Mary Midgley was a British philosopher renowned for her work on ethics and animal rights. She was a staunch opponent of reductionism and scientism, arguing against the idea that science could adequately replace the humanities. Her thought was deeply engaged with what can be learned from nature, particularly from animals, themes that permeated her extensive writings. Midgley critically examined the philosophical underpinnings of popular science and was celebrated as a sharp critic of scientific overreach.
In her final work, Mary Midgley explores the relevance of philosophy amidst modern intellectual anxieties. She defends philosophy's role in addressing life's fundamental questions, situating her arguments within contemporary debates on science and religion. This engaging text invites readers to reconsider the value of philosophical inquiry.
Exploring the fundamental question of the purpose of knowledge, a prominent British philosopher delves into its significance within our civilization. The book examines the implications of knowledge in various contexts, encouraging readers to reflect on its role in personal and societal development. Through thought-provoking insights, it challenges conventional perspectives and invites a deeper understanding of how knowledge shapes our lives and future.
A salutary analysis of science's claim to have done away with the self and a characteristic injection of common sense from one of our most respected philosophers into a debate increasingly in need of it. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Stephen Cave.
Challenging the reduction of human motivation to mere self-interest, this book delves into the complexity of our moral constitution. It critiques simplistic views like the 'selfish gene' concept from neo-Darwinian thought, arguing that while these perspectives can provide insights, they ultimately fail to capture the full spectrum of human motives. The exploration invites readers to reconsider the intricacies of human nature beyond one-dimensional interpretations.
Science, according to the received wisdom of the day, can in the end answer any question we choose to put to it - even the most fundamental questions about ourselves, our behaviour and our cultures. Many go as far as to claim that science is all we need to explain the world. But for Mary Midgley, science, while undeniably a key element in this quest, can never be the whole story as it cannot truly explain what it means to be human. She asserts her corrective view that without poetry (or literature, or music, or history, even theology) we cannot hope to understand our humanity. Reading this remarkable book, which draws equally on both the great artists and poets for its inspiration, the reader is struck by both the simplicity and power of her argument and the sheer pleasure to be gained from reading one of our most accessible philosophers.
Front cover Hursthouse asked him 'Is everything in the bible true?', perhaps Mary Midgley was destined to become a philosopher. Yet few would have thought this inquisitive, untidy, nature-loving child would become 'one of the sharpest critical pens in the west.' Vienna on the eve of its invasion by Nazi Germany in 1938 and dance in Trafalgar Square on VE day seven year later, she studied philosophy at Oxford in the same year as Iris Murdoch, Elizabeth Anscombe and Philippa Foot, all of whom became close friends. Midgley tells us in vivid and humorous fashion how they cut a swathe through the arid landscape of 1950s British philosophy, writing and arguing - often with each other - about the grand themes of character, beauty and the meaning of rudeness while the spectral figure of Ludwig Wittgenstein hovered in the background. joining the Reading philosophy department on GBP400 a year in 1949, she doubled its staff complement. But her many years at Newcastle University - where Mike Brearley, who later captained England at cricket, also used to teach - were rewarded with the closure of the philosophy department in the 1980s. 1950s and 1960s was fighting to combine a professional career with raising a family. In startling contrast to many of the academic stars of her generation, we learn that Midgley nearly became a novelist and started writing philosophy only when in her fifties, suggesting that Minerva's owl really does fly at dusk.
Midgley offers us an optimistic and holistic view of what it means to be human, acknowledging the complex interconnections of emotion and intellect, while presenting us with the freedom to be ourselves. schovat popis
The Myths We Live By is a powerful, clearly written book that shows us what goes wrong when we try to apply the metaphors of science to the problems of our lives. Essential reading for anyone concerned about how to understand the world today. schovat popis
In Evolution as a Religion, Mary Midgley examines how science comes to be used as a substitute for religion and points out how badly that role distorts it. She exposes the illogical logic of poor doctrines that shelter themselves behind the prestige of science.
In this major work, Mary Midgley, one of our foremost intellectuals tells us that humans are rather more like animals than we have previously allowed ourselves to believe.