John Leslie Mackie (1917–1981) was a philosopher, originally from Sydney, Australia. He is perhaps best known for his views on meta-ethics, especially his defence of moral skepticism. However, he has also made significant contributions to philosophy of religion and metaphysics. The 20th century brought with it upheavals that produced a series of conflicting developments within philosophy over the basis of knowledge and the validity of various absolutes. ... Ethics (from the Ancient Greek ethikos, meaning arising from habit; also Morality), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of value, or morals and morality. ... Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... The Argument from Queerness is a term used by J. L. Mackie in his book Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong to describe a certain sort of reductio ad absurdum that he uses against moral objectivism; he argues that if there were objective values, then they would be entities of a... John Anderson (1893-1962) was a Scottish born philosopher who occupied the post of Challis Professor of Philosophy at Sydney University in the years 1927-1958. ... Captain of Leyton Orient football club, John Mackie (born 5th July 1976 in London) is considered to be one of the best players in League Two. ... Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... This is about the city of Sydney in Australia. ... In philosophy, meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties (if there are any), and ethical statements, attitudes, and judgments. ... In meta-ethics, moral skepticism is a theory which maintains either that ethical claims are generally false, or else that we cannot sufficiently justify any ethical claims, and must therefore maintain doubt about whether they are true or false. ... Philosophy of religion is the rational study of the meaning and justification ( or rebuttal) of fundamental religious claims, particularly about the nature and existence of God (or gods, or the divine). ... Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ...

Biography

Timeline

• 1938, graduates from the University of Sydney after study under John Anderson
• 1938, Wentworth Travelling Fellowship to study Greats at Oriel College, Oxford
• 1940, graduates with a first
• 1940-46, World War II army service
• 1946-54, Lectures at the University of Sydney in Moral and Political Philosophy
• 1955-59, Professor of Philosophy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
• 1959-63, Professor of Philosophy, University of Sydney
• 1963-67, Professor of Philosophy, University of York
• 1967, elected a fellow of University College, Oxford
• 1974, elected a fellow of the British Academy

The University of Sydney, established in Sydney in 1850, is the oldest university in Australia. ... John Anderson (1893-1962) was a Scottish born philosopher who occupied the post of Challis Professor of Philosophy at Sydney University in the years 1927-1958. ... College name Oriel College Named after Blessed Virgin Mary Established 1324 Sister College Clare College, Cambridge Trinity College, Dublin Provost Sir Derek Morris JCR President Frank Hardee Undergraduates 304 Graduates 158 Homepage Boatclub Oriel College (in full: The House of Blessed Mary the Virgin in Oxford commonly called Oriel College... Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33... The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealands oldest university with over 20,000 students enrolled during 2006. ... The University of York is a campus university in York, England. ... University College (in full, the College of the Great Hall of the University, commonly known as University College in the University of Oxford, usually known by its derivative, Univ), is a contender for the claim to be the oldest of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the... The British Academy is the United Kingdoms national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. ...

Character and family

Mackie is said to have been capable of expressing total disagreement in such a genial way that the person being addressed might mistake the comment for a compliment. This personal style is exemplified by the following words from the preface to Mackie's Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong (1977, p. 3):

Mackie's daughter, Dr. Penelope Mackie, also became a philosopher. She was a lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham from 1994 to 2004, and is now at the University of Nottingham. Website http://www. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Nottingham is a leading research and teaching university in the city of Nottingham, in the East Midlands of England. ...

Work

Mackie was most well known for his contributions to the fields of meta-ethics, philosophy of religion, and metaphysics. In meta-ethics, he took the position of moral skepticism (to be distinguished from moral nihilism), arguing against the objective existence of right and wrong on fundamental grounds concerning what kinds of things such things would be, if they existed (see, for example, Mackie 1977) (see Argument from Queerness). Concerning religion, he was well known for vigorously defending atheism, and also arguing that the problem of evil made untenable the main monotheistic religions (see, for example, Mackie 1982). In metaphysics, Mackie made significant contributions relating to the nature of causal relationships, especially regarding conditional statements describing them (see, for example, Mackie 1974). In philosophy, meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties (if there are any), and ethical statements, attitudes, and judgments. ... Philosophy of religion is the rational study of the meaning and justification ( or rebuttal) of fundamental religious claims, particularly about the nature and existence of God (or gods, or the divine). ... Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... In meta-ethics, moral skepticism is a theory which maintains either that ethical claims are generally false, or else that we cannot sufficiently justify any ethical claims, and must therefore maintain doubt about whether they are true or false. ... Moral nihilism is the meta-ethical view that normative, moral statements are false. ... The Argument from Queerness is a term used by J. L. Mackie in his book Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong to describe a certain sort of reductio ad absurdum that he uses against moral objectivism; he argues that if there were objective values, then they would be entities of a... Atheism is the disbelief[1] in the existence of any deities. ... In the philosophy of religion and theology, the problem of evil is the problem of reconciling the existence of evil or suffering in the world with the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent god or gods. ... In theology, monotheism (Greek μόνος(monos) = single and θεός(theos) = God) is the belief in the existence of one deity or God, or in the oneness of God. ... This article is about causality as it is used in many different fields. ...

Selected publications

• 1973, Truth, Probability, and Paradox, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-824402-9.
• 1974, The Cement of the Universe: A Study of Causation, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-824642-0.
• 1976, Problems from Locke, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-824555-6.
• 1977, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, Viking Press, ISBN 0-14-013558-8.
• 1977, "The Third Theory of Law", Philosophy & Public Affairs, Vol. 7, No. 1.
• 1980, Hume's Moral Theory, Routledge Keegan & Paul, ISBN 0-7100-0525-3.
• 1982, The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and Against the Existence of God, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-824682-X.
• 1985, Logic and Knowledge: Selected Papers, Volume I, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-824679-X.
• 1985, Persons and Values: Selected Papers, Volume II, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-824678-1.

1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References and further reading

• Franklin, James. (2003) Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia, Macleay Press, ISBN 1-876492-08-2.
• Honderich, Ted (ed). (1985) Morality and Objectivity: A Tribute to J. L. Mackie, Routledge Kegan & Paul, ISBN 0-7100-9991-6.
• Stegmüller, Wolfgang. (1989) Hauptströmungen der Gegenwartsphilosophie (Bd. IV, Kapitel II, Teil A. Moralphilosophie ohne Metaphysik; Teil B. Mackies Wunder des Theismus), Alfred Kröner Verlag, ISBN 3-520-41501-1.