James Welton Cornman Papers UPT 50 C818

Summary Information

Prepared by

Timothy H. Horning

Preparation date

August 2014

Date [inclusive]

1962-1978

Extent

4.0 Cubic feet

PROVENANCE

The James Welton Cornman Papers were donated to the University Archives by Gary Hatfield of the Philosophy Department at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 (accession number 1997: 57).

ARRANGEMENT

The James Welton Cornman Papers are organized into four series: Lectures and Syllabi, Writings, Notes and Research, and Correspondence. Each series is arranged alphabetically, with the exception of the correspondence, which is arranged chronologically.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

James Welton Cornman was a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1978. He was born on August 16, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the Haverford School in Haverford, Pennsylvania in 1947, he studied mechanical engineering at Dartmouth University until 1950. He withdrew at that time to take an executive training position with the Collins and Aikman Corporation, a textile company. He returned to Dartmouth in 1954 to study philosophy, and earned a B.A. in that subject in 1956. He then earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Brown University in 1957 and 1960, respectively.

Cornman taught at Ohio State University as an Instructor of Philosophy from 1960 to 1963 and at the University of Rochester as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy from 1963 to 1965 and Associate Professor of Philosophy from 1965 to 1967. He joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania in 1967 as an Associate Professor of Philosophy. He became Professor of Philosophy in 1969 and served as Chair of the Department of Philosophy from 1970 to 1972.

A frequent contributor of articles to scholarly journals, Cornman also authored four books:
Metaphysics, Reference and Language (1966),
 Materialism and Sensations (1971),
 Perception, Common Sense and Science (1975), and
 Skepticism, Justification and Explanation (1980), which was published posthumously. He also co-authored a textbook,
 Philosophical Problems and Arguments: An Introduction (1968) with Keith Lehrer.

James Welton Cornman was tragically killed in an automobile accident on May 31, 1978. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth Pedrotty Cornman, and their four daughters, Deborah, Julie, Diane, and Elizabeth.

SCOPE and CONTENT

The James Welton Cornman papers document Cornman’s professional life as a Professor of Philosophy, mostly dating to his tenure at the University of Pennsylvania from 1968 to 1978. This documentation consists of lectures and syllabi, drafts of books and articles he wrote, research and other notes taken on philosophical subjects, and a small amount of correspondence of a professional nature.

Controlled Access Headings

Subject(s)

Philosophy–Study and teaching–United States.

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