Philosopher widely recognised for work on race and IQ

Professor James Flynn, who has died aged 86, was an academic renowned for his intelligent approach to research and teaching, and his internationally recognised work on race and IQ.

This ground-breaking research on what became known as the ‘‘Flynn Effect’’ gained international recognition.

He was appointed the Foundation Professor of Political Studies at Otago University in 1967 and was head of department until 1996. He then became joint emeritus professor in the politics programme and psychology department until his retirement last year. He remained an extremely active lecturer and researcher in both disciplines, and is still New Zealand’s most quoted scholar.

From 1981, when he began investigating US Armed Forces mental records, he produced numerous publications on intelligence, race and worldwide increases in IQ scores over time.

He returned to, and expanded on, these themes throughout his career in books such as What is Intelligence? Beyond the Flynn Effect (2007).

Flynn advocated open scientific debate about controversial social science claims, particularly those relating to research into race and intelligence, and challenged the opposing views of academics such as University of California professor of psychology Arthur Jensen.

So well-reasoned was Flynn’s 1980 publication Race, IQ and Jensen that several years later Jensen praised the critique of his work as ‘‘virtually in a class by itself for objectivity, thoroughness, and scholarly integrity’’.

For his part, writing in American Psychologist in 1999, Flynn described the interplay of ideas with Jensen as a delight.

Despite his extensive work on IQ, Flynn described himself as ‘‘primarily a moral philosopher, who merely [had] a holiday’’ in psychology.

The same critical ability he directed towards others’ work was applied to his own earlier corpus, and in a 2014 interview he described the ‘‘modern Aristotelianism’’ in his 1973 book Humanism and Ideology as ‘‘not inadequate’’. A ‘‘recalibration’’ led to what he regarded as his most important book, How to Defend Humane Ideals.

In the same interview he discussed his sense of often ‘‘standing apart’’ from the academic community because he found Plato, Kant and Aristotle useful in addressing the philosophical arguments he was interested in at a time when modern philosophy offered what he regarded as ‘‘pseudo-arguments’’.

Beyond his work on the basic problems of philosophy and ethics, Flynn became an internationally renowned author of non-fiction books on a wide range of subjects: Beyond patriotism: From Truman to Obama (2012) provides an insightful critique of US politics and foreign policy; Fate & Philosophy: A journey through life’s great questions (2012) delves into religion, ethics, science, and free will; The Torchlight List: Around the world in 200 books (2010) analyses works that delight and enlighten recent history and the modern world.

Interspersed with these were works dealing with broader social issues. A Book Too Risky to Publish: Free Speech and Universities (2019) concluded that few universities now meet their original goals of promoting free inquiry and unfettered critical thought.

In No Place to Hide: Climate Change (2018), he argued climate engineering is necessary to buy the time until carbonfree energy is readily available. His books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Korean, Arabic, Italian and Japanese.

Born in Washington DC during the Great Depression, he later described how a range of factors, including his Missouri-born, Irish-American parents’ attitudes on racial issues and his adolescent rejection of Catholicism, galvanised a nascent socialism and underscored the importance of pursuing engaged research that promoted racial and social equality.

Several years ago he told a reporter interviewing ‘‘over-achievers’’ that he initially wanted to be either a theoretical physicist or a pure mathematician, ‘‘because they seemed to pose the most difficult problems to solve’’.

‘‘By 17, I had decided this was too much like a chess grandmaster – no direct application to people – and that I would do political and moral philosophy,’’ he said.

A scholarship to the University of Chicago led to a PhD in 1958. While studying he was involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and its social housing initiatives.

A self-professed ‘‘atheist, a scientific realist, a social democrat’’, he served as chairperson of the Congress of Racial Equality (Core), a civil rights organisation in the US South. Being politically active not only led to him being ‘‘roughed up’’ and feeling like he would not receive police protection during a Core demonstration, but also being removed from responsibilities, including coaching running, at the University of Eastern Kentucky.

He became increasingly disturbed by Cold War America’s prevailing rhetoric, and about the same time was ‘‘bounced’’ from Lake Forest College, near Chicago, for giving a lecture on social medicine, his work as a peace activist and his socialist party membership.

In 1963, after several unsuccessful job interviews around the US, and aged 29, he, wife Emily and his young family headed for New Zealand and a teaching position at the University of Canterbury.

The e´migre´ continued to campaign for left-wing causes, and, in addition to advising Prime Minister Norman Kirk on foreign policy, was a member of the antiwar Committee on Vietnam. He later gave lectures opposing nuclear proliferation.

Commentary was balanced with more direct action in the 1990s, and he became a founding member of both the New Labour Party and the Alliance.

He stood as a parliamentary candidate in the Dunedin North electorate at the 1993 and 1996 general elections on the Alliance list, and in 2005 again as an Alliance list candidate. In 2008 he acted as the Alliance spokesperson for finance and taxation.

In a tribute to Flynn, political commentator Chris Trotter noted his political argument, however hard to sell, was a simple one: that ‘‘left-wing political leaders . . . have a moral obligation to demonstrate, by drawing up a mathematically coherent Alternative Budget, how all the good things they are promising will be paid for’’.

While political success may have proved elusive, Flynn’s academic work was widely lauded; he was an honorary fellow for life of the New Zealand Psychological Society, receiving the society’s special award in 1998.

In 2002 the University of Otago awarded him its Distinguished Research Medal and, in 2010, an honorary Doctorate of Science. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and in 2011 was a recipient of its Aronui Medal for research of outstanding merit in the Humanities.

In 2007, the International Society for Intelligence Research made him a Distinguished Contributor, and he was also made a Cambridge University Distinguished Associate of The Psychometrics Centre. He also made significant contributions on the editorial board of Intelligence and on the Honorary International Advisory Editorial Board of the Mens Sana Monographs.

His profound knowledge on a range of issues and skills as a communicator also translated well to new media; his 2013 TED talk, entitled Why our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents’, has been viewed more than 2.8 million times.

A keen recreational and competitive runner, at last year’s Otago Interclub Track and Field Meeting in February he finished second in the over-50 grade 200m, posting his best time of the season of 57.95secs, and won the over-50s 400m.

He is survived by Emily, son Victor (a professor of mathematics at Oxford) and daughter Natalie, a clinical psychologist in Auckland.

Despite his extensive work on IQ, Flynn described himself as ‘‘primarily a moral philosopher, who merely [had] a holiday’’ in psychology.