Finding the segregated conditions at TSU to be in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, he organized a biracial group to file suit against the State of Tennessee.

In 1988, Arthur became a professor of philosophy at Binghamton University, where he worked for 18 years.

[2] He created an interdisciplinary academic major for Binghamton undergraduate students called the "Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Law", of which Arthur was the director.

[1] In 1990, John Arthur married consumer protection lawyer Amy Shapiro in Denver, Colorado.

[3] John Arthur died in hospice care at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, New York on the morning of January 22, 2007 after a year-long battle with lung cancer.