Jonathan Barnes, FBA (born 26 December 1942 in Wenlock, Shropshire) is an English scholar of Aristotelian and

ancient philosophy This page lists some links to ancient philosophy, namely philosophical thought extending as far as early post-classical history (). Overview Genuine philosophical thought, depending upon original individual insights, arose in many culture ...

Education and career

He was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...

and

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. He taught for 25 years at

before moving to the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

. He was a Fellow of

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, w ...

, Oxford, 1968–78; a Fellow of

, Oxford, 1978–94, and has been Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College since 1994. He was Professor of Ancient Philosophy,

, 1989–94. He was Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the

1994–2002. He taught at the University of Paris-Sorbonne in France, and took his éméritat in 2006. He was elected a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

in 1987. He is an expert on ancient Greek philosophy, and has edited the two-volume collection of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

's works as well as a number of commentaries on Aristotle, the

pre-Socratics Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of thes ...

and other areas of Greek thought. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) 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, a ...

in 1999. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

in 2012.

Family

He married in 1965 and has two daughters. He is the brother of the novelist

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with '' The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' A ...

, and he and his family feature in the latter's memoir ''Nothing to be Frightened Of'' (2008).

Philosophical views

Barnes holds that our modern notion of the

scientific method The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific ...

is "thoroughly Aristotelian." He emphasizes the point in order to refute empiricists

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

and John Locke, who thought they were breaking with the Aristotelian tradition. He claims that the "outrageous" charges against Aristotle were brought by men who did not read Aristotle's own works with sufficient attention and who criticized him for the faults of his successors.

Writings

* ''The Complete Works of Aristotle'', 2 vols, 1984; reprinted with corrections, 1995 (General Editor) * '' Posterior Analytics'' (translation and commentary on Aristotle), (1975) (revised edition, 1994) * ''The Ontological Argument'' (1972) * ''Presocratic Philosophers'' 2 Vols., 1979; 1 vol. revised edition, 1982 * ''Aristotle'' (1982) * ''The Modes of Scepticism'' (1985), with Julia Annas * ''Early Greek Philosophy'' (1987) * ''The Toils of Scepticism'' (1990) * ''The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle'' (1995) * ''Logic and the Imperial Stoa'' (1997) * * ''Porphyry: introduction'' (2003) * ''Truth, etc.'' (2007) * ''Coffee with Aristotle'' (2008) * ''Methods and Metaphysics: Essays in Ancient Philosophy I'' (2011) * ''Logical Matters: Essays in Ancient Philosophy II'' (2012) * ''Proof, Knowledge, and Scepticism: Essays in Ancient Philosophy III'' (2014) * ''Mantissa: Essays in Ancient Philosophy IV'' (2015)

References

Sources

* Merritt Moseley, ''Understanding Julian Barnes'', University of South Carolina Press (1997) his book provides family info on the Barnes family.

External links

Bibliography

Photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Jonathan 1942 births English historians of philosophy English classical scholars 20th-century English philosophers 21st-century English philosophers British scholars of ancient Greek philosophy Expatriates in Switzerland Expatriates in France University of Paris faculty University of Geneva faculty Living people Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy People educated at the City of London School Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Classical scholars of the University of Oxford English male non-fiction writers Greek–English translators