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Metaphysical Animals

How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life

Clare Mac Cumhaill Rachael Wiseman

$24.99

Paperback

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English
Vintage
09 May 2023
A ground-breaking book that examines the place of women in twentieth-century philosophy and is a call to arms for the present day

WINNER OF THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWN AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK A FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD

Elizabeth Anscombe- defiantly brilliant, chain-smoking, trouser-wearing Catholic and (eventual) mother of seven.

Philippa Foot- pathalogically discreet, quietly rebellious granddaughter of a US president.

Mary Midgley- witty scholar and careful observer of humans and animals alike.

Iris Murdoch- aspiring novelist and Francophile with the power to seduce (almost) anyone.

Written with expertise and flair, Metaphysical Animals is a vivid portrait of the endeavours and achievements of these four remarkable women. As undergraduates at Oxford during the Second World War, they shared ideas (as well as shoes, sofas and lovers). From the disorder and despair of war, they went on to breathe new life into philosophy, creating a radically fresh way of thinking about freedom, reality and human goodness that is there for us today.

'Evocative and sparkling' New York Times

'A triumph' Mail on Sunday
By:   ,
Imprint:   Vintage
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm,  Spine: 25mm
Weight:   286g
ISBN:   9781529112184
ISBN 10:   1529112184
Pages:   416
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Undergraduate ,  Primary
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman are philosophy lecturers and friends. Mac Cumhaill is an expert in the philosophy of perception and aesthetics at Durham University; Wiseman lectures at Liverpool University and is a recognised authority on the work of Elizabeth Anscombe. Their interest in the group of philosophers in this book sprang from a concern about their students- why were so many brilliant female fledgling philosophers leaving the discipline? Clare and Rachael began telling the story of Iris Murdoch, Mary Midgley, Philippa Foot and Elizabeth Anscombe to inspire the next generation. Mac Cumhaill and Wiseman are the co-directors of www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk, a pioneering scholarly project that focuses attention on the four women and makes the case for analytic philosophy's first all-female philosophical school. They live in Newcastle, the city to which Mary Midgley moved in 1951. In the final years of her life Clare and Rachael became good friends with Mary. When she died, aged 99, they were inspired to tell this story.

Reviews for Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life

Joyful... These four are enlivening companions... four glorious heroines, confident and curious, focused on the world and not on themselves * Spectator * Irresistible... Highly evocative... Bring[s] to life an important episode in intellectual history, and [has] made me again grateful that I was for a time a contemporary of these unforgettable women -- Thomas Nagel * London Review of Books * Lively ... This fascinating work of historico-logico-feminism shows... how women fought their way on to the world stage of philosophy and turned its spotlight away from an analytical desert on to what was really important - moral clarity, wisdom and truth -- John Walsh * Sunday Times * The narrative is of four brilliant women finding their voices, opposing received wisdom, and developing an alternative picture of human beings and their place in the world... To read this story is to be reminded...that the life of the mind can be as intense and eventful as friendship itself -- Anil Gomes * Guardian * The heart of this book resides in the friendship among the four women and the ways they supported and influenced one another... The biographical material in Metaphysical Animals is evocative and sparkling, sketching each woman's character with a novelists mastery of detail -- Laura Miller * New York Times *


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