J. O. Urmson
Encyclopedia
James Opie Urmson was a philosopher and classicist who spent most of his professional career at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
. He was a prolific author and expert on a number of topics including British analytic/linguistic philosophy, George Berkeley
, ethics, and Greek philosophy (especially Aristotle
). His nom de plume was J. O. Urmson.
The son of the Rev. James Opie Urmson (1881-1954), a Methodist Minister, he was educated at Kingswood School
, Bath (1928-1934).
When World War II
broke out, he joined the Army, where he served for 6 years. He was captured and spent three years in Germany as a prisoner of war, where he spent his time "playing bridge and doing mathematics". After the war, he was awarded the Military Cross
.
After the war he was a Student (i.e. a Fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford
from 1945 to 1955. During this period he lived in Monckton Cottage in Headington, Oxford.
In 1955 he accepted an appointment as Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews
in Scotland
. In 1959 he returned to Oxford as a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
and a Tutor of Philosophy. Except for visiting appointments in the United States (e.g. Visiting Associate Professor of philosophy at Princeton University
in 1950-51), he remained at Oxford until his retirement, at which point he assumed the position of Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at Stanford University
.
for publication.
After World War II, Urmson's book Philosophical Analysis (1956) -- an overview of the development of analytic philosophy at Cambridge
and Oxford
universities between World War I and World War II -- was influential in the post-war spread of analytic philosophy in Anglophone countries.
According to the article on supererogation in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "the history of supererogation in non-religious ethical theory is very recent, starting only in 1958 with J. O. Urmson's seminal article, “Saints and Heroes.” which "opened the contemporary discussion of supererogation (strikingly, without ever mentioning the term itself!) by challenging the traditional threefold classification of moral action: the obligatory, the permitted (or indifferent) and the prohibited."
Urmson translated or wrote notes for a number of volumes of Aristotle
, and commentaries on Aristotle by Simplicius
, for the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series published by Cornell University Press
. His book Aristotle's Ethics was praised by J. L. Ackrill
and Julius Moravcsik
as an excellent introduction to Aristotle's Ethics.
In the entry devoted to Urmson in the third edition of Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers (2004), Jonathan Ree
wrote of Urmson that "Although many of his writings focus on theories about the nature of philosophy, he holds that 'on the whole the best philosophy is little affected by theory; the philosopher sees what needs doing and does it'."
Translations
Books
Articles
Related Works
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
. He was a prolific author and expert on a number of topics including British analytic/linguistic philosophy, George Berkeley
George Berkeley
George Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...
, ethics, and Greek philosophy (especially Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
). His nom de plume was J. O. Urmson.
Life and career
Kingswood School
Kingswood School, referred to as 'Kingswood', is an independent day and boarding school located in Bath, Somerset, England. The school is coeducational and educates some 950 children aged 3 to 18. It is notable for being founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748...
, Bath (1928-1934).
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out, he joined the Army, where he served for 6 years. He was captured and spent three years in Germany as a prisoner of war, where he spent his time "playing bridge and doing mathematics". After the war, he was awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
.
After the war he was a Student (i.e. a Fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
from 1945 to 1955. During this period he lived in Monckton Cottage in Headington, Oxford.
In 1955 he accepted an appointment as Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In 1959 he returned to Oxford as a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
and a Tutor of Philosophy. Except for visiting appointments in the United States (e.g. Visiting Associate Professor of philosophy at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1950-51), he remained at Oxford until his retirement, at which point he assumed the position of Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Achievements
Urmson and his co-editor G. J. Warnock performed an invaluable service to the development of "analytic" or "linguistic" philosophy by preparing the papers of J. L. AustinJ. L. Austin
John 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...
for publication.
After World War II, Urmson's book Philosophical Analysis (1956) -- an overview of the development of analytic philosophy at Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
universities between World War I and World War II -- was influential in the post-war spread of analytic philosophy in Anglophone countries.
According to the article on supererogation in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "the history of supererogation in non-religious ethical theory is very recent, starting only in 1958 with J. O. Urmson's seminal article, “Saints and Heroes.” which "opened the contemporary discussion of supererogation (strikingly, without ever mentioning the term itself!) by challenging the traditional threefold classification of moral action: the obligatory, the permitted (or indifferent) and the prohibited."
Urmson translated or wrote notes for a number of volumes of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, and commentaries on Aristotle by Simplicius
Simplicius
Simplicius may refer to:* Pope Simplicius * Simplicius of Cilicia , philosopher* Simplicius, Constantius and Victorinus , Roman martyrs and saints* Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix , Roman martyrs and saints...
, for the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series published by Cornell University Press
Cornell University Press
The Cornell University Press, established in 1869 but inactive from 1884 to 1930, was the first university publishing enterprise in the United States.A division of Cornell University, it is housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage....
