Aristotelian Society
Encyclopedia
The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy (more generally known as the Aristotelian Society) was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Square
which resolved "to constitute a society of about twenty and to include ladies; the society to meet fortnightly, on Mondays at 8 o'clock, at the rooms of the Spelling Reform Association…"
Amongst other things, the rules of the Society stipulated:
According to H. Wildon Carr, in choosing a name for the society, it was:
The Society's first president was Mr. Shadworth H. Hodgson
. He was president for fourteen years from 1880 until 1894, when he proposed Dr. Bernard Bosanquet
as his replacement.
Alan Willard Brown http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/15/obituaries/dr-alan-w-brown.html noted in 1947 that '[The Society]'s members were not all men of established intellectual position. It welcomed young minds just out of university as well as older amateur philosophers with serious interests and purposes. But many distinguished men were faithful members, and not the least virtue of the society has remained, even to the present day, the opportunity it affords for different intellectual generations to meet in an atmosphere of reasoned and responsible discussion.'."
The Society continues to meet fortnightly at the University of London
's Senate House
to hear and discuss philosophical papers from all philosophical traditions.
Its other work includes giving grants to support the organisation of academic conferences in philosophy, and, with Oxford University Press
, the production of the 'Lines of Thought' series of philosophical monographs.
Its annual conference, organised since 1918 in conjunction with the Mind Association and known as the Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and The Mind Association, (publishers of the philosophical journal Mind
) is hosted by different university departments in turn, in July each year.
The papers from the invited speakers at the Joint Session conference are published in the June of each year (i.e., prior to the joint conference) in The Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume.
The Proceedings and the Supplementary Volume are published by the Society and distributed by Wiley-Blackwells.
The entire back run of both journals has been digitised by JSTOR
.
Bloomsbury Square
Bloomsbury Square is a garden square in Bloomsbury, Camden, London.- Geography :To the north of the square is Great Russell Street and Bedford Place, leading to Russell Square. To the south is Bloomsbury Way. To the west is the British Museum and Holborn tube station is the nearest underground...
which resolved "to constitute a society of about twenty and to include ladies; the society to meet fortnightly, on Mondays at 8 o'clock, at the rooms of the Spelling Reform Association…"
Amongst other things, the rules of the Society stipulated:
-
- The object of this Society shall be the systematic study of philosophy; 1st, as to its historical development; 2nd, as to its methods and problems.
According to H. Wildon Carr, in choosing a name for the society, it was:
- "essential to find a name which would definitely prescribe the speculative character of the study which was to be the Society's ideal, and it seemed that this could best be secured by adopting the name of a philosopher eminently representative. There is only one such name in the history of philosophy and so we became the Aristotelian Society, not for the special study of Aristotle, or of AristotelianismAristotelianismAristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. The works of Aristotle were initially defended by the members of the Peripatetic school, and, later on, by the Neoplatonists, who produced many commentaries on Aristotle's writings...
, but for the systematic study of Philosophy."
The Society's first president was Mr. Shadworth H. Hodgson
Shadworth Hodgson
Shadworth Hollway Hodgson was an English philosopher.He worked independently, without academic affiliation. He was acknowledged by William James as a forerunner of Pragmatism, although he viewed his work as a completion of Kant's project...
. He was president for fourteen years from 1880 until 1894, when he proposed Dr. Bernard Bosanquet
Bernard Bosanquet (philosopher)
Bernard Bosanquet was an English philosopher and political theorist, and an influential figure on matters of political and social policy in late 19th and early 20th century Britain...
as his replacement.
Alan Willard Brown http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/15/obituaries/dr-alan-w-brown.html noted in 1947 that '[The Society]'s members were not all men of established intellectual position. It welcomed young minds just out of university as well as older amateur philosophers with serious interests and purposes. But many distinguished men were faithful members, and not the least virtue of the society has remained, even to the present day, the opportunity it affords for different intellectual generations to meet in an atmosphere of reasoned and responsible discussion.'."
The Society continues to meet fortnightly at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
's Senate House
Senate House (University of London)
Senate House is the administrative centre of the University of London, situated in the heart of Bloomsbury, London between the School of Oriental and African Studies to the north, with the British Museum to the south...
to hear and discuss philosophical papers from all philosophical traditions.
