G. E. M. Anscombe (18 March 1919 – 5 January 2001) (born Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe, also known as Elizabeth Anscombe) was a British analytic philosopher. A student of Ludwig Wittgenstein, she became an authority on his work, and edited and translated many books drawn from his writings. She wrote on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, logic, semiotics, and language theory. Her 1958 article "Modern Moral Philosophy", introduced the term "consequentialism" into the English language. She was also a theologian, and contributed extensively to the fields of ethics, especially to the modern revival of virtue ethics. March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Analytic philosophy is the dominant philosophical movement in University philosophy departments in English-speaking countries, although one of its founders, Gottlob Frege, was German, and many of its leading proponents, such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rudolf Carnap, Kurt Gödel and Karl Popper, were Austrian. ... Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (IPA: ) (April 26, 1889 – April 29, 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who contributed several ground-breaking works to modern philosophy, primarily on the foundations of logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind. ... Philosophy of mind is the philosophical study of the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, and consciousness. ... Philosophy of action is chiefly concerned with human action, intending to distinguish between activity and passivity, voluntary, intentional, culpable and involuntary actions, and related question. ... Logic, from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, (but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of criteria for the evaluation of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy among philosophers. ... Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs, both individually and grouped in sign systems. ... Consequentialism refers to those moral theories that hold that the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgement about that action. ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to define that which is right from that which is wrong. ... In philosophy, the phrase virtue ethics refers to ethical systems that focus primarily on what sort of person one should try to be. ...

Life

G. E. M. Anscombe was born to Gertrude Elizabeth Anscombe and Alan Wells Anscombe, on 18 March 1919, in Limerick, Ireland (where her father had been posted as an officer in the British army). March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster, in the midwest of the Republic of Ireland. ...

She graduated from Sydenham High School in 1937, and went on to read "Mods & Greats" (a course of study in classics, ancient history, and philosophy) at St Hugh's College of the University of Oxford, graduating with a First in 1941. During her first undergraduate year she converted to Roman Catholicism, and remained a lifelong devout Catholic. She garnered controversy when she publicly opposed Britain's entry into WWII, although her father had been a soldier, and her brother was to serve during WWII. Sydenham High School is an Independent school for 4-18 year old girls. ... Classics, particularly within the Western University tradition, when used as a singular noun, means the study of the language, literature, history, art, and other aspects of Greek and Roman culture during the time frame known as classical antiquity. ... Ancient history is the study of significant cultural and political events from the beginning of human history until the Early Middle Ages. ... The Philosopher (detail), by Rembrandt Philosophy is a study that includes various diverse subfields such as aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics. ... St Hughs College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Catholic (from Greek) , universal, from , in general: , according to + , neuter genitive of , whole) can be used as a specifically Christian religious term with a number of meanings: In one widely used sense, it refers to the members, beliefs, and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in countries and languages... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

She married Peter Geach, like her a Roman Catholic convert, a student of Wittgenstein, and a distinguished British academic philosopher. Together they reared three sons and four daughters. Peter Thomas Geach (born 1919) is one of the foremost contemporary British philosophers. ...

After graduating from Oxford, Anscombe was awarded a research fellowship for postgraduate study at Newnham College, Cambridge from 1942 to 1945. While studying at Cambridge she began to attend Ludwig Wittgenstein's lectures. She became an enthusiastic student, feeling that Wittgenstein's therapeutic method helped to free her from philosophical boggles in ways that her training in traditional systematic philosophy could not. As she wrote (in Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind, pp. vii-ix, quoted in Monk, 1990, p. 497): Full name Newnham College Motto - Named after Its location in the village of Newnham Previous names Newnham Hall Established 1871 Sister College(s) Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Principal The Lady ONeill of Bengarve Location Sidgwick Avenue Undergraduates 396 Postgraduates 120 Homepage Boatclub A view of the Clough and Kennedy... Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (IPA: ) (April 26, 1889 – April 29, 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who contributed several ground-breaking works to modern philosophy, primarily on the foundations of logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind. ...

