G. E. M. Anscombe
G. E. M. Anscombe (
18 March,
1919 –
5 January,
2001) (born
Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe, also known as
Elizabeth Anscombe) was a
British analytic philosopher. A student of
Ludwig Wittgenstein, she became an authority on his work, and edited and translated many books drawn from his writings. She wrote on the
philosophy of mind,
philosophy of action,
logic,
semiotics, language theory, and
theology. Her 1958 article "Modern Moral Philosophy" introduced the term "
consequentialism" into the English language; this and subsequent articles had a seminal influence on contemporary
virtue ethics.
G. E. M. Anscombe was born to Gertrude Elizabeth Anscombe and Alan Wells Anscombe, on
18 March,
1919, in
Limerick,
Ireland (where her father had been posted as an officer in the British army).
She graduated from
Sydenham High School in 1937, and went on to read "Mods & Greats" (a course of study in
classics,
ancient history, and
philosophy) at
St Hugh's College of the
University of Oxford, graduating with a First in 1941. During her first undergraduate year she converted to
Roman Catholicism, and remained a lifelong devout Catholic. She garnered controversy when she publicly opposed Britain's entry into
WWII, although her father had been a soldier, and her brother was to serve during
WWII.
She married
Peter Geach, like her a Roman Catholic convert, a student of Wittgenstein, and a distinguished British academic philosopher. Together they reared three sons and four daughters.
After graduating from Oxford, Anscombe was awarded a research fellowship for postgraduate study at
Newnham College, Cambridge from 1942 to 1945. While studying at Cambridge she began to attend
Ludwig Wittgenstein's lectures. She became an enthusiastic student, feeling that Wittgenstein's therapeutic method helped to free her from philosophical boggles in ways that her training in traditional systematic philosophy could not. As she wrote (in
Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind, pp. vii-ix, quoted in Monk, 1990, p. 497):
After her fellowship at Cambridge ended, she was awarded a research fellowship at
Somerville College, Oxford, but during the academic year of 1946 - 1947, she continued to travel to Cambridge once a week, together with her fellow student
W. A. Hijab, to attend tutorials with Wittgenstein on the
philosophy of religion. She became one of Wittgenstein's favorite students and one of his closest friends (Monk [1990] 497-498).
Anscombe visited with Wittgenstein many times after he left Cambridge in 1947, and traveled to Cambridge in April 1951 to visit him on his deathbed. Wittgenstein named her, along with
Rush Rhees and
Georg Henrik von Wright, as his
literary executor, and after his death in 1951, she was responsible for editing, translating, and publishing many of Wittgenstein's manuscripts and notebooks.
Anscombe remained at Somerville College from 1946 to 1970. She was also known for her willingness to face fierce public controversy in the name of her Catholic faith. In 1956, while a research fellow at
Oxford University, she protested against Oxford's decision to grant an honorary degree to
Harry S. Truman, whom she denounced as a mass murderer for his use of
atomic bombs at
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
She scandalized liberal colleagues with articles defending the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to
abortion and
contraception, and was arrested twice while protesting outside an abortion clinic in Britain, after abortion had been legalized (albeit with restrictions).
Anscombe was elected
Professor of
Philosophy at
Cambridge University in 1970, where she served until her retirement in 1986.
In her later years, Anscombe suffered from heart disease, and was nearly killed by an automobile accident in 1996. She spent her last years in the care of her family in
Cambridge. She died, aged 81, with her husband and four of their seven children at her bedside, on
5 January,
2001.
As a young philosophy don, Anscombe acquired a reputation as a formidable debater. In 1948 she won a debate against
C. S. Lewis at Oxford's
Socratic Club over Lewis's argument that naturalism was self-refuting (found in the third chapter of original publication of his book
Miracles). Some associates (primarily
George Sayer and
Derek Brewer) remarked that this loss was so humiliating for Lewis that he abandoned
theological argument and turned entirely to devotional writing and
children's literature... even though Anscombe herself objected to this portrayal. As a result of the weaknesses pointed out in the contest, Lewis substantially rewrote the chapter for future editions of the book. Anscombe's comments on the matter were thus:
In 1942 Anscombe became a postgraduate student at the
University of Cambridge, where she met
Ludwig Wittgenstein, of whom she became one of the foremost interpreters. She wrote a substantial introduction (1959) to his pre-war
Tractatus. Her translation of his other master work,
Philosophical Investigations (1953), remains the standard edition in English; she also translated several of his other, lesser works. Her own books include
Intention (1957) and three volumes of collected papers, published in 1981:
From Parmenides to Wittgenstein;
Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind; and
Ethics, Religion and Politics.
She was for many years the Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge, a position to which she was elected in 1970.
Anscombe is credited with having coined the term "
consequentialism". In her 1958 essay "Modern Moral Philosophy", Anscombe wrote:
Anscombe also coined the term "brute facts", as opposed to institutions. The term had a major role to play in
John Searle's philosophy and "speech act" theory.
*
G. E. M. Anscombe: Contraception and Chastity*
The Anscombe Society*
The Guardian (11 January,
2001): Obituary: Elizabeth Anscombe
*
First Things (May 2001, 11-13): G.E.M. Anscbome: Living the Truth*
Frequently Asked Questions about C.S. Lewis: "Were Lewis's proofs of the existence of God from
Miracles refuted by Elizabeth Anscombe?"
* Monk, Ray (1990/1991):
Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140159959.
