On Joseph Ransdell

My father would have loved the idea of me writing this introduction on behalf of my family, a task which is, to be frank, a little intimidating, given this audience that he held in such high esteem. My father’s mind could take him anywhere, to many places where—especially in the last year of his life—his body could not. Anyone lucky enough to have conversed with him knows that with Dr. Joseph Ransdell (Joe to many, and Dad to his daughters), you started off a conversation in one place, and for the next hour at least, you followed his mind around subjects like perception, belief, the nature of reality, until, as in the T.S. Eliot quote he loved, you arrived where you started and knew the place for the first time.

As the daughter of such a passionate thinker, I can say that that in addition to leaving a legacy of philosophical thought, he taught us, his family, to be seekers of the truth in whatever situation we find ourselves in. We are all seekers of truth in our various adventures—whether those adventures be in philosophy, mathematics, the sciences, the arts, or just living. “You will know you are on the right path if life gets more interesting,” he would say, much like the Blue Caterpillar to Alice in the Wonderland of childhood. “Go in that direction. Follow that path.”

As I contemplate the influence of his lifetime pursuit of wisdom, I can’t help but wonder—was I a part of his work, of his travels through logic in search of the truth? Were you? I can hear his answer—the truth is, we all were. Each daughter, each student, each colleague and fellow questioner—those whom he studied, those whom he observed, and those who will continue down his path by reading, discussing, questioning, in these pages and beyond. We are all a part of this work, each in our own way.

On behalf of Dr. Joseph Ransdell’s family—of daughters Sarah, Andreia, and Lynn, our mother Ann, and our extended family (Tim Morrow, Ben Simon, Cody Shaw, Ryan Caldwell)—we wish you the passionate pursuit of that which interests you most. On behalf of my father, seek the truth in all matters. With your help, his legacy will endure, and life will continue to get more interesting for all.

January 24, 2014