Brian Barry
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Brian Barry, (7 August 1936 – 10 March 2009) was a
moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...
and
political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. He was educated at the
Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...
, obtaining the degrees of B.A. and D.Phil. under the direction of
H. L. A. Hart Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart (; 18 July 190719 December 1992) was a British legal philosopher. One of the most influential legal theorists of the 20th century, he was instrumental in the development of the theory of legal positivism, which wa ...
. Along with David Braybrooke, Richard E. Flathman, Felix Oppenheim, and Abraham Kaplan, he is widely credited with having fused
analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...
and
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
. Barry also fused political theory and
social choice theory Social choice theory is a branch of welfare economics that extends the Decision theory, theory of rational choice to collective decision-making. Social choice studies the behavior of different mathematical procedures (social welfare function, soc ...
and was a persistent critic of
public choice theory Public choice, or public choice theory, is "the use of economic tools to deal with traditional problems of political science." Gordon Tullock, 9872008, "public choice," '' The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics''. . It includes the study of ...
.


Life

During his early career, Barry held teaching posts at the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
,
Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...
and the
University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...
. In 1965 he was appointed a teaching fellow at
University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...
and then
Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...
. In 1969 he became a professor at
Essex University The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass universities. The university comprises three campuses in the county, in Southend-on-Sea and ...
. Barry was Lieber Professor Emeritus of Political Philosophy at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. He was awarded the
Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science The Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science () was established in 1995 by the Johan Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University. The foundation itself goes back to the donation in 1622 from Johan Skytte (1577–1645), politician and chancellor of th ...
in 2001. Barry also taught at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, in the departments of philosophy and political science. During this time he edited the journal ''
Ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
'', helping raise its publication standards. Under his editorship, it became perhaps the leading journal for moral and political philosophy. He was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1978. Barry was a Distinguished Supporter of the
British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent non-religious people in the UK through a mixture of charitable servic ...
, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the
University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
in 2006. In 2014, the British Academy, in partnership with Cambridge University Press and the '' British Journal of Political Science'', founded an annual prize in political science in his honour: the Brian Barry Prize in Political Science.


Selected publications

* ''Why Social Justice Matters'' (Polity 2005) * ''Culture & Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism'' (2001) * ''Justice as Impartiality'' (1995) * ''Liberty and Justice: Essays in Political Theory'' (1991) * ''Theories of Justice'' (Berkeley, 1989) * ''Democracy, Power, and Justice: Essays in Political Theory'' (Oxford, 1989) * ''The Liberal Theory of Justice'' (1973) * ''Sociologists, Economists and Democracy'' (1970) *


Further reading

* ''Justice & Democracy: Essays for Brian Barry'', edited by Keith Dowding, Robert E. Goodin, and
Carole Pateman Carole Pateman FBA FAcSS FLSW (born 11 December 1940) is a British feminist and political theorist. She is known as a critic of liberal democracy and has been a member of the British Academy since 2007. Biography Pateman was born in Maresf ...
(2004) * ''Multiculturalism Reconsidered: 'Culture and Equality' and Its Critics'', edited by Paul Kelly (2002) * ''Impartiality, Neutrality and Justice: Re-Reading Brian Barry's 'Justice as Impartiality'', edited by Paul Kelly (2001)


References


External links


Columbia profileObituary, ''The Guardian''Obituary, ''The Times''
rchived by Wayback Machinebr>The Brian Barry Literary Archive
A 'work in progress' site for Brian Barry's unpublished writings. *
Brian Barry, British Political Philosopher
' by The Editors of
Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
rchival content - originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year, originally published on 14 May 2009*
Brian Barry is dead
' remembrance from Harry Brighouse on the
Crooked Timber Crooked Timber is a blog with a left-of-center political slant, primarily administered by academics from countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. The blog's name is inspired by a quotation from philosopher Immanuel Kant: " ...
group blog. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Brian 20th-century English philosophers 21st-century English philosophers Academics of the London School of Economics Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of Keele University Academics of the University of Southampton Academics of the University of Essex Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford British humanists Columbia University faculty Critics of multiculturalism Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the British Academy British political philosophers Scholars of nationalism 1936 births 2009 deaths Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford