Richard Arthur Wollheim (5 May 1923 − 4 November 2003) was a British
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 ...
noted for original work on
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 ...
and
emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
s, especially as related to the
visual art
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...
s, specifically,
painting
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
. Wollheim served as the president of the
British Society of Aesthetics from 1992 onwards until his death in 2003.
Biography
Richard Wollheim was the son of Eric Wollheim, a
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
impresario
An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...
, and Constance (Connie) Mary Baker, an
actress
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
who used the stage name Constance Luttrell. He attended
Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
, London, and
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world.
With a governing body of a master and aro ...
(1941–2, 1945–8), interrupted by active military service in World War II. He obtained two first class BA degrees, one in History in 1946, the other in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...
in 1949.
The same year, he began teaching 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 ...
, where he became
Grote Professor of Mind and Logic and Department Head from 1963 to 1982.
He retired from that position to take up a professorship 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 ...
(1982–85). He then taught at the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
(1985–2002).
He chaired the Department at UC Berkeley, 1998–2002.
Between 1989 and 1996 he split his time between Berkeley and the
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...
, where he was Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities. Additionally, he held visiting positions at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
,
Graduate Center, CUNY
The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...
and elsewhere.
He was elected as a fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies 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 sa ...
in 1972 and 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 1986.
Wollheim gave several distinguished lecture series. He delivered the William James Lectures at Harvard in 1982, published as ''The Thread of Life'' (1984) and the Ernst Cassirer Lectures at Yale in 1991, upon which were based his ''On the Emotions'' (1999).
He also gave the
Andrew W. Mellon lectures in Fine Arts at the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
in 1984 which, with much elaboration, became his ''Painting as an Art'' (1987).
In 1962, Wollheim published an article "A paradox in the theory of democracy", in which he argued that a supporter of democracy faces a contradiction when he votes. On the one hand he wants a particular party or candidate to win, but on the other hand he wants whoever wins the most votes to win. This has become known as
Wollheim's paradox.
His ''Art and its Objects'' (1968) had a significant impact upon both aesthetics and the philosophy of art.
In a 1965 essay, '
Minimal Art
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or conc ...
', he coined the term
Minimalism
In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
.
As well as for his work on the philosophy of art, Wollheim was known for his philosophical treatments of
depth psychology
Depth psychology (from the German term ''Tiefenpsychologie'') refers to the practice and research of the science of the unconscious, covering both psychoanalysis and psychology. It is also defined as the psychological theory that explores the rel ...
, especially that of
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
, to whose work he had been introduced by his father.
Wollheim was an honorary affiliate of the
British Psychoanalytical Society, to whom he gave an Ernest Jones lecture in 1968 and in 1991 he was given an award for his services to psychoanalysis by the
International Psychoanalytical Association.
His posthumously-published ''Germs: A Memoir of Childhood'', with complementary essays, discloses a good deal about his family background and his life up to early manhood, providing valuable material for understanding his interests and sensibility.
Personal life
Wollheim married Anne Barbara Denise (1920–2004), daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel
George Powell, of the
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...
, after her divorce from her first husband, the literary critic
Philip Toynbee. They had twin sons, Bruno and Rupert. Their marriage was dissolved in 1967. Wollheim married Mary Day Lanier, stepdaughter of
Dwight Macdonald, in 1969; their daughter is Emilia.
Publications
For an extensive bibliography of Richard Wollheim's publications by a professional bibliographer, see Eddie Yeghiayan's UC-Irvine site. See also the 'Philweb' listing.
Many of Richard Wollheim's publications are outside academic categories. Besides books, he published many articles, in journals and edited collections, book reviews, and gallery catalogues for shows. He also left writings in manuscript, letters and recordings of his talks.
Books and monographs (selected)
*''
F. H. Bradley''. Harmondsworth; Baltimore: Penguin, 1959. 2d edition, 1969.
Socialism and Culture. (Fabian Tract, 331.) London:
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...
, 1961.
*
'On Drawing an Object'.: (An inaugural lecture delivered at University College London 1 December 1964) London: University College, 1965. Repr. in ''On Art and the Mind''.