Its other work includes giving grants to support the organisation of academic conferences in philosophy, and, with Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, the production of the 'Lines of Thought' series of philosophical monographs.
Its annual conference, organised since 1918 in conjunction with the Mind Association and known as the Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and The Mind Association, (publishers of the philosophical journal Mind
Mind (journal)
Mind is a British journal, currently published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Mind Association, which deals with philosophy in the analytic tradition...
) is hosted by different university departments in turn, in July each year.
Publications
The first edition of the Society's proceedings, the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, now the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, was issued in 1888.The papers from the invited speakers at the Joint Session conference are published in the June of each year (i.e., prior to the joint conference) in The Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume.
The Proceedings and the Supplementary Volume are published by the Society and distributed by Wiley-Blackwells.
The entire back run of both journals has been digitised by JSTOR
JSTOR
JSTOR is an online system for archiving academic journals, founded in 1995. It provides its member institutions full-text searches of digitized back issues of several hundred well-known journals, dating back to 1665 in the case of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society...
.
List of past presidents
Many significant philosophers have served the Society as its president:- Shadworth H. HodgsonShadworth HodgsonShadworth Hollway Hodgson was an English philosopher.He worked independently, without academic affiliation. He was acknowledged by William James as a forerunner of Pragmatism, although he viewed his work as a completion of Kant's project...
(1880-1894) - Bernard BosanquetBernard Bosanquet (philosopher)Bernard Bosanquet was an English philosopher and political theorist, and an influential figure on matters of political and social policy in late 19th and early 20th century Britain...
(1894-1898) - D. G. RitchieDavid George RitchieDavid George Ritchie was a Scottish philosopher who had a distinguished university career at Edinburgh, and Balliol College, Oxford, and after being fellow of Jesus and tutor of Balliol was elected professor of logic and metaphysics at St Andrews...
(1898-1899) - G. F. StoutGeorge StoutGeorge Frederick Stout was a leading English philosopher and psychologist.Born in South Shields, he studied and later taught philosophy and psychology at Cambridge University....
(1899-1904) - Hastings RashdallHastings RashdallHastings Rashdall was an English philosopher who expounded a theory known as ideal utilitarianism.Son of an Anglican priest, he was educated at Harrow and received a scholarship for New College, Oxford...
(1904-1907) - Lord Haldane of CloanRichard Haldane, 1st Viscount HaldaneRichard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane KT, OM, PC, KC, FRS, FBA, FSA , was an influential British Liberal Imperialist and later Labour politician, lawyer and philosopher. He was Secretary of State for War between 1905 and 1912 during which time the "Haldane Reforms" were implemented...
(1907-1908) - Samuel AlexanderSamuel AlexanderSamuel Alexander OM was an Australian-born British philosopher. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxbridge college.-Early life:...
(1908-1911) - Bertrand RussellBertrand RussellBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
(1911-1913) - G. Dawes Hicks (1913-1914)
- Arthur BalfourArthur BalfourArthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
(1914-1915) - H. Wildon Carr (1915-1918)
- G. E. MooreGeorge Edward MooreGeorge Edward Moore OM, was an English philosopher. He was, with Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Gottlob Frege, one of the founders of the analytic tradition in philosophy...
(1918-1919) - James WardJames Ward (psychologist)James Ward was an English psychologist and philosopher. He was born in Kingston upon Hull, the eldest of nine children. His father was an unsuccessful merchant...
(1919-1920) - W. R. IngeWilliam Ralph IngeWilliam Ralph Inge was an English author, Anglican priest, professor of divinity at Cambridge, and Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, which provided the appellation by which he was widely known, "Dean Inge."- Life :...
(1920-1921) - F. C. S. SchillerFerdinand Canning Scott SchillerFerdinand Canning Scott Schiller was a German-British philosopher. Born in Altona, Holstein , Schiller studied at the University of Oxford, and later was a professor there, after being invited back after a brief time at Cornell University...
(1921-1922) - A. N. WhiteheadAlfred North WhiteheadAlfred North Whitehead, OM FRS was an English mathematician who became a philosopher. He wrote on algebra, logic, foundations of mathematics, philosophy of science, physics, metaphysics, and education...
