Dr Denis Dutton - another of my heroes has gone...

Dutton was best known to me through the 'Net. It was he who started Arts and Letters Daily, and while he may have "disposed" of the page some years back his format, and I think influence on the content, has remained. It is a page which holds new challenges every day. I only wish that I had the time to check out all of the links.

But this is only one small facet of the man.

His obit from the Herald -

Author, contrarian academic and web entrepreneur Denis Dutton died yesterday, aged 66.

The professor of philosophy at Canterbury University had been diagnosed with prostate cancer but continued working until his health deteriorated quickly a week ago, his son, Ben,said.

Professor Dutton was due to retire early next year.

"I think that he has been an incredibly passionate advocate for ideas and truth and a wonderful father and husband," his son said.

Born in California on February 9, 1944, Professor Dutton was educated at the University of California Santa Barbara and joined the University of Canterbury staff in 1984.

He gained a significant public profile for the Arts and Letters Daily website he established in 1998, which was sold to the United States-based Chronicle of Higher Education in 1999.

Professor Dutton continued as editor of what some dubbed "the best website in the world".

His recent work focused on Darwinian applications in aesthetics, which he explored in his bestselling book "The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution".