Mary Midgley and our Need For (Good) Philosophy, Ian James Kidd (10/11/18)

 At the Midgley Archive Launch we heard a series of wonderful talks from distinguished guests. Here, Dr Ian James Kidd takes inspiration from the archive and reflects on the necessity of philosophy.   Philosophy is a necessity, not a luxury Mary Midgley thought philosophy was a necessity, not a luxury – something we need to […]

Geoff and Mary Midgley – Two Kinds of Philosopher. David Midgley (10/11/2018)

At the Midgley Archive Launch we heard a series of wonderful short talks from distinguished guests. We’ll be sharing them here over the next week. The first is David Midgley’s discussion of his philosopher parents.  I need to preface this paper with a double apology – in the first place I must confess to being […]

Speaker Vulnerability and the Patriarchal University. By Lara Coleman

A Response and Tribute to Pamela Sue Anderson I never quite crossed paths with Pamela Sue Anderson. She returned to Oxford in 2001 to take up a post at my former college the year after I finished my undergraduate studies.  In February 2017, we were both invited to speak at a British Academy conference on […]

‘Rings and Books’ by Mary Midgley

Midgley wrote this essay in the mid-1950s for BBC radio. In her memoir The Owl of Minerva, she recalls:

“I wrote it because I had suddenly been struck by the fact that nearly all the famous philosophers whose lives we know about were lifelong bachelors…

Philippa Foot ‘Sir’ letter

In May 1983, Philippa Foot was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was sent a rather grand certificate informing her of the honor. As you may notice, the certificate is addressed: ‘Sir’. In 1983! Foot wrote this wonderful letter to the AAAS in reply. Photo of Certificate, Photo of […]

Silencing and Speaker Vulnerability: Undoing an oppressive form of (wilful) ignorance

 by Pamela Sue Anderson Essay, Photo, Guidance Qs (t.b.w.) Pamela wrote this paper for our International Women’s Day Conference 2016 [link], Resounding Voices: Women, Silence and the Production of Knowledge. It is with her permission that we publish the full script here. Tragically, Pamela passed away in March 2017. Her beautiful paper offers a way […]

Then and Now

by Mary Midgley Mary Midgley Considers How What Is Called Philosophy Has Changed Since She And Her Friends First Plunged Into It Changes In World-Pictures. When we four people started studying Philosophy at Oxford in the early 1940s, quite a lot of the topics that we might have expected to discuss – most importantly, Human […]

Philippa Foot’s response to being addressed as ‘Sir’

In May 1983, Philippa Foot was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was sent a rather grand certificate (click to enlarge) informing her of the honor: As you may notice, the certificate is addressed: ‘Sir’. In 1983! Foot wrote this wonderful letter to the AAAS in reply.   […]

Interview with Mary Warnock

Last week Liza, Clare and I went along with Lindsay (our film-crew!), to interview Mary Warnock at her London home. We’ll be posting some sound-extracts from the interview here in the coming weeks (along with some from our Mary Midgley interview). Here are some photos to get you in the mood.   It’s going to take us a […]

Interview with Mary Midgley

Clare, Luna, and I went along to interview Mary Midgley today at her home in Newcastle. We spent an incredible 90 minutes learning about life in Oxford during the 1930s and 40s, and hearing her thoughts on the contemporary lot of women in academia. I was especially struck by her comment that one of the […]

Interview with Mary Midgley

Mary Midgley has generously offered us her time on Monday, so we’re off to interview her about the Golden Age of female philosophy! We’ve got our own list of questions, but if there’s anything you think we should ask her do leave a comment or drop us a note. We’re taking a fanstastic filmmaker with us […]