272:] ground. The main proponent of the innovation was J.A. Smith, the idiosyncratic and combative Waynflete Professor of Philosophy. He argued with Murray for 'Greats without Greek',, i.e. not for a reform of the Greats school but for the institution of a new Greekless final course for philosophy students). Why should all students wanting to study philosophy have to do so within the classical framework? Plato and Aristotle in good translations should give the aspiring philosopher all that he needed - why should he have to bother with often very difficult language? 'Greats without Greek' would reduce the upper-class flavour of Oxford by opening a respectable philosophy school to students who did not come from the great Greek-teaching public schools. There was heat on either side of the debate, not perhaps greatly reduced by Smith, who wrote to Murray, 'except in opinion, I am sure we do not differ'
219:: The framer of the Chair's regulations, he remarks, describes the Professor's duties 'in a way which rather sets a problem than furnishes guidance. The Professor, he says, 'shall lecture and give instruction on the principles and history of Mental Philosophy, and on its connexion with Ethics.' He distinguishes two great departments of philosophical thought — so recognizedly different as already to be assigned for separate treatment to two other Professors in the University — and he enjoins that they shall be afresh discussed in their connexion with one another, yet with respect to their distinction. It can scarcely be his meaning that his Professor should attempt the invidious task of harmonising the possibly divergent accounts given of Logic by the
291:'... tended to be swamped by the then ruling school of philosophers, a race of men who were all too apt to assume that their own discipline gave them spiritual jurisdiction over all, or nearly all, others, regardless of their degree or relevant technical qualification - to hear, for instance, J.A. Smith, Waynflete Professor of Moral Philosophy (sic) pontificating on the methodology of economics, with which his acquaintance was zero, was to gain new conceptions of human absurdity.
413:... and an undergraduate whose name I didn't catch but who looked very nice and beautiful - there-and-back flannel collar with a gold safety-pin - that sort of thing. A head appears around the door. J.A. says, "Well?" "Oh I just looked in to see if you were doing anything" - and five more beautiful young men stroll in and lie about in chairs or prepare drinks for the whole party, making genial remarks on everyone's play and called the venerable J.A. "J.A."'.
234:(1894–1986): '... he recalled the words with which his Professor of Moral Philosophy, J.A. Smith, had opened a lecture course in 1914: 'Nothing that you will learn in the course of your studies will be of the slightest possible use to you in after life – save only this – if you work hard and diligently you should be able to detect when a man is talking rot, and that, in my view, is the main, if not the sole, purpose of education.
599:, Oxford, 1909. Robert Currie tentatively attributes to Smith this pamphlet, which proposes 'a modern-side Greats, based on philosophy' similar in the event to the school of Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) founded in 1920. (Currie, R. 'The Arts and Social Studies, 1914–1939',
227:, of performing in public the higher synthesis of his colleagues' several contributions to philosophic truth, or — less arrogantly — of indicating or reinforcing their latent consonance. Such a task, had it been required or suggested, I could not have undertaken.'
428:, London: Macmillan, 1959: 18–21, there is a sharply observed if unsympathetic account of Smith's contribution to a debate on relativity theory with F.A. Lindemann, then Dr Lee's Professor in Experimental Philosophy at Oxford, shortly after the First World War.
241:, ed. J.H. Muirhead, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1925:228. At the turn of the twentieth century he espoused a form of realism but by the time of his appointment to the Waynflete Professorship had come strongly under the sway of the Italian philosopher,
275:
The plans for a new school, interrupted by the 1914-18 war and much internal wrangling before and after, finally led in 1920 to the establishment of the Final Honour School of
Philosophy, Politics and Economics
279:
Smith's role in the emergence of the final scheme, which extended beyond his original idea, is not clear but he evidently felt free to philosophise on economics, one of the new school's components. Professor
230:
Smith interpreted the requirements of his professorship as metaphysical, though he is often referred to as simply a
Professor of Moral Philosophy as in Alastair Horne's biography of
818:
803:
462:
The reference to 'Mr Palmer' is to the
Reverend Edwin Palmer (1824–95), Corpus Professor Latin at Oxford, 1870–95; formerly Fellow of Balliol College.