. His book Aristotle's Ethics was praised by J. L. Ackrill
J. L. Ackrill
John Lloyd Ackrill FBA was a philosopher and classicist who specialized in Ancient Greek philosophy, especially the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. Ackrill has been said to be, along with Gregory Vlastos and G. E. L...
and Julius Moravcsik
Julius Moravcsik
Julius Matthew Emil Moravcsik was a noted philosopher who specialized in ancient Greek philosophy.His main professional interests were in Greek philosophy – especially Plato, Aristotle, and the pre‐Socratic philosophers. He also made important contributions to the philosophy of language,...
as an excellent introduction to Aristotle's Ethics.
In the entry devoted to Urmson in the third edition of Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers (2004), Jonathan Ree
Jonathan Rée
Jonathan Rée is a British freelance historian and philosopher from Bradford. Educated at Oxford University, Rée was previously a Professor of Philosophy at Middlesex University, but gave up a teaching career in order to "have more time to think"....
wrote of Urmson that "Although many of his writings focus on theories about the nature of philosophy, he holds that 'on the whole the best philosophy is little affected by theory; the philosopher sees what needs doing and does it'."
Works
Edited volumes- J. L. Austin How to do Things with Words
- J. L. Austin Philosophical Papers (joint editor with G. J. Warnock)
- Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers with Jonathan ReeJonathan RéeJonathan Rée is a British freelance historian and philosopher from Bradford. Educated at Oxford University, Rée was previously a Professor of Philosophy at Middlesex University, but gave up a teaching career in order to "have more time to think"....
(first edition 1960, second edition 1989, third edition 2004) - The British Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley, Hume (with John DunnJohn DunnJohn Dunn may refer to:*John Dunn , English professional footballer for Aston Villa and Charlton Athletic*Jack Dunn , minor league baseball owner and manager*Jack Dunn , British figure skater...
and A. J. Ayer)
Translations
- Aristotle The Nicomachean Ethics (translated David O. Ross, 1925; revised J. O. Urmson and J. L. AckrillJ. L. AckrillJohn Lloyd Ackrill FBA was a philosopher and classicist who specialized in Ancient Greek philosophy, especially the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. Ackrill has been said to be, along with Gregory Vlastos and G. E. L...
, 1980) Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford 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... - Simplicius: Corollaries on Place and Time Cornell University Press (June 1992) translated by J.O. Urmson
- On Aristotle's "Physics 3 by SimpliciusSimpliciusSimplicius may refer to:* Pope Simplicius * Simplicius of Cilicia , philosopher* Simplicius, Constantius and Victorinus , Roman martyrs and saints* Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix , Roman martyrs and saints...
, translated by J.O. Urmson & Peter Lautner, 2002, ISBN 978-0-8014-3903-2.
Books
- Philosophical Analysis: Its Development between the Two World Wars, Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford 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...
, 1956 - The Emotive Theory of Ethics (1968)
- The Greek Philosophical Vocabulary, Duckworth (1990)
- Berkeley Oxford University Press, 1982
- Aristotle's Ethics (1988) Blackwell Publishers
Articles
- "On Grading", MindMind (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...
(April 1950), 59(234):145-169, reprinted in Logic and Language (Second Series) (ed. Antony FlewAntony FlewAntony Garrard Newton Flew was a British philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, he was notable for his works on the philosophy of religion....
, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1953 - "Parenthetical Verbs" MindMind (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...
(October 1952), 61(244):480-496. - "The interpretation of the Moral Philosophy of J. S. Mill", The Philosophical QuarterlyThe Philosophical QuarterlyThe Philosophical Quarterly is a quarterly academic journal of philosophy established in 1950. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Scots Philosophical Club and the University of St Andrews. The current editor-in-chief is Tim Mulgan. Every year the journal holds an Essay...
, Vol. 3 (1953 pp. 33-39. Reprinted in Theories of Ethics (ed. Philippa FootPhilippa FootPhilippa Ruth Foot was a British philosopher, most notable for her works in ethics. She was one of the founders of contemporary virtue ethics...
) Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford 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...
, 1967 - “Saints and Heroes”, in Essays in Moral Philosophy, A. Melden (ed.), Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1958
- "J. L. Austin" Journal of Philosophy 1965, reprinted in The Linguistic Turn ed. Richard RortyRichard RortyRichard McKay Rorty was an American philosopher. He had a long and diverse academic career, including positions as Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Princeton, Kenan Professor of Humanities at the University of Virginia, and Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University...
1967 - "Austin, John Langshaw" in J.O. Urmson, ed., The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers, p. 54. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960.
- "The History of Analysis" in The Linguistic Turn ed. Richard RortyRichard RortyRichard McKay Rorty was an American philosopher. He had a long and diverse academic career, including positions as Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Princeton, Kenan Professor of Humanities at the University of Virginia, and Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University...
1967 - "Literature", from George Dickie and R. J. Sclafani, Aesthetics: A Critical Analogy, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977.
- "Aristotle on Excellence of Character", New Blackfriars Volume 71 Issue 834 Page 33-37, January 1990
Related Works
- Human Agency: Language, Duty, and Value. Philosophical Essays in Honor of J. O. Urmson ed. Jonathan Dancy, J. M. E. Moravcsik, C. C. W. Taylor, Stanford University Press, 1988, ISBN 0804714746. Contains a bibliography of Urmson's philosophical works