This paper has two aims: First, to provide an elucidation of the kind of meta-ethical programme at work in Mary Midgley's (1919-2018) Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature (published in 1978). Second, to make the case for Midgley's placement within the philosophical and philosophical-historical canon, specifically, as an important figure within the meta-ethical movement of ‘Neo-Aristotelian naturalism'. On historical and systematic grounds, I argue that Midgley should be classified as a neo-Aristotelian ethical naturalist notwithstanding the distinctive features of (...) Midgley’s specific brand of neo-Aristotelianism. In doing so, I suggest a more generally applicable family resemblance approach to the history of philosophy in order to classify and re-introduce into the canon figures in the history of philosophy that are in danger of falling into oblivion. (shrink)

This volume celebrates the moral and ethical thought one of the most prolific philosophers in the history of twentieth-century philosophy, Mary Midgley (1919-2018). Midgley’s vision of philosophy is expansive and resists simple characterisation (a feature Midgley would welcome given her avid resistance to oversimplification and reduction). Perhaps the best characterisation is that offered by Midgley herself: ‘[philosophy] is itself the art of connecting things’ (Midgley, 2016, 227).

Mary Midgley (1919–2018) was an undergraduate at Oxford University when her friend Elizabeth Anscombe first met Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951). When Anscombe persuaded Wittgenstein to come and speak to the undergraduate students at Oxford University in the late 1940s, Midgley was there. She found Wittgenstein’s words ‘important and illuminating’, and ‘scolded herself for not having brought a notebook’ (Mac Cumhaill & Wiseman 2022: 172). An Anscombe-Wittgensteinian influence is clear and informative on Midgley’s philosophy of language and meta-philosophy, but it has been (...) scarcely explored in the literature. With this in mind, the aims of this chapter are twofold. Primarily, I aim to provide an account of Wittgenstein’s influence on Midgley’s philosophy. I do so by focusing on how Wittgenstein’s ideas influence Midgley’s meta-philosophy and philosophy of language – in particular, her use of cluster concepts (akin to family-resemblance concepts), discussion of ‘life forms’, and implicit description of something like Wittgensteinian language games (PI: 19, 23, 241). (shrink)

In the words of Iris Murdoch, Mary Midgley’s Beast and Man built “an urgently needed bridge between science and philosophy”.1 While science and philosophy have never been entirely remote, Murdoch was right to observe the achievement of her friend, Midgley, in drawing a new and insightful connection between these disciplines. A bridge, more specifically, between scientific investigations into human and animal behaviour, and philosophical enquiries into the concept of human nature. A moral philosopher by trade, Midgley imbues the neo-Aristotelian understanding (...) of man as a ‘rational animal’ with the many traits (she argues) we share with our diverse earthly neighbours – nonhuman animals. (shrink)

Timely and immersive, Metaphysical Animals tells the unlikely story of four young women philosophers. Mary Midgley (neé Scrutton), Iris Murdoch, Elizabeth Anscombe, and Philippa Foot (neé Bosanquet...