302:, London: Macmillan, 1959: 18–21, there is a sharply observed if unsympathetic account of Smith's contribution to a debate on relativity theory with
307:
808:
192:, to which he was admitted as Warner exhibitioner and honorary scholar in Hilary term 1884. His most visible accomplishments were his work with
823:
496:, tr. D. P. Chase, London : J.M. Dent & Sons, 1911, vii-xxviii. Erratum : on xiii, 13 lines from bottom 'man' should read 'main'.
793:
160:
of Moral and
Metaphysical Philosophy, carrying a Fellowship at Magdalen College in the same university, from 1910 to 1936. He was born in
55:
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783:
758:
268:
had ... to preside over a committee to discuss the possibility of instituting a new final 'schools' to cover part of the Greats [
754:
215:'s appointment in 1936. Smith expressed some unease about the combination of 'moral' and 'metaphysical' in his inaugural lecture
741:
The Conrad
Russell of these letters was the farmer, Conrad Russell (1878-1947), not the historian, Conrad Russell (1937-2004).
616:
A small quantity of Smith's papers is held at
Balliol College, Oxford; the main body is archived at Magdalen College, Oxford.
20:
224:
258:
288:
in the mid-1920s, was not impressed. In his
Autobiography he reflected ruefully that discussions of Modern Greats:
120:
813:
349:. Collins, 1990, p. 102) as does Lewis' voluminous published correspondence. For personal glimpses:
177:
156:
philosopher, who was the Jowett
Lecturer of philosophy at Balliol College, Oxford from 1896 to 1910, and
474:
Knowing and acting: an inaugural lecture delivered before the
University of Oxford, 26th November 1910
393:
382:
237:
Smith's early and perhaps predominant interests were literary and philological, as he makes clear in
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at Oxford, shortly after the First World War. Smith endeavoured to prove that the theory was false.
478:
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89:
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A different side of Smith's personality from that experienced by Lionel
Robbins was seen by
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551:'Philosophy As the Development of the Notion and Reality of Self-Consciousness',
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409:'On Saturday night I was in J.A.. Smith's room playing bridge with him and
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531:, 2nd. ed., ed. F.S. Marvin, London: Oxford University Press, 1922, 69-90.
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253:'Modern Greats' - the creation of 'Philosophy, Politics and Economics'
555:, ed. J.H. Muirhead, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1925, 227–244.
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Letter from Conrad Russell to Helen Asquith, 13 December 1927, in
524:, ed. F.S. Marvin, London: Oxford University Press, 1921, 273-294.
517:, ed. F.S. Marvin, London: Oxford University Press, 1921, 295-314.
424:. Mercer University Press, pp. 47–75. In Sir Roy Harrod's
165:
137:
73:
211:
The 'Moral' tag in his Professorial title disappeared with
418:
A Sceptical Examination of Contemporary British Philosophy
257:
Smith played an innovative part in the institution of the
184:(where he was Ferguson classical scholar in 1884), and at
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Economics, Politics and Social Studies in Oxford, 1900-85
420:. Brentano's, 1929, pp. 163–87; and Patrick, James
318:
There is a good account of Smith's life and career in
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381:. Oxford University Press, 1928, pp. 127, 221;
367:. Basil Blackwell, 1971: 41, 43, 45, 51, 52, 113;
19:For other people named John Alexander Smith, see
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249:(1875–1944) later exerted a powerful influence.
819:Waynflete Professors of Metaphysical Philosophy
804:People educated at Edinburgh Collegiate School
759:Templeton Press' site for the Gifford Lectures
553:Contemporary British Philosophy: Second Series
416:For philosophical assessments, see Coates, A.
239:Contemporary British Philosophy, Second Series
374:. Oxford University Press,1953, p. 319;
308:Dr Lee's Professor of Experimental Philosophy
176:Smith was educated at Inverness Academy, the
680:, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987: 152
607:ed. Harrison, B. Clarendon Press, 1995, 112.
