Kenneth Megill is an American philosopher, trade unionist, political activist, and records and knowledge manager.
Philosopher Megill's primary philosophical contribution is the development of a democratic theory in the tradition of Democratic Marxism. Megill defined democracy as a political and social order where people control where they live and work.
In 1961-1962 he studied with Karl-Otto Apel who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Charles Sanders Peirce, Martin Heidegger, and Hans-Georg Gadamer. In 1964-1965 he studied at the Free University of Berlin where he worked with manuscripts by Marx that had only recently been made available. The Free University was one of the main scenes of the German student movement of 1968. The events of the 1968 movement provided the impulse for more openness, equality, and democracy in German society. Megill participated in several seminars that were attended by students who went on to be active in the student movement in Germany and France in 1968. In addition to attending seminars in West Berlin, he commuted through the Berlin Wall and was enrolled at the Humboldt University of Berlin in an advanced graduate seminar in Dialectical Materialism taught by the head of the philosophy department in the German Democratic Republic. Megill received his masters (1964) and doctoral (1966) degrees with a dissertation on "The Community as a Democratic Principle in Marx's Philosophy" at Yale University. Richard Bernstein was his adviser.
During 1968 he was a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy"Philosophy in Hungary," International Philosophical Quarterly, (9) 1969 (pp. 261-277) at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences organized by George Markus, an associate of the Hungarian philosopher and political leader Georg Lukacs. Megill met regularly with Lukacs and the members of what became known as the Budapest School. He visited philosophers and political activists in Poland and Czechoslovakia and attended the Korcula Summer School sponsored by the Praxis Group in Yugoslavia.The Praxis Group which was the major gathering for European Democratic Marxists from both East and West Europe. The theme of the conference, especially appropriate in 1968, was "Marx and Revolution". During the conference, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and brought an end to the Prague Spring and began a period of repression that led to the Budapest School losing their positions.
Megill published more than a dozen articles in philosophical academic journals. In 1970 Free Press/Macmillan published his book "The New Democratic Theory"Review by Frederick J. Adelmann. Studies in Soviet Thought. Vol. 11, no. 3 (1971) pp. 203-207. in which he argued that liberal democracy and dialectical materialism had both failed and that a new theory of democracy was needed that focused on control of the places by those who lived and worked there.
When information managers began to use the term knowledge management. Megill went back to his philosophical roots where epistemology, the theory of knowledge, is a major field. He used his philosophical work, combined with his fifteen years as a practicing information manager, to write the major book, "Thinking for a Living", in knowledge management theory.
Forty years after the publication of "The Community as a Democratic Principle in Marx's Philosophy," which summarized the research he did for his doctoral dissertation, the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau (CCTB) of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party published a translation of the article in a leading philosophical journal.The article translated in ChineseThe Chinese translation can be found at Marxism and Reality 2011-01The article in Chinese can be downloaded He was subsequently invited by the CCTB to visit the Bureau for discussions and to present lectures at universities in Beijing on Lukacs and the Budapest School.CCTB Newsletter.
University of Florida professor In 1966, after receiving his PhD at the age of 26 from Yale University, Megill was hired as an assistant professor of philosophy, whose specialty was Marxism, by the University of Florida.Forty years later a student said Megill "is one of my philosophical heroes. He wrote the only paper directly comparing Charles Sanders Peirce and Karl Marx that I could find over months of research." http://putn3y.blogspot.com/2011/07/kenneth-ken-megill.html and quickly became involved in the civil rights and anti-war movements. "Food For The Revolution: Local Culture and Youth Political Radicalization in the 1960s South", Master of Arts Thesis, University of Florida, by Michael Alan Falcome, 2012.
During his years as a faculty member, Megill was controversial, outspoken, and was covered widely in the press.Daytona Beach Morning Journal, September 17, 1969. "'Politics', Megill Says of Steps Urged To Purge Radical Profs"Sarasota Herald Tribune July 25, 1973. Megill was awarded an "outstanding professor" award from the College of Arts and Sciences, but also said, at the same time, that "at the proper time faculty members and radical students should combine to take over the university"."Megill Winner of Award", Ocala Star-Banner, February 21, 1969, p. 12, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19690221&id=GYRPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TAUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6533,7337764&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015.
