John Arthur (philosopher)

John Arthur died in hospice care at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, New York on the morning of January 22, 2007 after a year-long battle with lung cancer. He was buried in Denver, Colorado and was survived by his wife.

In 1990, John Arthur married consumer protection lawyer Amy Shapiro in Denver, Colorado. Arthur's previous marriage had ended in divorce.

In 1988, Arthur became a professor of philosophy at Binghamton University, where he worked for 18 years. He created an interdisciplinary academic major for Binghamton undergraduate students called the "Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Law", of which Arthur was the director. He received the University and Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Teaching in 1992. In 1995, Arthur served as a research fellow at the University of St Andrews' Centre for Philosophy and Public Affairs, and from 2002–2003 he was a fellow in law and philosophy at the University of Oxford.

From 1981–1988 Arthur taught at Tennessee State University. Finding the segregated conditions at TSU to be in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, he organized a biracial group to file suit against the State of Tennessee. The resulting settlement included a desegregation plan for the entire post-secondary education system of Tennessee and brought in millions of dollars to improve Tennessee State University. In 1989, soon after leaving Tennessee State University, Arthur published his first book, The Unfinished Constitution: Philosophy and Constitutional Practice. Arthur served as a fellow in law and philosophy at Harvard Law School from 1986–1988.

John Arthur (September 22, 1946 – January 22, 2007) was an American professor of philosophy and an expert in legal theory, constitutional theory, social ethics, and political philosophy. He taught at Binghamton University for 18 years.