Our colleague, Joram Haber, passed away on February 28, 2002. He was 47 years old.
Joram earned the M.A. degree in Philosophy at Columbia University; the J.D. degree at Pace University School of Law; and the Ph.D. degree in Philosophy at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
His areas of specialization were ethics, bioethics, philosophy and literature, philosophy of law, logic, and Jewish philosophy.
Joram earned the M.A. degree in Philosophy at Columbia University; the J.D. degree at Pace University School of Law; and the Ph.D. degree in Philosophy at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
His areas of specialization were ethics, bioethics, philosophy and literature, philosophy of law, logic, and Jewish philosophy.
Dr. Haber was a member of the Bergen Community College Department of Philosophy and Religion from the fall of 1989 until his death. He also held academic positions with the State University of New York at Purchase, Hunter College, C.W. Post College, Dominican College, and Rockland Community College.
During his teaching career, Joram Haber taught such courses as Introduction to Civil Law, Ethics, Ethical Theory, Bioethics, Philosophy of Law, Introduction to Philosophy, Logic, Modern Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Religion, Critical Thinking, Philosophy of Freedom, Philosophy through Film and Fiction, and Existentialism.
Dr. Haber was one of the founding advisors of LOGOS, the very successful BCC Philosophy Club, which has been an extremely active campus organization since its inception. He served as advisor from 1989 through 1997. In his capacity as LOGOS advisor, Dr. Haber was responsible for managing BCC’s highly successful Philosophy and Religion Lecturer Series, which has featured such major philosophers as John Searle, Hilary Putnam, Robert Solomon, Laurence M. Thomas, Tom Regan, Douglas Allen, James Rachels, Colin McGinn, and others.
While at BCC, Dr. Haber devoted himself to significant scholarly pursuits. He published a highly-regarded book on Forgiveness (1992), in which he argues that forgiveness is a virtue only when wrongdoers sincerely regret the wrongs they have caused. He has also edited and published several anthologies on ethical theory and applied ethics such as Absolutism and Its Consequentialist Critics (1994), Doing and Being (1993), Ethics for Today and Tomorrow (1997), 20th Century Ethical Theory (ed. with S.M. Cahn) (1995), and Norms and Values: Essays in Honor of Virginia Held (ed. with M. Halfron) (1998).
Dr. Haber also published an essay on “Physician-Assisted Suicide” in the Cambridge Quarterly of Health Care Ethics (1996), and he contributed entries to the Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law (1999) on “professional ethics,” “speech acts,” and “law and psychiatry.”
In addition to his publications, Dr. Haber served as Secretary-Treasurer and as President of the American Society of Value Inquiry and as Editor of the ASVI Newsletter.
He also produced and moderated two television series, one on “Ethics in the ‘90s” (26 programs) and one entitled “Legal Briefs,” six programs introducing audiences to the basic principles and procedures of criminal law, medical and legal malpractice litigation, environmental law, divorce law, and employment discrimination law.
In addition to his academic work, Joram Haber was also a practicing attorney, licensed in both New York and New Jersey. He was a general practitioner who worked mostly in the areas of family law, criminal law, personal injury litigation, and employment law. His law career began in 1980 when he enrolled at the Pace University School of Law in White Plains, New York. There, he made Law Review and also worked as an intern with the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office where he observed and worked on “the Brink’s Trial” — one of the most famous trials of the twentieth century. After law school, and while pursuing the Ph.D. degree in Philosophy, he found time to do some work for New York City’s Health and Hospital Corporation. Before beginning his own private law practice, Joram Haber was an associate with the Law Firm of Jay M. Zerin, P.C.
Among Joram Haber’s academic awards was his designation as one of BCC’s Distinguished Faculty Scholars in 1996, his designation as Invited Guest to the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs Symposium on “An Ethic of Forgiveness: Conflict Resolution in Theory and Practice” (1996), an NEH Fellowship in 1990 at Syracuse University to work on the subject of “Ethical Consequentialism,” and his appointment to the Pace University Law School Law Review (1981).
In the fall of 2000, Joram Haber was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. Taking a leave of absence from the BCC, he waged war valiantly against his disease but, sadly, his battle on this front was unsuccessful. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Lina Haber, and their three young children.
Remembering Joram Haber
Dr. Peter Dlugos
I remember moving into the office that Joram and I shared, and looking at all of the books that Joram authored, co-authored, and edited while he was teaching at Bergen. I had known that he had a book or two, but I kept finding more and more as I looked over the books on his shelf! I was awed, and I remember thinking how proud I was to have Joram as a colleague, and thinking that I would probably never be able to match these accomplishments. Joram was not just a professor; he was a scholar. And he was not just a scholar; he was a writer. At a time when the majority of the essays of academic philosophers could not appear to be drier, more lifeless, Joram was composing essays and lectures of literary quality. Joram was also a mensch: generous, witty—hilarious, even—clever, and smart. He always had the poignant adage or joke. He always had the forgotten insight. It was always fun to be around him. My last contact with Joram occurred just days ago, when I helped to move his books and personal effects out of storage and off of the campus. I remember thinking that these books won’t do him any good now, but that his own books will continue to serve us well. That is a true gift.
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