Philosophers and Friends : Reminiscences of Seventy Years in Philosophy

With a wealth of anecdote Dorothy Emmet looks back on the philosophers who made a personal impact on her. She brings to life the Oxford of the 1920s, and writes particularly about H.A. Pritchard and R.G. Collingwood. She knew A.N. Whitehead and Samuel Alexander, and remembers philosophers who struggled with political dilemmas when a number of intellectuals were turning to Marxism. Describing the post-war period she recalls R.B. Braithwaite, Michael Polanyi, Alasdair MacIntyre and others. Her personal portraits will interest a wide readership, as well as making essential reading for professional philosophers. "With a wealth of anecdote Dorothy Emmet looks back on philosophers who have made a personal impact on her. She brings to life philosophy in Oxford in the 1920s, and writes particularly about H.A. Prichard and R.G. Collingwood. We meet her tutor at Oxford A.D. Lindsay: she describes his Kantian philosophy, and his influential views on the foundations of moral democracy. She then describes A.N. Whitehead and Samuel Alexander, and remembers philosophers who struggled with political dilemmas in the 1930s when a number of intellectuals were turning to Marxism. In the postwar period she writes about Richard Braithwaite, Michael Polanyi, and Alasdair MacIntyre who was her pupil. Her book contains a striking gallery of personal portraits as well as many good stories and will be of interest not only to professional philosophers but to everyone concerned with the intellectual history of our time. The book also contains a foreword by Bryan Magee."--Jacket Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-2 Philosophy in Oxford in the 1920s: H.A. Prichard and R.G. Collingwood....Pages 3-12 A.D. Lindsay: Philosophy and Moral Democracy....Pages 13-30 Philosophy Among the South Wales Miners....Pages 31-33 A.N. Whitehead in Cambridge, Mass.....Pages 34-49 Politics and Philosophy in the 1930s: John Macmurray and Reinhold Niebuhr....Pages 50-61 Samuel Alexander in Manchester....Pages 62-73 Philosophy in Manchester: Religion and Metaphysiscs. Michael Polanyi....Pages 74-84 Philosophy in Manchester: Theories in the Social Sciences. Alasdair MacIntyre, Max Gluckman....Pages 85-101 Retirement with Philosophers and Friends in Cambridge: Richard Braithwaite and Margaret Masterman....Pages 102-114 Retrospect and Prospect....Pages 115-122 Back Matter....Pages 123-130