Jonathan Francis Bennett died peacefully, at his home on Bowen Island, on Sunday, March 31, 2024, at the age of 94. He was predeceased by his wife, Gillian, and his grandson, Lucas. Jonathan Bennett was an academic philosopher, a teacher, a writer, a translator and a mentor. He taught at Haverford College, Cambridge University, Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia and finally at Syracuse University.
After retiring from Syracuse University in 1996, Jonathan and his wife, Gillian Bennett, moved to Bowen Island, British Columbia so that they could be close to their children, Sara and Guy, and to their grandchildren. They greatly enjoyed their six grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Jonathan stayed busy with large landscaping projects and with his website, Early Modern Texts for which he carefully created versions of some classics of early modern philosophy, and a few from the 19th century, with a view to making the language easier to read while leaving intact the main arguments, doctrines, and lines of thought.
The family is grateful that Jonathan was able to die through Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying Program (MAID), which was not available to Gillian in 2014. You can read here about Gillian’s end of life story. The family is proud of both Jonathan and Gillian for sticking their landings.