Rem was known as an embodiment of intellect and heart. He was a founding member of this Institute and also served as the founding editor of the Journal of Formal Axiology. To the Institute’s members, Rem was a friend, mentor, and scholar.
Rem was a beloved member of the Institute’s Wisdom Council. On the day of his passing, September 26th, 2024, the Institute had just gathered in Atlanta, GA, for its annual conference. His life was celebrated at the 48th Annual Robert S. Hartman Institute Conference, now formally dedicated to his memory.
A memorial service is planned in Knoxville at Rem's home church, Church Street United Methodist at 1 PM on Friday, October 4, 2024, with visitation afterwards. Click here to read the obituary.
Rem shared in a podcast interview in 2020 that he “became acquainted with Hartman and his work as something of an accident of history or a gift of the grace of God or whichever way you want to see it.”
That acquaintance led to decades of exploration of the theory of formal axiology in addition to his specialization in Philosophy of Religion, American Philosophy, Medical Ethics, and Ethical Theory, Mental Health Care Ethics, and Ethics and Animals.
He spent 33 years on the Board of Directors of RSHI from 1987 to 2010. Rem was a prolific writer and is often credited for advancing much of our working understanding of formal axiology.
Just four years ago he said, “I've committed to Hartman because I think that his general theory of value is probably the most plausible, most defensible, most insightful and most helpful and most applicable theory of value that I know of anywhere.”
— Rem B. Edwards
The following includes notes of tributes from other RSHI members and Wisdom Council representatives:
From Clifford G. Hurst:
“Rem, you have done more than any other person over the past 40 years to advance the theory of formal axiology. I would be very grateful for your published writings alone. I am grateful beyond words for the way you also took me “under your wing” as I sought to grasp the complexities of this fascinating topic. I thank you for the intellectual generosity you have shown me throughout my studies at Fielding and during my involvement with the Hartman Institute. Any graduate student would be blessed to have as an external reader a mentor like you.”
(Cited from Cliff’s 2012 Dissertation Acknowledgments with permission from the author.)
From Vera Mefford:
“It is difficult to imagine life without Rem, who volunteered 40+ years of his life to serve the Institute in any way he could, and who was an axiological mentor to so many. Rem would have been 90 on October 2 of this year, and married to his wonderful wife, Louise, for 62 years. Rem was just always there for us...anyone who has conversed with or been taught by him is fortunate, wiser, and likely a better person. I am just grateful to have had the privilege of working with Rem, and having him in my life as a mentor, colleague, and friend for 48 years. We have lost a great mind, but this world is a better place, thanks to his contributions! His life and dedication to explaining axiology in simpler terms will continue to inspire us all.”
From Art Ellis:
“After my initial sadness and grief on hearing of Rem’s death, my thoughts moved to what a wonderful gift to have known him for these many years.
Rem and I met at the first Hartman Institute conference. I was not a philosophy major but had taken courses in philosophy from Dr. Hartman and others, though not from Rem. From this first encounter, his intellectual insights made evident his considerable intelligence. Not only was he brilliant, but he was also engaged, engaging, questioning, challenging, and supporting.
Over time I shared with him my desire to see Freedom to Live published. Years later in the 1990s, when he became editor of the Hartman Institute Axiological Series, which was part of the Value Inquiry Book Series, that opportunity materialized. Together we did the laborious editing necessary to get the manuscript in acceptable form, and Freedom to Live was the first publication in our series.
Later we together took on the ponderous task of preparing Hartman’s The Knowledge of Good for publication – both books prepared by the labor intensive task of scanning and floppy disks. Rem’s efforts as editor led to a number of other publications as well.
Rem was always so supportive and helpful in all my axiological endeavors. We had many conversations and email exchanges about formal axiological details and applications. He was always very complimentary of papers I had written or particular insights and ideas I presented. Even though I was privileged to study personally with Dr. Hartman, I had some insecurities since I was not a philosophy major. When I mentioned these feelings to Rem a few years ago, he graciously told me that he considered me to be a master of formal axiology. I cannot conceive of higher praise, and I treasure that memory.
