Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad (August 12, 1891 – April 9, 1953) was an English philosopher and broadcasting personality. He is most famous for his appearance on the The Brains Trust, an extremely popular BBC Radio wartime discussion programme. He managed to popularise Philosophy and became a celebrity, before he lost fame and fortune in the Train Ticket Scandal of 1948. is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... The Brains Trust was a popular informational BBC radio and later television programme in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 50s. ... BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. ...

Early life

Joad was born in Durham, the only son of Edwin and Mary Joad (née Smith). In 1892 his father became an Inspector of Education and the family moved to Southampton, where he received a very strict Christian upbringing. Joad started school at the age of 5 in 1896, attending Lynam's Preparatory School (commonly called the Dragon School) in Oxford. In 1902, he moved to Devon to study at Blundell's School, Tiverton, Devonshire. Durham (IPA: locally, in RP) is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham in North East England. ... Year 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... An Inspector of Education is someone employed in the United Kingdom by Her Majestys Inspectorate of Education to carry out assessments of school performance. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... Dragon School logo School House at the Dragon School, on Bardwell Road. ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ... Blundells School is a British public school. ...

Balliol College

In 1910, Joad went up to Balliol College, Oxford. It was here that he developed his skills as a philosopher and debater. By 1912, he was a first class sportsman and Oxford Union debater. He also became a Syndicalist, a Guild Socialist and then a Fabian. He reading George Bernard Shaw’s plays and H. H. Wells’s novels during the summer after his first year at Balliol.^[1] At approximately the same time, he discarded his Christian beliefs.^[2] Organized Christianity, he wrote, “will disappear within the next hundred years”.^[3] No creed was worth dying for, and “to hold any belief with fervor is illogical.”^[4] In 1913, he read more about George Bernard Shaw through the newly founded magazine, the New Statesman. Not coincidentally, during these years, the leader of socialism, G.D.H. Cole, published The World of Labour (1913), the first book of its kind on socialism and an explanation of Guild Socialism, a more rigorous form of socialism than that found in the Fabian Society. He developed a secure interest in Philosophy that acted as the building blocks for his career as a teacher and broadcaster. After completing his course at Balliol, achieving Double-First and John Locke Scholarship, Joad entered the Civil Service. and of the Balliol College College name Balliol College Named after John de Balliol Established 1263 Sister college St Johns College, Cambridge Master Andrew Graham JCR President Helen Lochead Undergraduates 403 MCR President Chelsea Payne Graduates 228 Location of Balliol College within central Oxford , Homepage Boatclub Balliol College (pronounced... The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Syndicalism is a political and economic ideology which advocates giving control of both industry and government to labor union federations. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. ... George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950) was a world-renowned Irish author. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ... The Roman civil service in action. ...

Civil Service

Joad entered the Board of Trade in 1914 after attending a Fabian Summer School. His aim was to infuse the Civil Service with a Socialist Ethos. He worked as a civil servant for the Labour Exchanges Department of the Board of Trade, which later became the Ministry of Labour. In the months leading up to the First World War he displayed "ardent" pacifism, which resulted in political controversy. Joad, Bernard Shaw, and Bertrand Russell became unpopular with many who were trying to encourage soldiers to fight for their country. In addition to his unpopular pacifist stance, Joad became known for a variety of radical views. He once summarized many of those views in this way: "I believe in birth control for all, easy divorce, the legitimization of abortion, National Parks and access to mountains and moorlands for walkers irrespective of the rights of property or the convenience of sportsmen; in prison reform, in the right to euthanasia and the right to suicide, in disarmament by example, in resistance to war by individuals, in Socialism, in the world state, in the abolition of motor-cars, and in a thousand and one other creeds and causes…".^[5] The Board of Trade circa 1808. ... The Roman civil service in action. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. ... Multiple people share the name Bernard Shaw: George Bernard Shaw, the celebrated Irish playwright (1856 - 1950) Bernard Shaw, a journalist and longtime CNN anchorman (1940 - ) This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, and pacifist. ...

Marriage

In May 1915, Joad married Mary White. They bought a home in Westhumble near Dorking in Surrey. The village was also home to Fanny Burney and near to the founder of the Fabian Society, Beatrice Webb. Joad was so fearful of conscription that he fled to Snowdonia, Wales until it was safe to return. Joad's marriage was thought to be happy until 1921, when they separated. They had three children. The village of Westhumble is situated near Dorking, Surrey. ... Dorking is a market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately 25 miles south of London, in Surrey in England. ... This article is about the English county. ... Fanny Burney For Frances Burney (1776–1828), niece of Frances Burney, later Madame DArblay (1752-1840), see Frances Burney Fanny Burney, later Madame DArblay, (June 13, 1752-January 6, 1840) was an English novelist and diarist. ... The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. ... Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Potter Webb (January 2, 1858 - April 30, 1943) (also called Beatrice Webb) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, usually referred to in the same breath as her husband, Sidney Webb. ... Tryfans north ridge (seen on the left in this picture) in Snowdonia. ... This article is about the country. ... Matrimony redirects here. ...

