Alan Harry Donagan (10 February 1925 – 29 May 1991) was an Australian/American philosopher, distinguished for his theories on the philosophy of history and the nature of morality. He attended the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and was Professor of Philosophy 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 ...

. He is most well known for his book
The Theory of Morality
' (1977) where he tries to argue for the common morality of the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

traditions which

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

and

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

shared. Starting from that "primary common principle" which prescribes anybody to treat the humanity "always as an end and never as a means only", he identifies in the

Kantian Kantianism () is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mi ...

concept of "respect"—namely in the axiom according to which "you are not allowed not to respect each human being, yourself or any, as a rational creature"—the very principle of morality, whereby the idea of personal life as an "objective good", to which anybody ought to be absolutely bound, and that nobody can arbitrarily decide upon. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was deeply committed to the history of law and ethics which led him to conceptual issues that arise out of practical reflections on moral and juridical issues. In reviewing Donagan's ''Philosophical Papers'' D. W. Hamlyn wrote, "the papers which make up the final two thirds of the second volume of this compilation clearly reveal Donagan's claim to being a major twentieth century philosopher." Volume 104, No.1 of The Journal ''Ethics'' was dedicated in honor of his philosophy.

Writings

* ''The Later Philosophy of R. G. Collingwood'' (Oxford, 1962) * ''Philosophy of History'' ed. Alan Donagan and Barbara Donagan (Macmillan, 1965) * ''The Theory of Morality'' (Chicago, 1977)
Book-review excerpts
* ''Choice: The Essential Element in Human Action'' (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987) * ''Spinoza'' (Chicago, 1988) * ''The Philosophical Papers of Alan Donagan'' ed. J. E. Malpas, 2 vols (Chicago, 1994) * ''Reflections on Philosophy and Religion'' ed. Anthony N. Perovich Jr. (Oxford, 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donagan, Alan 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century Australian philosophers Philosophers from Illinois Philosophers from Minnesota University of Melbourne alumni University of Chicago faculty University of Minnesota faculty 1925 births 1991 deaths Australian emigrants to the United States