Margaret MacDonald (9 April 1903 – 7 January 1956) was a British analytic

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 ...

. She worked in the areas of

philosophy of language Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), me ...

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

and

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

Life and education

Margaret MacDonald was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and abandoned as a child. She was educated at

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 ...

and was awarded a first class degree in philosophy in 1932, followed by a PhD in 1934. Her PhD supervisor was

Susan Stebbing Lizzie Susan Stebbing (2 December 1885 – 11 September 1943) was a British philosopher. She belonged to the 1930s generation of analytic philosophy, and was a founder in 1933 of the journal ''Analysis.'' Stebbing was the first woman to hold a p ...

Addis, Mark (2005)
"MacDonald, Margaret (1907-56)"
In Brown, Stuart (ed.).
The Dictionary of Twentieth-century British Philosophers
'. Bristol: Thoemmes. pp.601–605. . Reprinted in ''The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy'' (2006) who provided MacDonald with financial assistance during her research. MacDonald joined

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

, as a Pfeiffer Research Fellow in Moral Sciences between 1934 and 1937. While at Cambridge, she studied under G.E. Moore and was part of the inner circle of students that

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

taught. Along with fellow student

Alice Ambrose Alice Ambrose Lazerowitz (November 25, 1906 – January 25, 2001) was an American philosopher, logician, and author. Early life and education Alice Loman Ambrose was born in Lexington, Illinois and orphaned when she was 13 years old. She ...

she secretly (since he did not allow this) made notes during Wittgenstein's lectures, which were later published. They later convinced Wittgenstein to allow them continue to write his lectures down.

Career

From 1937 to 1941 MacDonald taught philosophy at

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College (full name = Principal and Council of St. Hilda's College, Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon saint Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a ...

, where she was also librarian. During the war she was temporary principal in the Board of Trade. This was followed by a lectureship at

Bedford College, London Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a leading role in the advancement of women in highe ...

. At this time, she was one of a very small number of women teaching philosophy outside of Oxford University. From 1947 she was also a lecturer on Ethics to staff at the Home Office. She became reader in philosophy at Bedford College in 1955. MacDonald's early articles were criticisms of the work of contemporary philosophers. Later she concentrated on aesthetics, particularly on how language relates to art. She was also interested in political philosophy and published a significant article "Natural Rights", in which she argues against the idea that natural rights are founded on natural law. Her view is summarised by Jonathan Wolff as: "statements of natural rights are akin to decisions, declaring 'here I stand', and he... uses an analogy with another area of critical judgement — in her case literary appreciation — to point out the possibility of rational argument through the presentation of reasons". Her work attracted substantial attention at the time. Two of her articles were reprinted in the series ''Logic and Language'' (1951), which included articles that were representative of current philosophical trends. Having studied with Wittgenstein before coming to Oxford in 1937, she deployed and developed Wittgensteinian themes in her own subsequent work, and it has been argued that this work was an important source of ideas in her close friend Gilbert Ryle's philosophy. Mark Addis reports that, in 1933. MacDonald "helped to found" the philosophy journal ''

Analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

'' "in collaboration with" Stebbing, C.A. Mace and Ryle. She was also the journal's editor from 1948 until 1956. She died in London in 1956, following heart surgery.

Publications

* Margaret MacDonald (1933)
"Verification and Understanding"
''

Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, more generally known as the Aristotelian Society, is a philosophical society in London. History Aristotelian Society was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Squar ...

'' 34:143 - 156. * Margaret Macdonald (1936)
"Russell and McTaggart"
''

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 ...

'' 11 (43):322 - 335. * Margaret Macdonald (1936)
"Language and Reference".
''Analysis'', 4 (2/3), 33–41 * Margaret MacDonald, Gilbert Ryle and I. Berlin (1937)
"Symposium: Induction and Hypothesis"
'' Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume'' 16:20 - 102. * Margaret MacDonald (1937)
"Reply to Mr. MacIver"
''

'' 4 (5):77 - 80. * Margaret MacDonald (1937)
"Further Reply to Mr. MacIver"
''Analysis'' 5 (1):12 - 16. * Margaret MacDonald (1937)
"The Philosopher's Use of Analogy"
''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society'', 38 (1937-1938): 291–312., reprinted in Gilbert Ryle and

Antony Flew Antony Garrard Newton Flew (; 11 February 1923 – 8 April 2010) was an English philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, Flew worked on the philosophy of religion. During the course of his career he taught ...

, ed,\, '' Logic and Language'' (First Series): Essays. Blackwell. (1951) * Margaret MacDonald (1938)
"Things and Processes".
''Analysis'' 6 (1):1 - 10. Reprinted in '' Philosophy and Analysis'' (1954) * Margaret MacDonald (1940)
"Necessary Propositions"
''Analysis'' 7 (2):45 - 51. * Margaret MacDonald (1940)
"The Language of Political Theory"
''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society'', (41): 91–112. reprinted in
''Methods in Ethics'': ''Virtual Issue No. 3,''
''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society'' (2015) and; Gilbert Ryle and Antony Flew, ed., '' Logic and Language'' (First Series): Essays. Blackwell. (1951) * Margaret MacDonald (1946)
"Natural Rights".
''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society'' 47:225 - 250. * A. H. Hannay, John Holloway and Margaret MacDonald (1949)
"Symposium: What Are the Distinctive Features of Arguments Used in Criticism of the Arts?"
''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume'' (23): 165–94; MacDonald's contribution reprinted in William Elton, ed., '' Aesthetics and Language''. (1954) * Margaret MacDonald (1950). "Ethics and the Ceremonial Use of Language", in

Max Black Max Black (February 24, 1909 – August 27, 1988) was a Russian-born British-American philosopher who was a leading figure in analytic philosophy in the years after World War II. He made contributions to the philosophy of language, the philosoph ...

(ed.), '' Philosophical Analysis: A Collection of Essays'' (1950), pp. 211–29. * Margaret MacDonald (1951)
"Professor Ryle on the Concept of Mind"
''

Philosophical Review ''The Philosophical Review'' is a quarterly journal of philosophy edited by the faculty of the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University. Since September 2006, it is published by Duke University Press. Overview The journal publishes origina ...

'' 60 (January):80-90. * Margaret MacDonald (1952)
"Art and Imagination"
''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society'' 53:205 - 226. * Margaret MacDonald (1953)
"Sleeping and Waking"
''

Mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

'' 62 (April):202-215. * Margaret MacDonal
(1953). "Linguistic Philosophy and Perception".
''Philosophy'' 28 (October):311-324. * Margaret MacDonald and M. Scriven (1954)
"Symposium: The Language of Fiction"
''Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume'' 28:165 - 196; MacDonald's contribution reprinted in Margolis, Joseph (ed.). '' Philosophy Looks at the Arts: Contemporary Readings in Aesthetics'' (1962) * Margaret MacDonald (ed.) (1954/1966). ''Philosophy and Analysis''. Oxford, B. Blackwell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Margaret 1956 deaths 20th-century English philosophers 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English historians Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Analytic philosophers British ethicists English librarians British women librarians British librarians English logicians English women philosophers Metaphilosophers British philosophers of art British philosophers of culture Philosophers of history British philosophers of language British philosophers of logic British political philosophers Scholars of contemporary philosophy Wittgensteinian philosophers 1903 births People associated with St Hilda's College, Oxford