William Cockrell passed away on Aug. 10. He was 30. He is deeply missed by his fiancée, Mira Dineen (Artsci’12); father, Robert Cockrell; mother, Elizabeth Rankin; sister, Stefanie Papasoff; brother, James Cockrell; and extended family and friends.
"My sense of the holy is bound up with the hope that someday my remote descendants will live in a global civilization in which love is pretty much the only law" — Richard Rorty, American philosopher.
William was born on Nov. 4, 1991 in New York City. From a young age, he was precocious, bright, exuberant, and kind-hearted. Will's dad, Bob, had a profound influence on Will’s passion for philosophy and his hunger for knowledge. His childhood nanny, Maria Rodriguez, was a source of lifelong love and nurturing. His mother, Elizabeth, cultivated his interests in music and history. Will and his brother James connected over video games and shared humour; he and his sister, Stefanie, bonded over camping and their dog, Blitz.
Will was cherished for his bright intellect and his deep capacity for empathy. Will moved to Canada to find his path and thrived in academia. He studied philosophy at King’s University College at Western University, graduating with honours. He went on to complete a Master of Arts in Political Science at Queen’s University. Will was an outlaw philosopher. He had a unique ability to weave together disparate threads of philosophy into a mosaic manifesto of his own. Will would spit bars of Tupac, quote Richard Rorty, reference Greek mythology, and then cite the Bhagavad Gita within minutes. He drew wisdom and insight from art, television, and film. He didn’t discriminate in his quest to understand the human experience.
Will is dearly missed by his fiancée, Mira. They were building their life together on the West Coast, planning their wedding, and hoped to travel to Japan before growing their family. It is a tragedy that their deep, twin-flame love story was cut so short. She will always love and miss him.
Since Will’s untimely death, there has been an outpouring of grief at the loss of such a gentle, loving man. With Richard Rorty's teachings as his guide, Will held deep convictions that the world needs a moral education that centralizes empathetic love. If each of us could emulate Will’s capacity for love and empathy, the world would surely arrive at a state worthy of his deepest admiration. May we all find and seize opportunities to do so, in his memory.