J. Claude Evans, a professor emeritus of philosophy in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died in St. Louis Tuesday, July 26, 2025. He was 79.
The son of a Methodist minister, Evans was born in North Carolina and raised in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Texas in 1967. He spent several years teaching in Germany and earned his doctorate in philosophy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook shortly before joining the WashU faculty as an assistant professor in 1984.
Evans taught courses on existentialism, aesthetics and environmental ethics, among other topics. Over spring breaks, his environmental ethics classes were known for studying wolves at Yellowstone National Park. He also taught introductory philosophy as part of Continuing & Professional Studies’ Prison Education Project. He was named a professor emeritus in 2020.
Evans’ scholarship explored questions relating to environmental philosophy, existential philosophy and romanticism, and the aesthetics of landscape. He is author of “The Metaphysics of Transcendental Subjectivity” (1984), “Strategies of Deconstruction: Derrida and the Myth of the Voice” (1991) and “With Respect for Nature: Living as Part of the Natural World” (2012). He also edited the collection “Derrida and Phenomenology” (1995) and, with Robert S. Stufflebeam, co-authored “To Work at the Foundations: Essays in Memory of Aron Gurwitsh” (1996).
Evans also published numerous journal articles and reviews. His most recent project focused on abstract images by American photographer Paul Strand.
Evans is survived by his sister, Sara Evans (Charles Dayton); brothers Robert Evans (Lisa) and John Evans; nephew Craig Boyte and niece Jae Ramirez; stepchildren Julie Simpher (Jeff), Jenny Petzall and Guy Petzall (Sarah); and six grandchildren: Jamie, Jacob, Jasper, Ben, Kepler and Kaya.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are suggested to the Nature Conservancy or the International Wolf Center. For more information or to leave a remembrance, visit the Dignity Memorial website.