For years, I would spend time, in cafés, for example, staring at objects saying to myself: "I see a packet. But what do I really see? How can I say that I see here anything more than a yellow expanse?" ... I always hated phenomenalism and felt trapped by it. I couldn't see my way out of it but I didn't believe it. It was no good pointing to difficulties about it, things which Russell found wrong with it, for example. The strength, the central nerve of it remained alive and raged achingly. It was only in Wittgenstein's classes in 1944 that I saw the nerve being extracted, the central thought I have got this, and I define "yellow" (say) as this being effectively attacked.

After her fellowship at Cambridge ended, she was awarded a research fellowship at Somerville College, Oxford, but during the academic year of 1946 - 1947, she continued to travel to Cambridge once a week, together with her fellow student W. A. Hijab, to attend tutorials with Wittgenstein on the philosophy of religion. She became one of Wittgenstein's favorite students and one of his closest friends (Monk [1990] 497-498). Image File history File links Quotation marks File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Quotation marks File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Full name Somerville College Motto Donec rursus impleat orbem Named after Mary Somerville Previous Names Somerville Hall Established 1879 Sister College Girton College Principal Dame Fiona Caldicott JCR President Simon Bruegger MCR President Allen Middlebro Location Woodstock Road, Oxford Undergraduates 396 Graduates 88 Homepage Boat Club Somerville College is one... Philosophy of religion is the rational study of the meaning and justification of fundamental religious claims, particularly about the nature and existence of God (or gods, or the divine). ...

Anscombe visited with Wittgenstein many times after he left Cambridge in 1947, and traveled to Cambridge in April 1951 to visit him on his deathbed. Wittgenstein named her, along with Rush Rhees and Georg Henrik von Wright, as his literary executor, and after his death in 1951, she was responsible for editing, translating, and publishing many of Wittgenstein's manuscripts and notebooks. A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of the literary estate of an author who has died. ...

Anscombe remained at Somerville College from 1946 to 1970. She was also known for her willingness to face fierce public controversy in the name of her Catholic faith. In 1956, while a research fellow at Oxford University, she protested against Oxford's decision to grant an honorary degree to Harry S. Truman, whom she denounced as a mass murderer for his use of atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the thirty-fourth Vice President (1945) and the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953), succeeding to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... Main keep of Hiroshima Castle The city of Hiroshima ) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japans islands. ... Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge) Nagasaki ) (help· info), literally long peninsula, is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture. ...

She scandalized liberal colleagues with articles defending the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to abortion and contraception, and was arrested twice while protesting outside an abortion clinic in Britain, after abortion had been legalized (albeit with restrictions).

Anscombe was elected Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University in 1970, where she served until her retirement in 1986. A professor (Latin: one who publicly professes to be an expert) (or prof for short) is a senior teacher, lecturer and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... The Philosopher (detail), by Rembrandt Philosophy is a study that includes various diverse subfields such as aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics. ... The University of Cambridge, located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. ...

In her later years, Anscombe suffered from heart disease, and was nearly killed by an automobile accident in 1996. She spent her last years in the care of her family in Cambridge. She died, aged 81, with her husband and four of their seven children at her bedside, on 5 January 2001. Map of the Cambridgeshire area (1904) The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Defeating C. S. Lewis