Life after separation

After Joad's separation from his wife Mary, he moved to Hampstead in London with a student teacher named Marjorie Thomson. This was the first of many mistresses, all of which were introduced as 'Mrs Joad'. He described sexual desire as "a buzzing bluebottle that needed to be swatted promptly before it distracted a man of intellect from higher things." He later wrote, "There were certain virtues, chastity and humility, for example, to which I was an almost complete stranger."^[6] He explained one of the reasons that most of his early life he had been “an opponent of the family”: “I have liked women too much to pay them the poor compliment of cold shouldering all for the sake of one.”^[7] He believed that female minds lacked objectivity, and he had no interest in talking to women who would not go to bed with him. Leonard Woolf later described him as “high-minded, loose-living, loose-thinking … a selfish, quick-witted, amusing intellectual scallywag."^[8]By now Joad was "short and rotund, with bright little eyes, round, rosy cheeks, and a stiff, bristly beard." He dressed in shabby clothing as a test: if people sneered at this they were too petty to merit acquaintance. For other places with the same name, see Hampstead (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV of France. ... Bluebottle can mean: Bluebottle, a character in The Goon Show a general name for several species of fly, particularly the blow-fly of the genus Calliphora several species of physalia, particularly physalia utriculus, a marine siphonophore resembling a jellyfish an outdated British slang term for a police officer. ...

Job interviews proved a great difficulty for Joad. He was very flippant and was disapproved by many. However in 1930, he left the Civil Service to fill the post of Head of the Department of Philosophy and Psychology at Birkbeck College, University of London. Although the department was small, he made full use of his great teaching skills. He popularised philosophy with many, and many other great philosophers of the day were beginning to take him seriously. For those that didn't, Joad implied that they resented a blackleg who admitted outsiders to professional mysteries. With his two books, Guide to Modern Thought (1933) and Guide to Philosophy (1936) he became a well known figure in public society. He received a D.Litt. in 1936 and was promoted to Reader at Birkbeck in 1945. For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Psychological science redirects here. ... Birkbeck, University of London, sometimes referred to by its former name Birkbeck College or by the abbreviation BBK, is a College of the University of London. ... Website http://www. ... A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ...

1930s

In his early life, Joad very much shared the desire for the destruction of the Capitalist system. He was expelled from the Fabian Society in 1925, because of sexual misbehaviour at its summer school and did not rejoin until 1943. In 1931, disenchanted with Labour in office, Joad became Director of Propaganda for the New Party. Owing to the rise of Oswald Mosley and his Pro-Fascist sympathies, Joad resigned, along with John Strachey. Soon after he became bitterly opposed to Nazism, but he continued to refuse military service. Joad gave his support to many pacifist organizations. The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. ... Summer school is a program, generally sponsored by a school or a school district, that teaches students during the summer vacation. ... 1967 Chinese propaganda poster from the Cultural Revolution. ... New Party is a name used by various political parties Japan - New Party Sakigake Taiwan - New Party United States - New Party Defunct United Kingdom - New Party This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (November 16, 1896 – December 3, 1980), was a British politician known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Sir John Strachey (1823-1907), British Indian civilian, fifth son of Edward Strachey, was born in London on the 5th of June 1823. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... Pacifist may mean: an advocate of pacifism. ...

During his years at Birkbeck College, Joad was intimately involved in the most famous debate in the history of the Oxford Union Society, a society in which he had participated during his undergraduate years. Devised by David Graham and debated on Thursday, February 9, 1933, was this question: “That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country.” The topic illustrates both the attitude of Oxford and the state of Europe, as the Second World War approached. Adolph Hitler had become chancellor of Germany just ten days prior to the debate. After five speakers, including Joad as the principal and last speaker, the motion passed by a vote of 275 to 153. Joad’s speech was described as “well-organized and well-received,”^[9] probably the single most important reason for the outcome of the debate.

