John Passmore - Wikipedia John Passmore From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search For the American politician, see John Passmore (politician). For the Australian artist, see John Passmore (artist). John Passmore Born 9 September 1914 Manly, Sydney Died 25 July 2004 (aged 89) Canberra,[1] Australia Era 20th-century philosophy Region Western philosophy School Analytic philosophy Academic advisors John Anderson Main interests History of philosophy, philosophy of teaching Influences John Anderson, Gilbert Ryle John Passmore AC (9 September 1914 – 25 July 2004) was an Australian philosopher. Contents 1 Life 2 Work 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 External links Life[edit] John Passmore was born on 9 September 1914 in Manly, Sydney, where he grew up.[2][3] He was educated at Sydney Boys High School.[4] He subsequently graduated from the University of Sydney with first-class honours in English literature and philosophy whilst studying with a view to become a secondary-school teacher.[1] In 1934 he accepted the position of assistant lecturer in philosophy at the University of Sydney, continuing teaching there until 1949.[5] In 1948 he went to study at the University of London. From 1950 to 1955 he was (the first) professor of philosophy at the University of Otago in New Zealand.[1][6] In 1955 he spent a year at the University of Oxford on a Carnegie grant. Upon his return to Australia he took up a post at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University, where he was professor of Philosophy in the Research School of Social Sciences from 1958 to 1979. In 1960 he was Ziskind visiting professor at Brandeis University in the United States. He subsequently lectured in England, the United States, Mexico, Japan, and in various European countries. He also served as a director and then later as governor of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust.[6] In 1994 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour.[3][4] He died on 25 July 2004 and was survived by his wife Doris and two daughters.[3][6] Work[edit] Passmore was as much a historian of ideas as a philosopher,[6] and his scholarship always paid careful attention to the complex historical context of philosophical problems. He published about twenty books, many of which have been translated.[6] Philosopher Frank Jackson notes that Passmore "shaped public debate and opened up philosophy and history of ideas to the wider world".[6] In his book Man's Responsibility for Nature (1974)[7] Passmore argued that there is urgent need to change our attitude to the environment, and that humans cannot continue unconstrained exploitation of the biosphere. However, he rejected the view that we need to abandon the Western tradition of scientific rationalism, and was unsympathetic towards attempts to articulate environmental concern through radical revisions of our ethical framework, as advocated by deep ecologists, which he conceived as misguided mysticism or irrationalism.[8] Passmore was very skeptical about attempts to attribute intrinsic value to nature, and his preferred position was of valuing nature in terms of what it contributes to the flourishing of sentient creatures (including humans).[9] According to William Grey of the International Society for Environmental Ethics, his "unequivocal anthropocentrism made him a reference point in the discourse of environmental ethics and many treatises in field begin with (or include) a refutation of his views".[9] Passmore described himself as a "pessimistic humanist" who regarded neither human beings nor human societies as perfectible.[10] Bibliography[edit] Reading and Remembering (1942, 1943, 1963) Talking Things Over (1945) Ralph Cudworth (1951) Hume's Intentions (1952) Philosophical Reasoning (1961) Joseph Priestley (1965) A Hundred Years of Philosophy (1957, 1968) The Perfectibility of Man (1970) Man's Responsibility for Nature (1974, 1980) Science and Its Critics (1978) The Philosophy of Teaching (1980) The Limits of Government (1981) (the 1981 Boyer Lectures) Recent Philosophers (1985) Serious Art: A Study of the Concept in All the Major Arts (1991) Memoirs of a Semi-detached Australian (1997) References[edit] ^ a b c "John Passmore (1914-2004) | Issue 48 | Philosophy Now". philosophynow.org. Retrieved 9 September 2019. ^ John Passmore, Memoirs of a Semi-Detached Australian, Melbourne University Press, Carlton South, 1997, p. 17. ^ a b c "John Passmore". The Daily Telegraph. 22 August 2004. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 September 2019. ^ a b Sydney High School Old Boys Union, ORDER OF AUSTRALIA ^ "Passmore, John Arthur (1914 – ) Australian Philosopher and Writer | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 9 September 2019. ^ a b c d e f Jackson, Frank (5 August 2004). "His ideas shaped public debate". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 September 2019. ^ Midgley, Mary (1975). "Review of Man's Responsibility for Nature". Philosophy. 50 (191): 106–113. doi:10.1017/S0031819100059179. ISSN 0031-8191. JSTOR 3749653. ^ Charlesworth, Max. "Passmore, John". A Companion to Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand. Retrieved 4 October 2019. In his polemical work Man’s Responsibility for Nature Passmore attacks the views of some of the ‘deep ecologists’ who, so he claims, have a ‘mystical’ (i.e. non-scientific) view of nature (wildernesses, features like the Great Barrier Reef, etc.). He agrees that we do have some kind of responsibility for natural phenomena and that we do have some kind of obligation with regard to them. But he rejects the arguments used in support of the ‘green’ position which often appeal to moral (non-negotiable) absolutes that cannot be justified by ‘principles which are so decisive that we should surrender every other objective in order to adhere to them’ (1974: viii). Passmore’s work was sharply criticised by some ecological philosophers, but he steadfastly maintained that he opposed the pollution of the planet and that we have an obligation to future generations to leave the natural world in good shape. ^ a b iseeenviroethics (26 July 2004). "John Passmore (9 September 1914 – 25 July 2004)". ISEE - International Society for Environmental Ethics. Retrieved 4 October 2019. ^ "Why I Am a Secular Humanist" Free Inquiry, Wntr 1997 v18 n1 p18(5) "I am willing to admit that there is no deed so dreadful that we can safely say 'no human being could do that' and no belief so absurd that we can safely say 'no human being could believe that.' But on the other side I point to the marvelous achievements of human beings in science and art and acts of courage, love, and self-sacrifice. I call myself a pessimistic humanist because I do not regard human beings or their societies as being perfectible but a humanist I nonetheless am." External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: John Passmore "Papers of John Passmore" — National Library of Australia "John Passmore" — tribute from Allan Saunders (ABC Radio National transcript) "John Passmore" — Daily Telegraph obituary "His ideas shaped public debate" — obituary by Frank Jackson in The Sydney Morning Herald "Interview with Emeritus Professor John Passmore" ANU Oral History Archive Interview conducted 17 May 1991 "Passmore, John", Max Charlesworth, A Companion to Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand Bryan Magee talks to John Passmore about Hume for The Great Philosophers (1987) [at YouTube] Authority control BNE: XX840475 BNF: cb12032244q (data) GND: 122384229 ISNI: 0000 0001 0910 2730 LCCN: n80016994 NKC: jx20050719019 NTA: 068816480 PLWABN: 9810647498305606 SELIBR: 233373 SNAC: w63f4q2b SUDOC: 028498585 Trove: 514735 VcBA: 495/175627 VIAF: 66482691 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n80016994 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Passmore&oldid=992470619" Categories: 1914 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Australian philosophers 21st-century Australian philosophers Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Oxford Analytic philosophers Australian ethicists 20th-century Australian historians Companions of the Order of Australia Contemporary philosophers Cultural critics Epistemologists Film theorists Historians of philosophy History of ideas History of philosophy Metaphysicians Moral philosophers Ontologists People from Manly, New South Wales Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of history Philosophers of literature Philosophers of mind Philosophers of pessimism Philosophers of technology Australian social commentators Social critics Social philosophers University of Otago faculty University of Sydney alumni Hidden categories: Use dmy dates from January 2017 Use Australian English from January 2017 All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikiquote Languages Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 5 December 2020, at 12:48 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement