Philosophy in Australia

« directions: work in epistemology, philosophical psychology, history of philosophy, and value theory.

In pure value theory, there has been little home-grown work that is highly original though there have been many solid contributions by Australian philosophers to international debates, and Peter Singer is famous beyond philosophical circles for his theorizing of 'animal liberation' and opposition to 'sanctity of human life' outlooks in bioethics.

The general tenor of Australian philosophy remains resolutely 'analytical' though there is a significant minority interest in 'continental' philosophy and some efforts to reach a modus vivendi between the two.

Until late in the twentieth century, women played no prominent role, but women philosophers and feminist philosophy have become increasingly significant and, although many find the 'continental' mode congenial to their approach, there is strong representation of the more 'analytic' tradition.

Another prominent emphasis has been environmental philosophy which incorporates the traditional interest in metaphysics but with a less reductive touch than has been characteristic of the mainstream. 1 Beginnings Academic philosophy, the home for almost all contemporary philosophy, effectively began its Australian life in Melbourne where the first lecturer in logic was appointed at the University of Melbourne in 1881.

The appointee was the Scottish-born journalist, Henry Laurie, who shortly afterwards (1886) became the country's first philosophy Professor.

Prior to Laurie, some logic and political theory had been taught at Melbourne by the redoubtable W.E.

Hearn, an extraordinary polymath with an international scholarly reputation, who also taught at various times English, Ancient and Modern History, Political Economy and Classical Literature, before becoming the University's first Dean of Law.

In Sydney, some logic had been taught along with classics since the University's foundation in 1850, but a lectureship in philosophy was not established until 1888.

There had been a compendious Chair in English Language and Literature and Mental and Moral Philosophy established earlier at the University of Adelaide, but its first occupants had no philosophical claims.

The professing of philosophy there really began in 1894 with the appointment of the gifted, if often obscure, William Mitchell who gave the prestigious Gifford Lectures in Aberdeen in 1924-6, later published as The Place of Minds in the World .

Mitchell (later Sir William) was a great public figure in South Australia where he was Vice-Chancellor of the university for twenty-six years and Chancellor for a further six.

He died in 1962 at the age of 101 and, in his nineties, was capable of vigorous exchanges with one of his young successors in the philosophy Chair, J.J.C.

Smart. Both Laurie and Mitchell were Scots and the Scottish influence on the formative years of Australian philosophy is even more remarkable than its notable influence upon Australian universities generally.

In Sydney, the Scottish influence was if anything even more emphatic and enduring - it was Glasgow University that produced the first lecturer in philosophy (1888) and then the Challis Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy (1890) in the (same) person of Francis Anderson.

Like Mitchell, Francis Anderson was later knighted, but more for his services to. »