Thelma Z. Lavine

Thelma Zeno Lavine (1915–2011), was an American philosopher, professor, and writer, specializing mainly in the areas of 19th and 20th century, especially the writing of John Dewey. She taught courses that highlighted the correlation between philosophy and other topics such as economics, history, and contemporary American culture.

Thelma Z. Lavine was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 12, 1915. Lavine attended Radcliffe College, where she earned a B.A. in 1936. In 1937 she attended Harvard University, where she earned a Master’s degree in Philosophy. Lavine went on to earn a PhD in philosophy and psychology from Harvard in 1939. In 1944, Lavine married Washington attorney, Jerome J. Sachs. They were married for 40 years, and had one daughter, Margaret V. Sachs of Atlanta, Georgia. She died at the age of 95 on January 28, 2011.

Lavine began teaching philosophy and psychology courses in 1941 at Wells College in Aurora, New York, where she remained until 1943. In 1946 she started at Brooklyn College as a professor of philosophy until 1951. From 1955 until 1965 she held a faculty position at the University of Maryland. In 1965 Lavine went to George Washington University to become Elton Professor of Philosophy, where she taught for 20 years. In 1985 she went to George Mason University, where she became a Robinson Professor of Philosophy, and remained at George Mason until her retirement in 1998. Lavine received the “Outstanding Faculty Member” award while at the University of Maryland and the “Outstanding Professor” award during her time at George Washington University.

Lavine’s writing and lectures concern a variety of topics including, “the ideas of the Founding Fathers, Judaic thought, women’s studies, and biomedical ethics.” Some of her areas of specialty include 19th and 20th century continental philosophy, interpretation theory, and sociology of knowledge, American philosophy, and American culture. Despite her variety of interests, American philosophy became her major area of inquiry, especially pragmatism and the writing of John Dewey, and also Charles S. Pierce, C.I. Lewis, Morris R. Cohen, John H. Randall, Jr., and John McDermott.

Levine is an internationally known writer, and she has been published abroad in several countries, including Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands. One of Levine’s earliest essays, “Naturalism and the Sociological Analysis of Knowledge,” was included in Naturalism and the Human Spirit (1944), by Yervant H. Krikorian. The book also included essays by other noteworthy American philosophers such as John Dewey, and Sidney Hook. In the article, Lavine conveys her attitude towards Dewey’s philosophy and identifies him as the, “vanguard of twentieth-century naturalism.”

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