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Biography of Samuel AlexanderName: Samuel AlexanderBirth Date: January 6, 1859 Death Date: 1938 Place of Birth: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Nationality: British Gender: Male Occupations: philosopher Samuel Alexander The British philosopher Samuel Alexander (1859-1938) was a forceful exponent of metaphysics at a time when that subject had largely fallen into disrepute. His work shows a fine capacity for synthesis and system.Samuel Alexander was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on Jan. 6, 1859. His early education was at Wesley College in Melbourne. He went to England in 1877 with a scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford, where he took the literae humaniores (humanities) degree, reading mathematics and philosophy. After graduation he stayed on at Oxford as a fellow of Lincoln College, where he taught philosophy. He was the first Jew to be a fellow at Oxford.While at Oxford, Alexander was awarded the Green Moral Philosophy Prize for a dissertation in ethics, which formed the basis for his first publication, Moral Order and Progress (1889). This book secured Alexander a wide reputation and, in 1893, a chair of philosophy at the University of …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…pieces show a geniality and sense of fun quite different from his systematic works. Reading them, one comes to understand why a friend characterized him as "deep but gay."In appearance Alexander was forceful and impressive. He looked every inch the philosopher, with a flowing beard, high forehead, and penetrating glance. A bachelor, he had a genius for friendship with persons of all ages and situations. Further Reading Alexander's Philosophical and Literary Pieces (1939), edited by his literary executor, John Laird, is prefaced by a long memoir which is a synthesis of information and anecdotes obtained from friends of Alexander. The volume also contains a complete bibliography. John W. McCarthy, The Naturalism of Samuel Alexander (1948), is a good critical work. For a contrary view see Milton R. Konvitz, On the Nature of Value: The Philosophy of Samuel Alexander (1946). Bernard Bosanquet, The Meeting of Extremes in Contemporary Philosophy (1921), contains valuable background material. |