Today I received the very sad news from Larry Solum that Alan Wertheimer has died. Alan was a terrific philosophical theorist, and his contributions to the profession will be sorely missed. But his death touches me on a very personal level as well. Alan took me under his wing at a very early stage in my career. I’m not sure I would have ever made it past that stage without his mentorship.

Alan wrote a number of truly groundbreaking works in various areas of social philosophy and applied ethics. His 1996 book, Exploitation, truly revolutionized philosophical discourse of that topic, and set the stage for much future research on it, including my own humble contributions. His 1990 Coercion is a masterful analysis of the concept, and an extremely persuasive defense of a moralized account. And his 2003 Consent to Sexual Relations is a thoughtful and provocative exploration of various moral and legal issues around sex and consent, including fascinating questions about deception, coercion, and intoxication.

Each of these books makes a serious contribution to the philosophical literature – and often a quite important one. But Alan was never one to believe that writing had to be obscure in order to appear significant. Quite the contrary, his writing is a model of clarity, and always grounded by some of the most vivid and memorable examples I’ve ever encountered in a philosopher’s writing. Anybody could pick up one of Alan’s book and be rewarded by not only a philosophically profitable reading experience, but a highly enjoyable one.

On a more personal note, Alan was a generous mentor to me, a valued correspondent, and a friend. I first met him in 2006, when he kindly agreed to serve as a commentator on an early draft of my paper on sweatshops at an Arizona Current Research Workshop. I considered him to be a philosophical giant at the time, and I was still fresh out of graduate school without a significant publication to my name. I was both delighted and more than a little shocked that he accepted my invitation. But Alan’s assistance went well beyond the basic requirements of a commentator. Without his remarkably charitable willingness to read over multiple drafts of that piece, I’m not sure I would have ever landed my first serious philosophical publication.

Since then, Alan’s kind guidance has been a constant in my career. He made me feel like he took a special interest in my ideas, and my success in an academic career. And I’m sure to some extent he did. But I also get the very strong sense from talking with other people who crossed paths from Alan that that’s just who he was. He had a kind and generous soul to match his vibrant intellect. He was the kind of person most of us would dream of having as a colleague, or a teacher.

He is, and will be, missed.