Walter Boughton Pitkin (February 6, 1878 – January 25, 1953) was an American author and university professor. He taught at Columbia University for 38 years, and he authored more than 30 books, including the 1932 best-selling book, Life Begins at Forty.

Pitkin was born on February 6, 1878, in Ypsilanti, Michigan.^[1][2] He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1900, and he attended the Hartford Seminary before studying in Europe at the Sorbonne University, Munich University and Berlin University.^[1][2]

Pitkin and his wife Mary Gray Pitkin had five sons: Richard G., John G., David B., Robert B., and Walter B Pitkin Jr. The elder Pitkin later married Katherine B. Johnson. They resided in Los Altos, California.^[1] Pitkin died on January 25, 1953, in Palo Alto, California, at age 74.^[1][2]

Pitkin was a lecturer in philosophy and psychology at Columbia University (1905–09), and professor in the Columbia University School of Journalism (1912–43).^[3]

Pitkin authored more than 30 books over the course of his career,^[2] including Life Begins at Forty (New York, Whittlesey house, McGraw-Hill, 1932) and The Psychology of Happiness. His A Short Introduction to the History of Human Stupidity was translated into fifteen languages. Pitkin was a member of the New Realism school in philosophy, writing on its relation to biology.

• How To Write Stories (1923)
• The Art Of Rapid Reading (1929)
• The Psychology Of Happiness (1929)
• A Short Introduction To The History Of Human Stupidity (1932)
• Life Begins At Forty (1932)
• More Power To You! (1933)
• Let's Get What We Want! (1935)
• Capitalism Carries On (1935)
• Making Good Before Forty (1939)
• On My Own (1944)
• The Best Years: How to Enjoy Retirement (1946)

Source: ^[4]

• American philosophy
• List of American philosophers