other programs. ... The Gandhi Peace Award is an annual award named in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, and bestowed for contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Posthumous means after death. ... Founded in Amsterdam in 1952, International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is the sole world umbrella organisation [1] embracing Humanist, atheist, rationalist, secular, skeptic, Ethical Culture, freethought and similar organisations world-wide. ...

He remained a peace activist all his life, protesting U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf War at the age of 88. He died at home in Ossining, New York. A peace activist is a political activist who strives for peace, and against war. ... See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ...

Books

• The Philosophy of Humanism, (orig. pub. 1949), 1965 edition: Ungar Pub Co ISBN 0804455953, 7th rev. edition 1990: Continuum Intl Pub Group, ISBN 0804463794, 8th rev. edition (with gender neutral references by editors Beverley Earles and Beth K. Lamont) 1997 Humanist Press ISBN 0-931779-07-3
  • Online version of The Philosophy of Humanism (8th edition) in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
• Illusion of Immortality, introduction by John Dewey, (orig. pub. 1935), 5th edition 1990, Continuum Intl Pub Group, ISBN 0-8044-6377-8
• Yes to Life: Memoirs of Corliss Lamont, 1981 Horizon Press: ISBN 0818002328, rev. edition 1991: ISBN 0-8264-0477-4
• Voice in the Wilderness: Collected Essays of Corliss Lamont, 1979 Prometheus Books, ISBN 087975060X
• Freedom Is As Freedom Does: Civil Liberties in America, forward by Bertrand Russell, (orig. pub. 1956), reprint ed. 1990, Continuum Intl Pub Group, ISBN 0-8264-0475-8

Adobe Acrobat was the first software to support Adobe Systems Portable Document Format (PDF). ... PDF is an abbreviation with several meanings: Portable Document Format Post-doctoral fellowship Probability density function There also is an electronic design automation company named PDF Solutions. ...

See also

• Humanist Manifesto

Humanist Manifesto is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview published by the American Humanist Association (AHA). ...

External links

• Corliss Lamont website hosted at Columbia U.