356:. Hodder & Stoughton, 1940, p. 49;
56:United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
337:. Collins, 1977, pp. 77, 144, 152.
324:Dictionary of National Biography, 1931–40
152:(21 April 1863 – 19 December 1939) was a
654:. Oxford University Press, 1910, pp.4-5.
641:, Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 532.
633:
631:
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440:which acquired some currency at Oxford:
16:British idealist philosopher (1863-1939)
601:The History of the University of Oxford
527:'The Contribution of Greece and Rome',
501:Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society
390:The Life and Philosophy of Edward Caird
809:Presidents of the Aristotelian Society
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326:(Oxford: OUP). See also Mabbott, J.D.
824:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
626:
574:Society for Pure English, Tract XXXIV
506:'General Relative Clauses in Greek',
261:degree at the University of Oxford.
21:John Alexander Smith (disambiguation)
732:. John Murray, London, 1987, p. 94.
597:Wanted ! A New School at Oxford
794:Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford
730:Letters of Conrad Russell 1897-1947
719:, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1971: 46
611:
586:III. Oxford University Press, 1931.
13:
580:Translation of Aristotle, de Anima
513:'Progress as an Ideal of Action',
392:. Thoemmes, 1991, pp. 156–7;
330:. Thornton, 1986, p. 74; and
259:Philosophy, Politics and Economics
14:
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789:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
784:20th-century British philosophers
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529:The Unity of Western Civilization
397:Raymond Asquith: Life and Letters
757:by Dr Michael W. DeLashmutt for
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245:(1866–1952). The philosophy of
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704:Autobiography of an Economist
693:, London: Macmillan, 1986: 38
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448:Said Christianity was a myth;
399:. Collins, 1980, p. 90.
379:The Life of Hastings Rashdall
363:, Macmillan, 1956; Scott, D.
284:, a lecturer in economics at
667:. Macmillan, 1988, I. p. 27.
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678:Gilbert Murray OM 1866-1957
639:British Idealism: A History
569:, Cambridge, 1928. On Hasan
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572:'Artificial Languages',
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494:The Ethics of Aristotle
479:Oxford University Press
104:19th-century philosophy
90:Balliol College, Oxford
86:University of Edinburgh
605:The Twentieth Century,
584:The Works of Aristotle
534:Review of T.L. Heath,
503:, XIV, 1913–14, 49–75.
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591:Attributed authorship
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282:Lionel (Lord) Robbins
204:for 1929–1931 on the
540:The Classical Review
522:Progress and History
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508:The Classical Review
354:Memory Hold-the-Door
206:Heritage of Idealism
182:Edinburgh University
150:John Alexander Smith
32:John Alexander Smith
450:When he grew calmer
432:Cultural references
158:Waynflete Professor
814:Relativity critics
755:Biography of Smith
652:Knowing and Acting
563:Syed Zafarul Hasan
542:, 37, 1923, 69–71.
510:, 31, 1917, 69–71.
492:'Introduction' to
369:Barker, Sir Ernest
361:An Edwardian Youth
347:C.S. Lewis: A Life
270:Literae Humaniores
217:Knowing and Acting
194:William David Ross
114:Western philosophy
546:The Nature of Art
225:Whyte's Professor
223:and of Ethics by
221:Wykeham Professor
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676:D. Wilson,
650:Smith, J.A.
603:, v. VIII,
394:Joliffe, J.
339:A.N. Wilson
314:Biographies
286:New College
264:'In 1910,
768:Categories
715:D. Scott,
663:Horne, A.
620:References
358:Jones, L.E
343:C.S. Lewis
332:Ayer, A.J.
200:, and his
44:1863-04-21
799:Idealists
665:Macmillan
487:Q26233775
456:Mr Palmer
198:Aristotle
559:Foreword
483:Wikidata
481:, 1910,
438:clerihew
426:The Prof
300:The Prof
162:Dingwall
52:Dingwall
567:Realism
306:, then
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