Thomas Sheehan (1) (1941–)

Thomas Sheehan was born on June 25th, 1941 to an Irish father and an Italian mother, and was raised in San Francisco, California. He received his B.A. in from St. Patrick’s College in Menlo Park, California (1963) and his M.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1971) from Fordham University in New York, New York. Areas of academic study for Sheehan include Contemporary European Philosophy, Philosophy of History, Classical Metaphysics, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, and the Philosophy of Religion. He particularly focuses upon German philosopher Martin Heidegger, of whom many of his lectures and publications are about.

Sheehan spent ten years in a Roman Catholic Seminary studying for the priesthood before being asked to leave, two years into graduate school, due to “theological radicalism and social activism” As an active proponent of the “God is Dead” movement, Sheehan’s ideology would go on to cause notable tension within the Jesuit environment of Loyola University Chicago, where he taught in the Philosophy department from 1971 to 1999, splitting his time between the Chicago and Rome campuses. His 1986 book The First Coming, an analysis of the historical background of Jesus, explored the controversial viewpoint that Jesus was not in fact the son of God, but simply a prophet spreading God’s word.

Throughout his academic career, Sheehan remained a political activist, working in protest of United States involvement in Southeast Asia, on behalf of Mexican farm workers in California, and also of political unrest in El Salvador. He currently holds a position as professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University. Upon his departure from Loyola in 1999, he was granted emeritus status.