Anthony Clifford Grayling MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSA (born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. He is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London and a supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... The Royal Society of Arts, whose correct name is the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce but which is more commonly known as the RSA, is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London, which exists to deliver five Manifesto Challenges: encouraging enterprise, moving towards a zero... April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 272 days remaining. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Birkbeck Birkbeck (sometimes still called Birkbeck College) is a College of the University of London. ... Senate House, designed by Charles Holden home to the universitys central administration offices and its library The University of London is a federation of colleges which together constitute one of the worlds largest universities. ... St Annes College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ...

Anthony Grayling, philosopher

Image File history File links Anthony Grayling, philosopher. ... Image File history File links Anthony Grayling, philosopher. ...

Background

Grayling was born in Luanshya, Zambia and spent his formative years in the British expatriate community of East Africa. His first exposure to philosophical writing was at the age of twelve when he read an English translation of Plato's Charmides dialogue. At fourteen he read G. H. Lewes's Biographical History of Philosophy. This work was instrumental in confirming his ambition to study philosophy. Grayling later remarked on the text; "It superinduced order on the random reading that had preceded it, and settled my vocation". PLATO, an apronym for Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operation, was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... The Charmides is a dialogue of Plato, discussing the nature and utility of temperance. ... George Henry Lewes (April 18, 1817 – November 28, 1878) was a British philosopher and literary critic. ...

After returning to England in his teens Grayling studied at Sussex University and Magdalen College, Oxford where he obtained his doctorate in 1981. The subject of his thesis was "scepticism and transcendental arguments". This was supervised by the philosophers P. F. Strawson and A. J. Ayer. Grayling lectured in philosophy at St Annes’s College, Oxford before taking up a post at Birkbeck College, London where he subsequently became Reader in Philosophy, and then Professor of Philosophy. University of Sussex Logo © University of Sussex The University of Sussex is an English campus university located near the East Sussex village of Falmer, near Brighton and Hove and on the edge of the South Downs. ... Magdalen College (pronounced ) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Peter Frederick Strawson (born November 23, 1919 in London) is a philosopher associated with the ordinary language philosophy movement within analytical philosophy. ... Alfred Jules Ayer (October 29, 1910 - June 27, 1989), better known as simply A. J. Ayer (and called Freddie by friends), was a British philosopher. ...

Academic interests

Grayling’s main areas of interest are the theory of knowledge, metaphysics and philosophical logic. He brings these subjects together in an attempt to define the relationship between mind and world, and in so doing he is challenging the ideas of philosophical scepticism. His arguments are elucidated in a number of publications, including The Refutation of Scepticism (1985), Berkeley: The Central Arguments (1986), Wittgenstein (1988), and Russell (1996). Grayling uses philosophical logic to counter the arguments of the sceptic, thereby shedding light on the traditional ideas of the realism debate and developing associated views on truth and meaning. His ideas are described in the later chapters of An Introduction to Philosophical Logic (1982), and advanced in a series of papers including Epistemology and Realism (1991-2), and Independence and Transcendence: The Independence Thesis and Realism (1998). In these publications he puts forward the idea that we should consider realism as a primarily epistemological - rather than a metaphysical or a semantic - concept on the relations between mind and world. Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ... // Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ... Philosophical logic is the study of the more specifically philosophical aspects of logic: the term contrasts with mathematical logic. ... The mind is the term most commonly used to describe the higher functions of the human brain, particularly those of which humans are subjectively conscious, such as personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. ... This article is in need of attention. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Philosophical logic is the study of the more specifically philosophical aspects of logic: the term contrasts with mathematical logic. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Grayling has written widely on contemporary issues including war crimes, the legalisation of drugs, euthanasia, secularism and human rights. In support of his belief that the philosopher should engage in public debate, he brings the philosophical perspective to issues of the day in his work as a commentator on radio and television. In a series of popular books, commencing with The Meaning of Things (2002) Grayling has made the basics of philosophy available to the layman. A war crime is a punishable offense, under international law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... These lollipops, above, were found to contain heroin when inspected by the US Drug Enforcement Administration In jurisdictions where legislation restricts or prohibits the sale of certain popular drugs, it is common for an illegal drugs trade to develop. ... Euthanasia (Greek, good death) is the practice of killing a person or animal, in a painless or minimally painful way, for merciful reasons, usually to end their suffering. ... Secularism means: in philosophy, the belief that life can be best lived by applying ethics, and the universe best understood, by processes of reasoning, without reference to a god or gods or other supernatural concepts. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Positions held

• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
• Fellow of the World Economic Forum
• Member of the editorial boards of Reason in Practice and Prospect
• British Academy visitor to the Institute of Philosophy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (1986)
• Director of the Sino-British Summer School in Philosophy in Beijing (1988, 1993)
• Jan Hus Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy at the Czech Academy of Science (1994 and 1996)
• Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship (1998)
• Honorary Secretary of the Aristotelian Society (1993-2001)
• Gifford Lecturer at the University of Glasgow (2005)
• Past chairman of June Fourth, a human rights group concerned with China

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Geneva-based foundation whose Annual Meeting of chief executives of the worlds richest corporations, some national political leaders (presidents, prime ministers and others), and selected intellectuals and journalists, about 2000 people in all, is usually held in Davos, Switzerland. ... Prospect is a monthly British current affairs magazine, launched in October 1995. ... The British Academy is the United Kingdoms national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. ... The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (中国社会科学院) is the national academy of the Peoples Republic of China for the social sciences. ... The University of Glasgow is the largest of the three universities in Glasgow, Scotland. ...

Current publications

• Berkeley: The Central Arguments (1986) ISBN 0812690370
• China: A Literary Companion (1995) With Susan Whitfield ISBN 0719553539
• An Introduction to Philosophical Logic (1998) ISBN 0631206558
• Philosophy: A Guide Through the Subject Vol 1 (1998) ISBN 0198752431
• Philosophy 2 ISBN 0198751788
• The Meaning of Things: Applying Philosophy to Life (2001) ISBN 0297607588
• Wittgenstein (2002) ISBN 345104739X
• Quarrel of the Age: the life and times of William Hazlitt (2001) ISBN 184212496X
• Russell: A Very Short Introduction (2002) ISBN 0192802585
• The Reason of Things (2002) ISBN 0297829351
• What Is Good?: The Search for the Best Way to Live (2003) ISBN 0297841327
• The Art of Always Being Right: Thirty Eight Ways to Win When You Are Defeated (2004) Author: Arthur Schopenhauer. Introduction by Grayling ISBN 1903933617
• The Mystery of Things (2004) ISBN 0297645595
• The Heart of Things: Applying Philosophy to the 21st Century (2005) ISBN 0297848194
• Descartes ISBN 0743231473

Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860) was a German philosopher. ...

Forthcoming publications

• Descartes: The Life of Rene Descartes and its place in his times (2005)
• Among the Dead Cities: Was the Allied Bombing of German and Japan in World War II a crime or a necessity? (2006)

External links

• A. C. Grayling website