As a young philosophy don, Anscombe acquired a reputation as a formidable debater. In 1948 she won a debate against C. S. Lewis at Oxford's Socratic Club over Lewis's argument that naturalism was self-refuting (found in the third chapter of original publication of his book Miracles). Some associates (primarily George Sayer and Derek Brewer) remarked that this loss was so humiliating for Lewis that he abandoned theological argument and turned entirely to devotional writing and children's literature... even though Anscombe herself objected to this portrayal. As a result of the weaknesses pointed out in the contest, Lewis substantially rewrote the chapter for future editions of the book. Anscombe's comments on the matter were thus: C.S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis was an Northern Irish author and scholar, of mixed Northern Irish, English and Welsh ancestry. ... The first Socratic Club was formed in the 1940s, at Oxford University, by C. S. Lewis in order to provide an open forum for the discussion of the intellectual difficulties connected with religion and with Christianity in particular (The Socratic Digest, No. ... In Miracles, C.S. Lewis makes the case for the titular events by first explaining how there must be something more than nature or the whole show and then detailing why that something more is a benevolent being and why it is likely that he would intervene with nature after... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... // Basic characteristics There is some debate as to what constitutes childrens literature. ...

The fact that Lewis rewrote that chapter, and rewrote it so that it now has those qualities [to meet Anscombe's objections], shows his honesty and seriousness. The meeting of the Socratic Club at which I read my paper has been described by several of his friends as a horrible and shocking experience which upset him very much. Neither Dr Harvard (who had Lewis and me to dinner a few weeks later) nor Professor Jack Bennet remembered any such feelings on Lewis's part... My own recollection is that it was an occasion of sober discussion of certain quite definite criticisms, which Lewis's rethinking and rewriting showed he thought was accurate. I am inclined to construe the odd accounts of the matter by some of his friends–who seem not to have been interested in the actual arguments of the subject-matter–as an interesting example of the phenomenon called projection. (see [1]).

Image File history File links Quotation marks File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Quotation marks File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Work

In 1942 Anscombe became a postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge, where she met Ludwig Wittgenstein, of whom she became one of the foremost interpreters. She wrote a substantial introduction (1959) to his pre-war Tractatus. Her translation of his other master work, Philosophical Investigations (1953), remains the standard edition in English; she also translated several of his other, lesser works. Her own books include Intention (1957) and three volumes of collected papers, published in 1981: From Parmenides to Wittgenstein; Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind; and Ethics, Religion and Politics. The University of Cambridge, located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (IPA: ) (April 26, 1889 – April 29, 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who contributed several ground-breaking works to modern philosophy, primarily on the foundations of logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind. ... Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length work published by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime. ... Philosophical Investigations (Philosophische Untersuchungen), along with the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, is one of the two major works by Ludwig Wittgenstein. ...

She was for many years the Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge, a position to which she was elected in 1970.

Anscombe is credited with having coined the term "consequentialism". In her 1958 essay "Modern Moral Philosophy", Anscombe wrote: Consequentialism refers to those moral theories that hold that the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgement about that action. ...

The denial of any distinction between foreseen and intended consequences, as far as responsibility is concerned, was not made by Sidgwick in developing any one 'method of ethics'; he made this important move on behalf of everybody and just on its own account; and I think it plausible to suggest that this move on the part of Sidgwick explains the difference between old-fashioned Utilitarianism and the consequentialism, as I name it, which marks him and every English academic moral philosopher since him.

Anscombe also coined the term "brute facts", as opposed to institutions. The term had a major role to play in John Searle's philosophy and "speech act" theory. Image File history File links Quotation marks File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Henry Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (May 31, 1838–August 28, 1900) was an English philosopher. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links Quotation marks File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... John Rogers Searle (born July 31, 1932) is Mills Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, and is noted for contributions to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and consciousness, on the characteristics of socially constructed versus physical realities, and on practical reason. ...

Further reading

• G. E. M. Anscombe: Contraception and Chastity

• The Anscombe Society

Sources

• The Guardian (11 January 2001): Obituary: Elizabeth Anscombe
• First Things (May 2001, 11-13): G.E.M. Anscbome: Living the Truth
• Frequently Asked Questions about C.S. Lewis: "Were Lewis's proofs of the existence of God from Miracles refuted by Elizabeth Anscombe?"
• Monk, Ray (1990/1991): Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140159959.