A.J. Ayer: A LifeA. J. Ayer (1910-1989) was a man of startling complexity: an exceptionally rigorous and penetrating philosopher, he was also a dedicated hedonist and seducer. He traveled in the most glamorous social circles, yet his friends found him oddly remote. Internationally acclaimed author Ben Rogers brings the brilliant, strangely vulnerable author of the classic Language, Truth, and Logic to vivid life, along with the Oxford intellectual world where he met Isaiah Berlin, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and many other great thinkers and writers of the era. Colorful, intimate, and often poignant, this is a powerful biography of a provocative and unforgettable man whose ideas changed the landscape of Western thought. "Beautifully written, sympathetic, and sensitive ... [a] balanced and rounded picture of a very complicated man." -- Simon Blackburn, The New Republic "A readable and well-researched account of the life and career of a remarkable figure." -- Lynwood Abram, Houston Chronicle "A.J. Ayer lived a fascinating life and in Rogers he has found an ideal biographer....." -- Frank McLynn, The New Statesman "Rogers succeeds in capturing the spirit of a philosophical maverick who many loved to hate." -- Kirkus Reviews "Exceptionally good ... A.J. Ayer weaves the philosophical, public, and private strands of Ayer's life together most skillfully." -- The Economist |
Contents
Teachers Bankers Merchants Wives | 8 |
Schooldays | 22 |
Apprentice | 37 |
Student | 51 |
Homecoming | 62 |
Marriage among the Scientists | 78 |
Apostle | 97 |
Language Truth and Logic or the Philosophy of Nonsense | 107 |
Professor | 202 |
The London Freddie Ayer | 222 |
All Change | 240 |
Oxford New York Toulon | 258 |
Benthamite Saint | 274 |
Central Questions | 294 |
Retirement | 314 |
Old Age | 330 |
Iconoclast Hedonist | 123 |
Bright Young Things | 143 |
War My New Profession | 158 |
Good Enough if Largely Unauthorised | 175 |
The Meaning of Life | 187 |
Resurrection | 343 |
Principal Publications of AJ Ayer | 356 |
Abbreviations and Notes | 357 |
Index | 385 |
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Common terms and phrases
A.J. Ayer admitted American Archive argued argument Austin Ayer found Ayer wrote Ayer's became believed boys Cambridge Carnap Christ Church Citroën College Cummingses Cyril Connolly Dee Ayer described dinner Dorus E.E. Cummings early empiricism Essays Eton experience fact father feeling Freddie and Renée Freddie's French friends gave girlfriend Gully Hume Ibid intellectual Isaiah Berlin Jocelyn Rickards Julian June Language later Lawson least lectures lived logical positivism London looked married metaphysics mind moral Neurath never Nick Nick Ayer October offered organised Oxford Paris party perhaps Peter Strawson Philip Toynbee philosophy political problem propositions recalled remembered Richard Wollheim Russell Russell's Ryle Schlick seems sense sense-data September spent Stuart Hampshire summer talk Ted Honderich theory things thought took Toynbee Tractatus Truth and Logic undergraduate Valerie Vanessa Vienna Circle wanted Wendy Wittgenstein writing York young
References to this book
The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World Alister E. McGrath No preview available - 2004 |