(1922-1923) - T. Percy Nunn (1923-1924)
- Lord Lindsay of BirkerAlexander Dunlop Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of BirkerAlexander Dunlop Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker CBE known as Sandie Lindsay, was a British academic and peer.-Early life:...
(1924-1925) - J. A. Smith (1925-1926)
- C. Lloyd MorganC. Lloyd MorganConwy Lloyd Morgan, FRS was a British psychologist. He is best remembered for the experimental approach to animal psychology now known as "Morgan's canon"....
(1926-1927) - C. D. Broad (1927-1928)
- A. E. TaylorAlfred Edward TaylorAlfred Edward Taylor was a British idealist philosopher most famous for his contributions to the philosophy of idealism in his writings on metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, moral philosophy, and the scholarship of Plato. He was a fellow of the British Academy and president of the...
(1928-1929) - J. LairdJohn Laird (philosopher)John Laird was a philosopher, in the school of New British Realism, who later turned to metaphysical idealism.John Laird was born at Durris, Kincardineshire, the son of Rev. D.M.W...
(1929-1930) - Beatrice Edgell (1930-1931)
- W. G. de Burgh (1931-1932)
- Leonard J. RussellLeonard J. RussellLeonard J. Russell was a mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts and husband of mayor Sheila Russell. Russel, a former waste disposal manager, represented traditional conservative blue collar workforce of Cambridge at the time when traditional neighborhoods were giving up to pressure from expanding...
(1932-1933) - L. S. StebbingSusan StebbingL. Susan Stebbing was a British philosopher. She belonged to the 1930s generation of analytic philosophy, and was a founder in 1933 of the journal Analysis.-Biography:...
(1933-1934) - G. C. Field (1934-1935)
- J. L. Stocks (1935-1936)
- Samuel AlexanderSamuel AlexanderSamuel Alexander OM was an Australian-born British philosopher. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxbridge college.-Early life:...
(1936-1937) - Bertrand RussellBertrand RussellBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
(1937-1938) - G. F. StoutGeorge StoutGeorge Frederick Stout was a leading English philosopher and psychologist.Born in South Shields, he studied and later taught philosophy and psychology at Cambridge University....
(1938-1939) - Sir William David RossW. D. RossSir David Ross KBE was a Scottish philosopher, known for work in ethics. His best known work is The Right and the Good , and he is perhaps best known for developing a pluralist, deontological form of intuitionist ethics in response to G.E. Moore's intuitionism...
(1939-1940) - Hilda D. Oakeley (1940-1941)
- A. C. EwingA. C. EwingAlfred Cyril Ewing was a British philosopher and a sympathetic critic of Idealism.Ewing studied at Oxford, where he gained the John Locke Lectureship and the Green Prize in Moral Philosophy...
(1941-1942) - Morris GinsbergMorris GinsbergMorris Ginsberg was a UK sociologist. He was president of the Aristotelian Society from 1942 to 1943. Ginsberg helped draft the UNESCO 1950 statement titled The Race Question...
(1942-1943) - H. H. PriceH. H. PriceHenry Habberley Price was a Welsh philosopher, known for his work on perception. He also wrote on parapsychology....
(1943-1944) - H. J. Paton (1944-1945)
- Gilbert RyleGilbert RyleGilbert Ryle , was a British philosopher, a representative of the generation of British ordinary language philosophers that shared Wittgenstein's approach to philosophical problems, and is principally known for his critique of Cartesian dualism, for which he coined the phrase "the ghost in the...
(1945-1946) - R. B. BraithwaiteR. B. BraithwaiteRichard Bevan Braithwaite was an English philosopher who specialized in the philosophy of science, ethics, and the philosophy of religion. He was a lecturer in moral science at the University of Cambridge from 1934 to 1953, then Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy there from 1953 to 1967...
(1946-1947) - Norman Kemp SmithNorman Kemp SmithNorman Kemp Smith was a Scottish philosopher who lectured at Princeton University and was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh. Born Norman Smith in Dundee, Scotland, he added his wife's last name when he married Amy Kemp in 1910.-Career:Kemp Smith received his...
(1947-1948) - C. A. Mace (1948-1949)
- W. Kneale (1949-1950)
- J. WisdomJohn WisdomArthur John Terence Dibben Wisdom was a leading British philosopher considered to be an ordinary language philosopher, a philosopher of mind and a metaphysician. He was influenced by G.E...
