Henry Sidgwick - Eye of the Universe: An Intellectual BiographyHenry Sidgwick was one of the great intellectual figures of nineteenth-century Britain. He was first and foremost a great moral philosopher, whose masterwork The Methods of Ethics is still widely studied today. He also wrote on economics, politics, education and literature. He was deeply involved in the founding of the first college for women at the University of Cambridge. He was also much concerned with the sexual politics of his close friend John Addington Symonds, a pioneer of gay studies. Through his famous student, G. E. Moore, a direct line can be traced from Sidgwick and his circle to the Bloomsbury group. Bart Schultz has written a magisterial overview of this great Victorian sage. This biography will be eagerly sought out by readers interested in philosophy, Victorian literary studies, the history of ideas, the history of psychology and gender and gay studies. |
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Page 22
... because it was a disappointment to him but because , though I never was a disciple of his , I do believe that he had something valuable to say which he has left unsaid . " By contrast , Mill's dying words were " You know that I have ...
... because it was a disappointment to him but because , though I never was a disciple of his , I do believe that he had something valuable to say which he has left unsaid . " By contrast , Mill's dying words were " You know that I have ...
Page 25
... because he weighed carefully everything he wrote . But his mind was alert and nimble in the highest degree . Thus he was an admirable talker , seeing in a moment the point of an argument , seizing on distinctions which others had failed ...
... because he weighed carefully everything he wrote . But his mind was alert and nimble in the highest degree . Thus he was an admirable talker , seeing in a moment the point of an argument , seizing on distinctions which others had failed ...
Page 26
... because it was joined to an indulgent judgment : the ceaseless activity of his intellect was softened rather than reduced by the gaiety of his manner . His talk was conversation , not discourse , for though he naturally became the ...
... because it was joined to an indulgent judgment : the ceaseless activity of his intellect was softened rather than reduced by the gaiety of his manner . His talk was conversation , not discourse , for though he naturally became the ...
Page 35
... because he saw so much . A younger generation cannot well realise how bright and cheerful a companion he was in early years . In the spring of life he could be versatile and gay with the rest : abundant in quiet humour : not boisterous ...
... because he saw so much . A younger generation cannot well realise how bright and cheerful a companion he was in early years . In the spring of life he could be versatile and gay with the rest : abundant in quiet humour : not boisterous ...
Page 50
... because his poetry could " make men look within for those things in which they agree , instead of looking without for those in which they differ . " 58 As Allen has maintained , this kind of work called for Apostles , for a set of the ...
... because his poetry could " make men look within for those things in which they agree , instead of looking without for those in which they differ . " 58 As Allen has maintained , this kind of work called for Apostles , for a set of the ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
61 | |
Consensus versus Chaos | 137 |
Spirits | 275 |
Friends versus Friends | 335 |
Colors | 509 |
Last Words? | 669 |
Notes | 727 |
Index | 803 |
Other editions - View all
Henry Sidgwick - Eye of the Universe: An Intellectual Biography Bart Schultz No preview available - 2012 |
Henry Sidgwick - Eye of the Universe: An Intellectual Biography Bart Schultz No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
Apostolic appear argument Balfour believe Bentham Bryce Cambridge Apostles Cambridge University Chapter Christian civilised claims common sense commonsense morality concern consciousness course criticism culture Dakyns desire discussion doubt dualism dualism of practical duty economic Eleanor element Essays evidence experience fact feel friends G. E. Moore Greek Green happiness Henry Sidgwick human Ibid ideal important intellectual interest intuition intuitionism J. S. Mill John Addington Symonds least less letter liberal Maurice metaphysical Mill Mill's Millian mind Myers nature Newnham Noel notion one's Oxford parapsychology perhaps persons philosophical Plato practical reason principle problem psychical research question race rational egoism reform regard religion religious Roden Noel Schneewind seems sexual Sidgwick Papers Sidgwick's Ethics Sidgwickian social Society Socrates spirit suggest Symonds's sympathy T. H. Green telepathy Theism theory things thought truth ultimate University Press utilitarian Victorian women Wren Library
Popular passages
Page vi - Only remember me; you understand It will be late to counsel then or pray. Yet if you should forget me for a while And afterwards remember, do not grieve: For if the darkness and corruption leave A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad.
Page 372 - The theory or idea or system which requires of us the sacrifice of any part of this experience, in consideration of some interest into which we cannot enter or some abstract theory we have not identified with ourselves or what is only conventional, has no real claim upon us.
Page 187 - ... admit of indefinite improvement, and, in a progressive state of the human mind, their improvement is perpetually going on. But to consider the rules of morality as improvable, is one thing; to pass over the intermediate generalizations entirely, and endeavour to test each individual action directly by the first principle, is another.
Page 105 - Not only does all strengthening of social ties, and all healthy growth of society, give to each individual a stronger personal interest in practically consulting the welfare of others; it also leads him to identify his feelings more and more with their good, or at least with an even greater degree of practical consideration for it.
Page 105 - If we now suppose this feeling of unity to be taught as a religion, and the whole force of education, of institutions, and of opinion, directed, as it once was in the case of religion, to make \ every person grow up from infancy surrounded on all sides both by the profession and the practice of it...
Page 509 - He is not truly reconciled either with life or with himself; and this instant war in his members sometimes divides the man's attention. He does not always, perhaps not often, frankly surrender himself in conversation. He brings into the talk other thoughts than those which he expresses; you are conscious that he keeps an eye on something else, that he does not shake off the world, nor quite forget himself.
Page 193 - I obtain the selfevident principle that the good of any one individual is of no more importance, from the point of view (if I may say so) of the universe, than the good of any other...
Page 54 - I say that it is the greatest good for a man to discuss virtue every day and those other things about which you hear me conversing and testing myself and others, for the unexamined life is not worth living for men, you will believe me even less.
Page 372 - Only be sure it is passion — that it does yield you this fruit of a quickened, multiplied consciousness. Of such wisdom, the poetic passion, the desire of beauty, the love of art for its own sake, has most. For art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass, and simply for those moments