Joad was also interested in the supernatural. He involved himself in psychical research, travelling to the Harz Mountains to recite spells in Latin in order to prove that the 'Blocksberg Tryst' did not turn a goat into a child. He crusaded to preserve the English Countryside against industrial expoitation, ribbon development, overhead cables and destructive tourism. He wrote letters and articles in protest of the decisions being made to increase Britain's wealth and status, as he believed the short term status would bring long term problems. He organized rambles and rode recklessly through the countryside. He also had a passion for hunting. The Harz is a mountain range in northern Germany. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Hating the idea of nothing to do, Joad organized on average nine lectures per week and two books per year. His popularity soared and he was invited to give many lectures and lead discussions. He also involved himself in sporting activities such as tennis and hockey, and recreational activities such as bridge, chess and playing the pianola (the player piano). He was a great conversationalist and enjoyed entertaining the distinguished members of society. His home was modest, but his hospitality was lavish. For other uses, see Tennis (disambiguation). ... Hockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a ball, or a hard, round disc called a puck, into the opponents net or goal, using a hockey stick. ... Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game of skill and chance (the relative proportions depend on the variant played). ... This article is about the Western board game. ... The player piano is a type of piano that plays music without the need for a human pianist to depress the normal keys or pedals. ...

After the outbreak of the Second World War (1939) he became disgusted at the lack of liberty being shown. He went as far as to beg the Ministry of Information to make use of him. Sure enough, in January 1940, Joad was elected onto a wartime discussion programme called The Brains Trust. The BBC radio production was an immediate success, attracting millions of listeners. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... For other uses, see Liberty (disambiguation). ...

The Brains Trust

Joad's fame was made on The Brains Trust. It was made of a small group that included Commander A B Campbell and Julian Huxley. Other panelists included philosopher A.J. Ayer, philosopher and historian Isaiah Berlin, civil servant Norman Fisher, and economist Barbara Ward. Joad's developed and mature discussion techniques, his fund of anecdotes and mild humour brought him to the attention of the general public. The Brains Trust was a popular informational BBC radio and later television programme in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 50s. ... Commander A. B. Campbell was a British naval officer and radio broadcaster. ... Sir Julian Sorell Huxley, FRS (June 22, 1887 – February 14, 1975) was a English biologist, author, Humanist and internationalist, known for his popularisations of science in books and lectures. ...

The programme came to deal with difficult questions posed by listeners, and the panellists would discuss the question in great detail, and give a philosophical opinion. Examples of the questions ranged from "What is the meaning of life?" to "How can a fly land upside-down on the ceiling?" Joad became star of the show, his voice being the most heard on radio except for the News. Joad nearly always opened with the catchphrase "It all depends on what you mean by…" when responding to a question. Although there was opposition from Conservatives who complained about the political bias, the general public generally considered him the greatest British philosopher of the day. He had won the position of celebrity. This politics-related article is a stub. ... The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservative Party is currently the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Celebrity (disambiguation). ...

Rise and fall

As Joad had become so well-known, he was invited to give after-dinner speeches, open bazaars and even advertise tea. He also sold more books than ever before. He stood as a Labour candidate at a by-election in November 1946 for the Combined Scottish Universities constituency (although he lost). Joad hid his anxiety, and his pacifism had not survived the war. He was now beginning to renounce his agnostic ways and turn to the Christianity, the Church of England, which is evident in his book The Recovery of Belief. Even Socialism was unsatisfying when he saw the vast evil the war had brought. His career was more successful than ever before, and he became a common subject of discussion in both public and private society. But he also had many enemies, and they were to have the last laugh. A bazaar is a market, often covered, typically found in areas of Muslim culture. ... For other uses, see Tea (disambiguation). ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1946 was a by-election held from 22 November to 27 November 1946 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons. ... The Combined Scottish Universities was a university constituency in the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1918 until 1950). ... This article is about state anxiety. ... Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. ... The term agnosticism and the related agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. ... Religious socialism Key Issues People and organizations Related subjects Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and political movements with the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ...

Joad once boasted in print that “I cheat the railway company whenever I can.”^[10] In April 1948, Joad was convicted of traveling on a Waterloo-Exeter train without a valid ticket. Although he was a frequent fare dodger, he failed to give a satisfactory excuse. This made front-page headlines in the national newspapers, and the fine of £2 destroyed all hopes of a peerage and resulted in his dismissal from the BBC program, The Brains Trust. The humiliation of this had a massive effect on his health, and he soon became bed-confined at his home in Hampstead. His fame and broadcasting career were over. However, this event may well be the event that convinced him that he needed to admit that God was God. In his 1951 book, The Recovery of Belief, he explained the heart of his Christian belief, "Christianity, moreover, tells me that He will not only assist me personally by the bestowal of grace, but that He has assisted mankind as a whole by sending His Son into the world to win for men by His suffering and death the chance of eternal life and to provide them with an example of right living, by following which they may come to deserve it."^[11] For other uses, see Train (disambiguation). ... Reading the newspaper: Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. ... For other uses, see Peerage (disambiguation). ... For other places with the same name, see Hampstead (disambiguation). ...