Megill also called for the formation of "a strong teachers' union"."Request to Fire Megill Delayed", St. Petersburg Times, February 14, 1969, p. 1B, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19690214&id=X0tSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vXsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3643,2082188&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015. (At the time, collective bargaining by public employees in Florida was prohibited by law.) Florida Representative Tom Slade, backed by other legislators, released to the news media a letter calling for Megill to be fired; there were student demonstrations supporting Megill."Megill Gets UF Student Support", The Evening Independent, February 13, 1969, p. 2A, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19690213&id=Nb5aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TVcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5426,2675463&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015."Students of UF Urge O'Connell to Ignore Slade", St. Petersburg Times, February 14, 1969, p. 2B, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19690214&id=X0tSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vXsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3643,2082188&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015."Students Mass, Start Petitions Backing Megill", St. Petersburg Times, February 13, 1969, p. 1B, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19690213&id=XktSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vXsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5073,1297546&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015. After an investigation. President Stephen C. O'Connell, a former Florida Supreme Court justice who had been appointed president of the university to "clean out" the radicals,"The Real Stephen C. O'Connell", The Fine Print, Gainesville, Florida, October 1, 2008. said there was no justification and refused to do so.United Press International, "Megill Keeps His UF Post", St. Petersburg Times, March 11, 1969, pages 1B and 3B, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19690311&id=zPwyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y3sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5909,236965&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015.
In 1972, O'Connell overruled the recommendations of the Philosophy Department, the College of Arts and Sciences, and his own hearing examiner that Megill be awarded tenure, which meant Megill would be terminated when his contract expired in 1973 (as in fact happened).Reg Crowder, "Megill Attacks Questions Posed by UF President", St. Petersburg Times, November 29, 1972, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19721129&id=xukiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=918DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5741,4103982&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015.Associated Press, "Regents Set Review on Megill", Ocala Star-Banner, May 16, 1973, p. 6C, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19730516&id=VY5PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eAUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3002,3760334&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015. Widespread demonstrations followed. The state Board of Regents overruled the recommendation of the examiner it had named, who took 1,800 pages of testimony, and voted unanimously to support O'Connell's recommendation not to award tenure.Associated Press, "Regents Deny Megill Promotion," Ocala Star-Banner, July 25, 1973, p. 2A, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19730725&id=f49PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BgYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4709,5997855&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015."Megill Seeks to Appeal", St. Petersburg Times, August 3, 1973, p. 3B, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19730803&id=BSUxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AHMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1151,2325487&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015. Megill and the Gainesville local 1880 of the American Federal of Teachers sued, each asking for $500,000 in compensatory and punitive damages."Ousted Megill Sues Regents", Ocala Star-Banner, September 25, 1973, p. 5A, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19730925&id=yqBPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CgYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5897,6360390&hl=en, retrieved July 15, 2015.
An extended legal battle ended with the Fifth Circuit Court ruling that a faculty without a contract, like Megill, could be terminated for no reason, for false reasons, or for any reason at all. That ruling became an important precedent that was cited 42 times in other cases.
Political activist and trade unionist After leaving the university, Megill became a full-time organizer for a faculty union. In 1976, the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) was elected as the bargaining agent for 6,000 faculty and professional employees in the nine (now ten) state universities. By 2014 the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) represented more than thirty thousand faculty and professional employees in Florida.
In 1982, Megill left the union presidency and moved to Washington where he worked for a number of different organizations. At the National Education Association (NEA), he developed a communications program for its higher education members. As a result of his recommendation, the National Education Association established a peer reviewed academic journal called "Thought and Action". He served as the Executive Director of the Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators. He developed the first educational program for the tow truck driver. He represented its members in the Virginia legislature, where he succeeded in getting legislation passed that recognized the professionalism of the tow truck operators. He was selected as the Outstanding Executive in the country by Tow Times Magazine. He was the first development director for the Human Rights Campaign Fund. It became the largest lesbian and gay advocacy organization in the United States and is now called the Human Rights Campaign.
Records and knowledge manager Starting in the late 1980s Megill became a practicing records manager and later turned his attention to developing a theoretical framework for records and knowledge management. In 1987 he was hired as the first professional records manager at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Administrator of National Banks for the US federal government. He automated the operations of the Central File RoomCentral Records Automation Project. Prepared for the Comptroller of the Currency MIS Committee. April 5, 1990 and spent a year working with other OCC staff to develop a data dictionary for banking."Creating a Business-Based IT Strategy" (review), Information Processing and Management, (29)5, 1993 (pp. 673-674)"Text Information and Retrieval Systems" (review), Information Processing and Management, (29)1, 1993 (p. 146"Managing Electronic Records: A Return to the Image?" in Managing Information and Technology, Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science (26), 1989, (p. 237).