John Lewis (1 February 1889 – 12 February 1976) was a British Unitarian minister and

Marxist philosopher Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and ...

and author of many works on

philosophy 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 ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

, and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

. Lewis's father, a successful builder and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, came from a Welsh farming family, and was a very devout

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. Young Lewis's social and political views clashed with those of his father. Their quarrels eventually led to his father disinheriting him.

Education and religious work

Lewis was born on 1 February 1889. He attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where he earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree. Having been raised a

, he soon left that church to become a Congregationalist. He studied for the ministry at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, and in 1916 was appointed to a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

; in 1924, he moved to a church in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He earned his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree in philosophy from 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 ...

, specialising in the philosophy of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, and becoming a Marxist himself. By 1929, his left-wing views were too strong for the church he was in and he moved to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

as a Unitarian minister. Here, his leftist political sermons attracted a large youth following, but upset a group of older, more conservative members. Their complaints led Lewis to offer his resignation, to be put to a vote of the membership. In a packed and charged meeting, he received the support of the majority of church members.

Political and social activism

Lewis participated in anti-war political activity starting in 1916. On one occasion, he had to be rescued from an angry crowd. He also became involved in work to support the unemployed, and served on the local Trades Union Council. On one occasion, at Christmas, he led a group of unemployed men who marched to the Town Hall, where the Mayor was holding his formal Christmas dinner. They walked in and sat down, demanding to join the feast. He also was involved with the Boy Scout movement, running a Scout troop, and authoring training booklets. He acted as a guide for outdoor holidays organised by the Holiday Fellowship. He often went to Switzerland, and took parties up the

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

. In the 1935 general election he stood unsuccessfully as Labour candidate for

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Leftist politics

The

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

had a great effect on Lewis, and he studied Russian. He became a

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

, and later a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

. In 1936 the

Left Book Club The Left Book Club is a publishing group that exerted a strong left-wing influence in Great Britain, during its initial run, from 1936 to 1948. It was relaunched in 2015 by Jan Woolf and Neil Faulkner, in collaboration with Pluto Press. Pionee ...

, started by the publisher

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing politics. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism; he defined himself as a Christian ...

, was very popular. Lewis quit his ministry in Ipswich to take on the task of building a national network of discussion groups. The groups brought together in a progressive movement intelligent, literate people who had not found rewarding political action in left-wing parties. Soon there were groups in every town. In effect, the Left Book Club and its groups had become a quasi–political party. He also became the editor of the British Marxist journal, '' Modern Quarterly'', from 1946 to 1953. He was very interested in polemical writing, and authored many books and articles in a polemical vein on topics of philosophy, social issues, and Marxism. In one exchange of polemics, he took on the French Marxist philosopher

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher who studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser was a long-time member an ...

. Althusser's part of the exchange is the article "Reply to John Lewis". "Reply to John Lewis" first appeared, translated by Grahame Lock, in two numbers of the theoretical and political journal of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

, ''

Marxism Today ''Marxism Today'', published between 1957 and 1991, was the theoretical magazine of the Communist Party of Great Britain. The magazine was headquartered in London. It was particularly important during the 1980s under the editorship of Martin Jacq ...

'', in October and November 1972. As Althusser himself noted: "'Reply': because, a few months earlier (in its January and February numbers of 1972), the same journal had published a long critical article by John Lewis (a British Communist philosopher known for his interventions in political-ideological questions) under the title: 'The Althusser Case'."

Miscellaneous

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Lewis was a lecturer for the British Army, working with the Army Education Corps and the

Army Bureau of Current Affairs The Army Bureau of Current Affairs (ABCA) was an organisation within the British Army during World War II to promote discussion among soldiers about current events, citizenship, and post-war reconstruction. In August 1940, Lord Croft, Under-Se ...

and lecturing on, among other things, Britain's wartime ally, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He also taught at several different schools, including a stint teaching biology at

Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the ...

, an adult education college in London. Lewis died on 12 February 1976.

Works

* ''How To Run a Patrol'' Brown, Son & Ferguson 1914 * ''How To Run Wolf Cubs'' Brown, Son & Ferguson * ''A Boy Scout Troop and How To Run It'' * ''Wolf Cub Star Tests and How To Pass Them'' * ''The Log of the Pioneers'' * ''How To Run A Scout Camp'' Brown & Son 1918 * ''The Old Testament in the 20th Century'' Allen & Unwin 1923 * ''A Faith to Live By'' Williams and Norjak 1931 * ''Russia in 1932'' Pamphlet Christian World 1932 * ''Christianity and the Social Revolution'' (Edited with Karl Polanyi & Donald Kitchin) Gollancz 1935 * ''Textbook of Marxist Philosophy'' (Ed.) * ''Douglas Fallacies: A Critique of Social Credit'' Chapman & Hall 1935 * ''Socialism and the Churches'' Pamphlet Gollancz 1937 * ''An Introduction to Philosophy'' Gollancz 1937 then fully revised Watts 1954 * ''The Case Against Pacifism'' Allen & Unwin 1939 * ''Marxism and Modern Idealism'' Pamphlet (Marxism Today Series) Lawrence & Wishart 1944 * ''The Philosophy of Betrayal'' (with Reginald Bishop) Pamphlet Russia Today Society 1945 * ''The Basis of Soviet Philosophy'' Pamphlet British Soviet Society 1947 * ''Marxism and the Irrationalists'' Lawrence & Wishart 1955 * ''Marxism and the Open Mind'' Routledge & Kegan Paul 1957 * ''Religions of the World Made Simple'' Made Simple Books 1958 * ''Science, Faith, and Scepticism'' Lawrence & Wishart 1959 * ''Anthropology Made Simple''

Doubleday (publisher) Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897. By 1947, it was the largest book publisher in the United States. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and ...

1961 *
Socialism and the Individual
' Lawrence & Wishart 1961 * ''Teach Yourself A History of Philosophy'' English University Press 1962 * ''Man and Evolution'' Lawrence & Wishart 1962 *
The Life and Teaching of Karl Marx
' Lawrence & Wishart 1965 *
Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and Humanist
' Lawrence & Wishart 1968 * ''Naked Ape or Homo Sapiens?'' (with Bernard Towers) Garnstone 1969 * ''The Left Book Club: An Historical Record'' Gollancz 1970 * ''The Marxism of Marx'' Lawrence & Wishart 1972 * ''The Uniqueness of Man'' Lawrence & Wishart 1974 * ''Beyond Chance and Necessity'' (Ed.) Garnstone 1974 * ''Max Weber and Value Free Sociology: A Marxist Critique'' Lawrence & Wishart 1975

Notes

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, John 1889 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Christian clergy 20th-century Unitarian clergy 20th-century Welsh educators 20th-century Welsh writers Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of University College London British Army personnel of World War II British Marxists Christian communists English activists English Christian socialists English communists English Congregationalists English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English philosophers English Unitarians Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Marxist humanists Marxist theorists People associated with Scouting People educated at Dulwich College Unitarian socialists Welsh anti-war activists Welsh Christian socialists Welsh communists Welsh Congregationalists Welsh philosophers Welsh Unitarians