(1950-1951) - A. J. AyerAlfred AyerSir Alfred Jules "Freddie" Ayer was a British philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books Language, Truth, and Logic and The Problem of Knowledge ....
(1951-1952) - H. B. ActonH. B. ActonHarry Burrows Acton was a British academic in the field of political philosophy, known for books defending the morality of capitalism, and attacking Marxism-Leninism. He in particular produced arguments on the incoherence of Marxism, which he described as a 'farrago'...
(1952-1953) - Dorothy EmmetDorothy EmmetDorothy Mary Emmet was a British philosopher and head of Manchester University's philosophy department for over twenty years...
(1953-1954) - C. D. Broad (1954-1955)
- J. N. FindlayJohn Niemeyer FindlayJohn Niemeyer Findlay, known as J. N. Findlay, was a South African philosopher.-Education and Career:...
(1955-1956) - J. L. AustinJ. L. AustinJohn Langshaw Austin was a British philosopher of language, born in Lancaster and educated at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford University. Austin is widely associated with the concept of the speech act and the idea that speech is itself a form of action...
(1956-1957) - R. I. Aaron (1957-1958)
- Sir Karl PopperKarl PopperSir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
(1958-1959)
- H. L. A. HartH. L. A. HartHerbert Lionel Adolphus Hart was an influential legal philosopher of the 20th century. He was Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University and the Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford. He authored The Concept of Law....
(1959-1960) - A. E. Duncan-Jones (1960-1961)
- Prof. A. M. MacIver (1961-1962)
- H. D. Lewis (1962-1963)
- Sir Isaiah BerlinIsaiah BerlinSir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
(1963-1964) - W. H. Walsh (1964-1965)
- Ruth L. Saw (1965-1966)
- Stephan KörnerStephan KörnerStephan Körner, FBA was a British philosopher, who specialised in the work of Kant, the study of concepts, and in the philosophy of mathematics...
(1966-1967) - Richard WollheimRichard WollheimRichard Arthur Wollheim was a British philosopher noted for original work on mind and emotions, especially as related to the visual arts, specifically, painting...
(1967-1968) - D. J. O'Connor (1968-1969)
- P. F. StrawsonP. F. StrawsonSir Peter Frederick Strawson FBA was an English philosopher. He was the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at the University of Oxford from 1968 to 1987. Before that he was appointed as a college lecturer at University College, Oxford in 1947 and became a tutorial fellow the...
(1969-1970) - W. B. GallieW. B. GallieWalter Bryce Gallie was a Scottish social theorist, political theorist, and philosopher.Bryce Gallie, the son of an engineer, was born in Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, near Glasgow on 5 October 1912....
(1970-1971) - Martha Kneale (1971-1972)
- R. M. HareR. M. HareRichard Mervyn Hare was an English moral philosopher who held the post of White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford from 1966 until 1983. He subsequently taught for a number of years at the University of Florida...
(1972-1973) - C. H. Whiteley (1973-1974)
- D. D. Raphael (1974-1975)
- A. M. QuintonAnthony Quinton, Baron QuintonAnthony Meredith Quinton, Baron Quinton was a British political and moral philosopher, metaphysician, and materialist philosopher of mind.-Life:...
(1975-1976) - D. M. Mackinnon (1976-1977)
- D. W. Hamlyn (1977-1978)
- G. E. L. Owen (1978-1979)
- A.R. White (1979-1980)
- P. G. WinchPeter WinchPeter Guy Winch was a British philosopher known for his contributions to the philosophy of social science, Wittgenstein scholarship, ethics, and the philosophy of religion...
(1980-1981) - R. F. Holland (1981-1982)
- T. J. Smiley (1982-1983)
- A. R. Manser (1983-1984)
- Peter Alexander (1984-1985)
- Richard Sorabji (1985-1986)
- Martin Hollis (1986-1987)
- G. E. M. AnscombeG. E. M. AnscombeGertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe , better known as Elizabeth Anscombe, was a British analytic philosopher from Ireland. A student of Ludwig Wittgenstein, she became an authority on his work and edited and translated many books drawn from his writings, above all his Philosophical Investigations...
