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Mary Midgley
Sign in to saveAlso known as Mary Beatrice Scrutton, Mary Beatrice Midgley
British philosopher and ethicist (1919–2018)
OverviewAI-generated
Mary Midgley (1919–2018) was a British philosopher, ethicist, and writer. Born Mary Beatrice Scrutton in London, she was educated at Somerville College, Durham University, and Newcastle University. She worked as a university teacher at Newcastle University and the University of Reading, residing in Newcastle upon Tyne. A member of the Royal Society of Literature, she received a Doctor of Letters award.
Her field of work included philosophy of science, ethics, ethology, and animal rights. She was influenced by G. E. Moore and wrote in English. Her notable works include *Sovereignty of Good*, *Beast and Man*, *Myths We Live By*, *Delfines*, *Sexo y Utopías*, *Utopias*, and *Dolphins and Computers*. She died in Jesmond in 2018.
Synthesized by Vinony from 24 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Open Library. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1919
- Works
- 59
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- Mary Scrutton , ( 1919-09-13 ) 13 September 1919 , London, England
- Died
- 10 October 2018 (2018-10-10) (aged 99), Jesmond , Newcastle , England
- Spouse
- Geoffrey Midgley ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1950 )
- Education
- Somerville College, Oxford (B.A.)
- Era
- Contemporary philosophy
- Region
- Western philosophy
- School
- Analytic philosophy
- Institutions
- Somerville College, Oxford
- Main interests
- Moral philosophy , animal rights , philosophy of science , ethology , evolution
- Notable works
- Beast and Man (1978), Animals and Why They Matter (1983), Evolution as a Religion (1985), Science as Salvation (1992)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Mary
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- London
- Place of death
- Jesmond
- Occupation
- ethicist
- Educated at
- Newcastle University
- Employer
- University of Reading
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Award
- Doctor of Letters
- Field of work
- evolution
- Image
- Mary Midgley.JPG
- Residence
- Newcastle upon Tyne
Show 7 more facts
- date of birth
- 1919-09-03
- Commons category
- Mary Midgley
- member of
- Royal Society of Literature
- date of death
- 2018-10-10
- birth name
- Mary Beatrice Scrutton
- influenced by
- G. E. Moore
- name in native language
- Mary Midgely
via Wikidata · CC0
~27 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Mary Beatrice Midgley (née Scrutton; 13 September 1919 – 10 October 2018) was a British philosopher. A senior lecturer in philosophy at Newcastle University, she was known for her work on science, ethics and animal rights. She wrote her first book, Beast and Man (1978), when she was in her late fifties, and went on to write over 15 more, including Animals and Why They Matter (1983), Wickedness (1984), The Ethical Primate (1994), Evolution as a Religion (1985), and Science as Salvation (1992). She was awarded honorary doctorates by Durham and Newcastle universities. Her autobiography, The Owl of Minerva, was published in 2005.
Midgley strongly opposed reductionism and scientism, and argued against any attempt to make science a substitute for the humanities. She wrote extensively about what she thought philosophers can learn from nature, particularly from animals. Midgley insisted that humans ought to be understood as first and foremost, a kind of animal. Several of her books and articles discussed philosophical ideas appearing in popular science, including those of Richard Dawkins. She also wrote in favour of a moral interpretation of the Gaia hypothesis. The Guardian described her as a fiercely combative philosopher and the UK's "foremost scourge of 'scientific pretension'".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mary Midgley” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.