Thomas R. Mertins Tom was not a good man by conventional standards of modern middle-class morality. He had little patience and no empathy for human weakness and frailty. Sometimes he came across as anti-social, elitist and arrogant. And yet, Tom was as good a man as they come. For he always stood up for what he believed. There was no fear of public disapproval in him. Tom was a good man because he never sacrificed his intellectual integrity at the alter of social acceptance or emotional comfort. Tom was a good man because he was a prophet of Reason. Like all prophets of reason he made few friends: The world is not yet ready to give up its delusions and its bigotry and men like Tom are not very good at tolerating self-deceit. Tom was a fiercely independent thinker, an excellent chess player and a shrewd philosopher. His qualities of objective thinking, astute observation and realism are a legacy we shall all reverently remember him by for a very long time. The emotions of intellectual kinship that I felt for Tom will continue to be a source of strength and inspiration for me in days to come.