(1987-1988) - Onora O'Neill (1988-1989)
- Renford Bambrough (1989-1990)
- John SkorupskiJohn SkorupskiJohn Skorupski is a philosopher whose main interests are epistemology, ethics and moral philosophy, political philosophy, and the history of 19th and 20th century philosophy...
(1990–1991) - Timothy SpriggeTimothy L. S. SpriggeTimothy L.S. Sprigge was a British idealist philosopher who spent the latter portion of his career at the University of Edinburgh, where he was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics and then an Emeritus Fellow....
(1991-1992) - Hugh MellorHugh MellorDavid Hugh Mellor is an English philosopher.Mellor was born on 10 July 1938 in London. After studying chemical engineering at university, he took up philosophy. His main work has been in metaphysics....
(1992-1993) - David E. CooperDavid E. CooperDavid E. Cooper is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Durham University. He has published over one hundred and fifty articles across a broad range of philosophical subjects, especially the history of both Eastern and Western philosophy, environmental ethics, philosophy of language, aesthetics and...
(1993-1994) - Jonathan DancyJonathan DancyJonathan Peter Dancy is a British philosopher, working on epistemology and on ethics. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Reading and Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin.-Biography:...
(1994-1995) - Christopher Hookway (1995-1996)
- Jennifer HornsbyJennifer HornsbyJennifer Hornsby is a British philosopher with interests in the philosophies of mind, action, language, as well as feminist philosophy. She is currently a professor at the School of Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London. She is well-known for her opposition to orthodoxy in current analytic...
(1996-1997) - John CottinghamJohn CottinghamJohn Cottingham is an English philosopher, educated at Merchant Taylors’ School near London, and St John’s College, Oxford. He is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Reading, Professorial Research Fellow, Heythrop College, University of London, Honorary Fellow of St John’s College,...
(1997-1998) - Adam MortonAdam MortonAdam Morton, F.R.S.C. is a Canadian philosopher and author.Morton's work has focused on how we understand one another's behaviour in everyday life, with an emphasis on the role mutual intelligibility plays in cooperative activity. He has also written on ethics, decision-making, philosophy of...
(1998-1999) - David WigginsDavid WigginsDavid Wiggins is a British moral philosopher, metaphysician, and philosophical logician working especially on identity and issues in meta-ethics. His 2006 book, Ethics. Twelve Lectures on the Philosophy of Morality defends a position he calls "moral objectivism".- Life :Wiggins read philosophy...
(1999-2000) - James GriffinJames Griffin (philosopher)James Patrick Griffin is an American-born philosopher, who was White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford from 1996 to 2000.-Life:...
(2000-2001) - Jane Heal (2001-2002)
- Bob HaleBob Hale (philosopher)Robert Hale FBA, FRSE is a British philosopher, who is well-known for his contributions to the development of the neo-Fregean philosophy of mathematics in collaboration with Crispin Wright, and for his works in modality and philosophy of language....
(2002-2003) - Paul Snowdon (2003-2004)
- Timothy WilliamsonTimothy WilliamsonTimothy Williamson is a British philosopher whose main research interests are in philosophical logic, philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics....
(2004-2005) - Myles BurnyeatMyles BurnyeatMyles Fredric Burnyeat CBE FBA is an English classicist and philosopher.-Life:Educated at Bryanston School and King’s College, Cambridge, Burnyeat was a student of Bernard Williams at University College London....
(2005-2006) - Thomas BaldwinThomas Baldwin (philosopher)Thomas R. Baldwin is a British philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of York.He has been editor of Mind since 2005....
(2006-2007) - Dorothy Edgington (2007-2008)
- M G F Martin (2008-2009)
- Simon BlackburnSimon BlackburnSimon Blackburn is a British academic philosopher known for his work in quasi-realism and his efforts to popularise philosophy. He recently retired as professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge, but remains a distinguished research professor of philosophy at the University of North...
(2009-2010) - Quassim CassamQuassim CassamQuassim Cassam was born in Mombasa, Kenya and educated at Keble College, Oxford. From 1986 to 2004 he taught Philosophy at Oxford University, where he was a Fellow of Wadham College. In 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley...
(2010-2011)