Timothy L. S. Sprigge
Encyclopedia
Timothy 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.
Sprigge was educated at the Dragon School
, Bryanston and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
Long concerned with the nature of experience
and the relation between mind
and reality
, Sprigge was the philosopher who first posed the question made famous by Thomas Nagel
: "What is it like to be a bat?" Throughout Sprigge's career he argued physicalism or materialism is not only false but has contributed to a distortion of our moral sense. There is, he claims, something non-physical to what a human being is and also to animals of a higher sort.
The author of The Vindication of Absolute Idealism (1984), Sprigge defended a panpsychist
version of absolute idealism
according to which reality consists of bits of experience combined into a certain kind of coherent whole. His work presents several new arguments in favor of the plausibility of such an account. His last book - which appeared in 2006 - was entitled The God of Metaphysics. A Festschrift
for Sprigge appeared on the very day he died, Consciousness, Reality and Value: Essays in Honour of T. L. S. Sprigge (Ontos Verlag).
He was president of the Aristotelian Society
from 1991 to 1992 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
.
Also a defender of animal rights
, he espoused a broadly utilitarian
ethics
(which he defended in The Rational Foundation of Ethics). Sprigge was influenced by philosophers such as F. H. Bradley
, William James
, Alfred North Whitehead
, Josiah Royce
and George Santayana
.
The Timothy Sprigge Room at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh contains Sprigge's library. The Sprigge Archive is located at the Edinburgh University Library.
British idealism
A species of absolute idealism, British idealism was a philosophical movement that was influential in Britain from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. The leading figures in the movement were T.H. Green , F. H. Bradley , and Bernard Bosanquet . They were succeeded by the...
philosopher who spent the latter portion of his career at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, where he was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics and then an Emeritus Fellow.
Sprigge was educated at the Dragon School
Dragon School
The Dragon School is a British coeducational, preparatory school in the city of Oxford, founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School, or OPS. It is primarily known as a boarding school, although it also takes day pupils...
, Bryanston and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
Long concerned with the nature of experience
Experience
Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....
and the relation between mind
Mind
The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
and reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
, Sprigge was the philosopher who first posed the question made famous by Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher, currently University Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University, where he has taught since 1980. His main areas of philosophical interest are philosophy of mind, political philosophy and ethics...
: "What is it like to be a bat?" Throughout Sprigge's career he argued physicalism or materialism is not only false but has contributed to a distortion of our moral sense. There is, he claims, something non-physical to what a human being is and also to animals of a higher sort.
The author of The Vindication of Absolute Idealism (1984), Sprigge defended a panpsychist
Panpsychism
In philosophy, panpsychism is the view that all matter has a mental aspect, or, alternatively, all objects have a unified center of experience or point of view...
version of absolute idealism
Absolute idealism
Absolute idealism is an ontologically monistic philosophy attributed to G. W. F. Hegel. It is Hegel's account of how being is ultimately comprehensible as an all-inclusive whole. Hegel asserted that in order for the thinking subject to be able to know its object at all, there must be in some...
according to which reality consists of bits of experience combined into a certain kind of coherent whole. His work presents several new arguments in favor of the plausibility of such an account. His last book - which appeared in 2006 - was entitled The God of Metaphysics. A Festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
for Sprigge appeared on the very day he died, Consciousness, Reality and Value: Essays in Honour of T. L. S. Sprigge (Ontos Verlag).
He was president of the Aristotelian Society
Aristotelian Society
The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy 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...
from 1991 to 1992 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
.
Also a defender of animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, he espoused a broadly utilitarian
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...
ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
(which he defended in The Rational Foundation of Ethics). Sprigge was influenced by philosophers such as F. H. Bradley
F. H. Bradley
Francis Herbert Bradley, OM, was a British idealist philosopher.- Life :Bradley was born at Clapham, Surrey, England . He was the child of Charles Bradley, an evangelical preacher, and Emma Linton, Charles's second wife. A. C. Bradley was his brother...
, William James
William James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
, Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred 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...
, Josiah Royce
Josiah Royce
Josiah Royce was an American objective idealist philosopher.-Life:Royce, born in Grass Valley, California, grew up in pioneer California very soon after the California Gold Rush. He received the B.A...
and George Santayana
George Santayana
George Santayana was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. A lifelong Spanish citizen, Santayana was raised and educated in the United States and identified himself as an American. He wrote in English and is generally considered an American man of letters...
.
The Timothy Sprigge Room at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh contains Sprigge's library. The Sprigge Archive is located at the Edinburgh University Library.
Works
- The Correspondence of Jeremy Bentham (1968)
- Facts, Words and Beliefs. International Library of Philosophy and Scientific Method (1970)
- Santayana: An examination of his philosophy (The Arguments of the philosophers) (1974)
- The Vindication of Absolute Idealism (1984)
- Theories of Existence (1985)
- The Rational Foundation of Ethics (1988)
- The significance of Spinoza's determinism (Mededelingen vanwege het Spinozahuis) (1989)
- James and Bradley: American Truth and British Reality (1994)
- The God of Metaphysics (2006)
- The Phenomenology of Thought ed by. L. McHenry (unfinished) (2009)
- The Importance of Subjectivity: Selected Essays in Metaphysics and Ethics ed by. L. McHenry (2011)