James G. Hart

James G. Hart, age 90, beloved son, father, husband, and friend, passed away on July 28th surrounded by tenderness. Born to Helen Mansfield and Edward Hart, he was raised on Chicago’s South Shore, and his backyard was Lake Michigan. It was there that he acquired a love of the Great Lakes and swimming. James, or "Jim" to those who knew him, was lovingly raised by his grandparents, Florence and James E. Hart.

Jim was a member of a Catholic religious order from 1957-1964. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1972 with a dissertation on “Hedwig Conrad-Martius’ Phenenological Ontology (Springer: 2020). His research and writing were primarily in the area of Husserlian phenomenology. His main works were The Person and the Common Life (Kluwer, 1992) and Who One Is, (Springer, 2009, 2 volumes). Among his six co-edited works were with Tomis Kapitan on IU’s Hector-Neri Castañeda, The Phenomeno-Logic of the I: Essays on Self-Consciousness (Indiana University Press, 1999). He authored over one-hundred professional articles and reviews. For his life in philosophy, he has been blessed with the friendship of John Maraldo, Thomas Prufer, and Robert Sokolowski.

Jim’s kindness, humanity, and humility were intrinsic to his intellectual and spiritual life. He was the voice of compassionate reason, reminding those who knew him, and the world, via words, articles, letters, and actions, that we as individuals and those of religious communities have an ethical imperative to work for the greater good, for the weak, and to speak out against injustice. At IU, he taught philosophy of religion, philosophy, and peace studies from 1972 to 2001. His brilliant intellect influenced the trajectory of the lives of his students and stirred the intellectual curiosity of those blessed to know him.

During, but mostly after retirement, he was blessed by the friendship of especially exemplary human beings, Mike Andrews, Lib Buck and Hal Taylor whose passion for social justice drew him into becoming active in jail reform and coming to the aid of the homeless. The last twenty five years he enjoyed walking daily with his dog in the beauty of Bloomington’s Griffy Woods; a joy complimented by blissful summers on the shores of Lake Huron’s Manitoulin Island in Ontario with his wife, dog, and Canadian friends.

He is survived by perhaps his greatest grace, his wife Julia Livingston. He is also survived by his beloved daughter Yeni Hart, and grandson Dante Hart, his half-brother Michael Ennis, and his dear stepson Amory Abbott.

A memorial service and celebration of his life will be announced at a later date.

Donations in his name can be made to: Beacon – Solutions for People in Poverty at www.beaconinc.org.