Peter West

This project brings to light the lives and ideas of a generation of women in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s in Britain. Specifically, the project focuses on three women: Susan Stebbing (1885-1943), Margaret Macdonald (1903-1956), and Dorothy Emmet (1904-2000). These women were all at the institutional heart of analytic philosophy in Britain, publishing in leading journals and holding prominent roles in institutions like the Aristotelian Society and the journal Analysis. But they were all written out of the story of analytic philosophy's rise from the 1950s onwards. This project examines what that story looks like when they are re-introduced as its protagonists.

 

During my time in Notre Dame, I will be working on a paper on Dorothy Emmet's moral philosophy; specifically, her rejection of the Fact-Value distinction, her account of the relationship between sociology and ethics, and the possible influence of Aristotelian ethics.

 

The project is funded by the British Academy/ Leverhulme Trust.