Death

After the bed-confining thrombosis following his dismissal from the BBC in 1948, Joad developed cancer, and by 1951 he realised he was dying. He published the book The Recovery of Belief in this year, perhaps as a deathbed repentance of his former atheism. Joad died on 9 April 1953 at his home, 4 East Heath Road, Hampstead. He was 61. He is buried at Saint John’s-at-Hampstead Church in London. Thrombosis is the formation of a clot or thrombus inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. ... Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these to spread, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion, or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis (where cancer cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Atheist redirects here. ... For other places with the same name, see Hampstead (disambiguation). ...

Legacy

Joad was one of the most prominent British intellectuals of the 20th century. He was as famous as George Bernard Shaw and Bertrand Russell in his lifetime. He performed the difficult task of popularising philosophy, both in his books, (for example in ^[12]), and by the spoken word, and helped to maintain the popularity of his specialist subject even after his death. George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950) was a world-renowned Irish author. ... Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, and pacifist. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...

Quotes from Joad appear in Virginia Woolf's non-fiction piece, Three Guineas. For example:

"If it is, then the sooner they give up the pretence of playing with public affairs and return to private life the better. If they can not make a job of the House of Commons, let them at least make something of their own houses. If they can not learn to save men from the destruction which incurable male mischievousness bids fair to bring upon them, let women at least learn to feed them, before they destroy themselves." ^[13]

His leading role in the most famous debate of the Oxford Union Society has also helped to establish his legacy, which helped to make him a reputation as an absolute pacifist, a position which the Nazi menace of World War Two caused him to set aside.

Joad was invited to appear at the Socratic Club, an undergraduate society at Oxford University, where he spoke on Jan. 24, 1944, on the subject, "On Being Reviewed by Christians," an event attended by more than 250 students. His book, God and Evil, had been published in November 1942, an examination of Theism and Christianity, tentatively accepting the former and rejecting the latter. A summary of that book was the subject of his address to the Socratic Club. This appearance in Oxford was a stepping stone in Joad's life, particularly at a time when he was reexamining his convictions. This reexamination eventually led to his return to the Christian faith of his youth, an event that he mentioned in his book, The Recovery of Belief, which was published in 1952. C. S. Lewis, President of the Socratic Club, is mentioned twice in this book, once as an influence on Joad through Lewis's book The Abolition of Man. Part of his legacy, then, was to return to the faith that he had set aside as an Oxford undergraduate and to defend that faith in his writings.

References

1. ^ C.E.M. Joad, The Book of Joad, 14.
2. ^ C.E.M. Joad, God and Evil, 13.
3. ^ C.E.M. Joad, The Testament of Joad, 211.
4. ^ C.E.M. Joad, The Testament of Joad, 25.
5. ^ C.E.M. Joad, The Testament of Joad, 19.
6. ^ C.E.M. Joad, God and Evil, 180.
7. ^ C.E.M. Joad, The Testament of Joad, 20f.
8. ^ Leonard Woolf, Downhill all the way: an autobiography of the years 1919-1939, London, 1967, 81.
9. ^ Martin Ceadel, “The ‘King and Country’ Debate, 1933: Student Politics, Pacifism and the Dictators.” The Historical Journal, June 1979, 404.
10. ^ C.E.M. Joad, The Testament of Joad, 54.
11. ^ C.E.M. Joad, The Recovery of Belief, 174f.
12. ^ C.E.M. Joad, Guide to Philosophy, Gollancz, 1936.
13. ^ Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas, 43.

Bibliography

Joad wrote over 75 books in his lifetime. The most famous can be found below.

• Common Sense Ethics (1921)
• Common Sense Theology (1922)
• Modern Philosophy (1924)
• Matter, Life and Value, the book that provided an academic foundation for creative evolution (1929)
• The Present and Future of Religion, a book critical of the religious view and hostile to religious organizations (1930)
• Great Philosophies of the World, Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, NY (1930)
• Guide to Modern Thought (1933)
• Under the Fifth Rib (re-titled The Book of Joad). London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1932.
• Return to Philosophy (1935)
• Guide to Philosophy (1936)
• The Testament of Joad. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1937.
• Guide to the Philosophy of Morals and Politics (1938)
• Why War? (1939)
• How to Write, Think and Speak Correctly (1939)
• God and Evil. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1942.
• Teach Yourself Philosophy (1944)
• The English Counties (1948)
• A Critique of Logical Positivism (1950)
• The Recovery of Belief: A Restatement of Christian Philosophy. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1951.
• Folly Farm (Posthumous 1954)
• Dialogue on Civilization
• The story of civilization

External links

• Philosophy for All information
• Spartacus information
• C.E.M. Joad on Find-A-Grave