*''
Art and Its Objects: an Introduction to Aesthetics''. New York: Harper & Row, 1968. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970. As Harper Torchbook, 1971.
**''
Art and its Objects: With Six Supplementary Essays''. 2d edition. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980.
*''A Family Romance''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1969. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1969 (novel).
*
''Freud''. (
Fontana Modern Masters.) London: Collins, 1971. Paperback, 1973. American and later Cambridge University Press (1981) eds. titled ''Sigmund Freud''.
*''
On Art and the Mind: essays and lectures''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press,1972.
'The Good Self and the Bad Self: the Moral Psychology of British Idealism and the English School of Psychoanalysis Compared'Dawes Hicks Lecture (1975)—repr. in ''The Mind and Its Depths'', 1993.
*'The Sheep and the Ceremony' The Leslie Stephen Lecture, 1979 —repr. in ''The Mind and Its Depths'', 1993.
*''The Thread of Life''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1984.
*''Painting as an Art''. Andrew M. Mellon Lectures in Fine Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1987.
*''The Mind and Its Depths''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993 (essays).
*''On the Emotions''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999.
*''
Germs: a memoir of childhood''. London: Waywiser Press, 2004.
*Gary Kemp and Elisabetta Toreno (eds.) ''Uncollected Writings: Writing on Art,'' Oxford, 2025
Edited books
*''
Hume on Religion'' London: Collins, Fontana Library'','' 1968
*''The Image in Form: Selected Writings of Adrian Stokes,'' 1974
*''Freud: A Collection of Critical Essays'' (1974), reprinted as ''
Philosophers on Freud: New Evaluations'' (1977)
**includes Wollheim's "Introduction" and "Imagination and Identification"
*''
Philosophical Essays on Freud'', with James Hopkins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
**includes Wollheim's "The bodily ego".
*''
R.B.Kitaj: A Retrospective'', with Richard Morphet. London:
Tate Publishing, 1994.
**includes Wollheim's "Kitaj: Recollections and Reflections"
Selected articles
*"Minimal Art", ''Arts Magazine'' (January 1965): 26–32. Repr. in ''
Minimal art: a critical anthology'' (1968) and ''On Art and the Mind''.
*"Nelson Goodman's Languages of Art", ''The Journal of Philosophy'': 62, no. 16 (Ag. 1970): 531.
*"Philosophy and the Arts" (Conversation with Richard Wollheim).In
Bryan Magee
Bryan Edgar Magee (; 12 April 1930 – 26 July 2019) was a British philosopher, broadcaster, politician and author, best known for bringing philosophy to a popular audience.
Early life
Born of working-class parents in Hoxton, London, in 1930, ...
, ed., ''
Modern British Philosophy'', 1971.
*"Adrian Stokes, critic, painter, poet", ''Times Literary Supplement'' (17 February 1978): 207–209.
*"Art as a Form of Life." In
Ted Honderich
Edgar Dawn Ross "Ted" Honderich (30 January 1933 – 12 October 2024) was a Canadian-born British philosopher, who was Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic, University College London.
Biography
Honderich was born on ...
and
Myles Burnyeat
Myles Fredric Burnyeat (; 1 January 1939 – 20 September 2019) was an English scholar of ancient philosophy.
Early life and education
Myles Burnyeat was born on 1 January 1939 to Peter James Anthony Burnyeat and Cynthia Cherry Warburg. He re ...
, eds., ''
Philosophy As It Is'', 1979
*"The Cabinet of Dr Lacan", ''Topoi'': 10 no. 2 (1991): 163–174.
"A Bed out of Leaves" ''London Review of Books'' 25, no. 23 (4 December 2003).
Notes
References
Further reading
*
External links
The Richard Wollheim Centenary Project** Vanessa Brassey (dir.)
‘The Richard Wollheim Centenary Film’(5 August 2024).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wollheim, Richard
1923 births
2003 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Academics of University College London
British philosophers
British Jews
Jewish philosophers
People educated at Westminster School, London
Harvard University staff
Columbia University faculty
University of California, Berkeley faculty
Philosophers of art
Presidents of the Aristotelian Society
Philosophers of mind
Moral psychology
Presidents of the American Philosophical Association