Rem had such a broad and deep fund of knowledge, and he was a prolific writer, leaving a wealth of books and articles as part of his legacy. When any group of us Hartmaniacs – on email, zoom, or in person – would present an issue or question about formal axiology, Rem would invariably respond by saying, “I discuss that idea in such and such book/paper on pages. . .” and give the reference. His thinking was so expansive, and he welcomed processing and exploring new ideas.
Charlotte and I both have so many fond memories of enjoying Rem’s company over the years.
The last time I saw Rem in person was June 2023, when he reluctantly came to lunch in Knoxville with Catherine and Ethan Foster (who had come to work on digitizing the Hartman Collection), Jen Rowley (RSHI board member), and me. He later shared with me that he was so elated to have attended and was much encouraged about the future of the Hartman Institute after that time together.
I will close by reiterating my introduction: what a gift to my life (all our lives) was Rem Edwards. I am so very grateful to have called him my friend.”
From C. Stephen “Steve” Byrum, PhD:
“I came to Knoxville in 1970 to make a decision about where I would work on a second Master’s Degree and my PhD. I made similar visits to Princeton, the University of Chicago, and Florida State (which had an excellent program in philosophy at that time). The teachers I met in Knoxville—Rem Edwards, John Davis, Rolf-Dieter Herrmann, and Robert Hartman—made my decision very easy. Rem reached out more than anyone, and his personal interest in me had as much to do with my final choice as the opportunity to work with Dr. Hartman. I’m not sure if it was something of a sense of our similar beginnings, he in Georgia and me in Tennessee, or our common engagements with the United Methodist Church, but I will be forever grateful for all that he did for me.
Rem and I had a relationship that spanned more than fifty years, and it took me at least half of that time to call him “Rem”—it was always “Dr. Edwards” until he began to insist differently. Yes, he guided by Thesis and Dissertation, heading both committees, but his writings across the many years continued to teach me as it did so many others. The level of his productivity and the quality of all of it touches me deeply. He epitomized what a scholar was like across the last half of the twentieth century and the first quarter of the twenty-first. Very few people have achieved the level of scholarly contribution that he did, and everything he did was so very precise, well-refined, and thought through to the most diligent detail. All that he has left in his writings will not only be his “legacy,” but—even more—a contribution to the lives of those who philosophically and theologically—and axiologically—search in their own work and their own lives.
The great pleasure of knowing Rem Edwards will never be forgotten. Attribution to his work fills my own writings. He never ceased to give words of advice that made what I was trying to do better. One day, I was struggling to make a distinction between that which I saw as “rational” and that which, by implication, would be “irrational.” My two categories of distinction did not seem to suffice. Rem smiled in a contemplative way, and started his response to me with that laugh that will never be forgotten. He introduced to me the word supra-rational, and suddenly all that I was feeling about the “intrinsic” had a way of being expressed.
Above all, Rem Edwards was distinctly a person of character. He thought deeply and also felt deeply. He was a paradigm of a philosopher for certain, but perhaps even more of a teacher, a husband, and a father. He fulfilled many concepts—to use the Hartman language—of what a human be-ing/teacher/thinker should be, and I will forever be in his debt for all that he shared with me, all of the direction he provided, and—above all—what a decent and generous guide for me he always was. My guess is that as long as I teach and write, the Rem Edwards’ “voice” will be present. What a great gift he has been, and I am very thankful.”
From Mark Moore:
“It is difficult to over state Rem’s contributions to legacy of Bob Hartman. His publications are a legend. I have never known a keener wit and a mind which was philosophically razor sharp. He was my chief critic, my dissertation advisor, and most of all a dear friend. Was he a Hartman zealot? Never. But he respected Bob, greatly. After John Davis passed it is difficult for me to see how the Institute could have survived without Rem’s diligence. He always made the time to read my work, severely critique it and make it much, much better. I always felt as he was co-author, but he would never accept that role. He was a philosopher’s philosopher. And this is just what he wanted to be. He was a man who accomplished whatever he intended to do. Few can say this. God bless you, Rem, my dear, dear friend. I know that my life will never be the same without you. Rest in peace, dear friend.”
In the 2008 debut issue of the Journal of Formal Axiology, Rem shared this note:
“Hartman made a great beginning, but he left us with many unsolved problems and puzzles and with a vast amount of work still to be done.”
The board and Institute thank Rem for his non-denumerably, infinitely valuable effort, thought, and wisdom as he contributed to this work.