A. C. Grayling
Anthony Clifford Grayling MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSA (born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. He is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London and a supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford.
Background
Grayling was born in Luanshya, Zambia and spent his formative years in the British expatriate community of East Africa. His first exposure to philosophical writing was at the age of twelve when he read an English translation of Plato's Charmides dialogue. At fourteen he read G. H. Lewes's Biographical History of Philosophy. This work was instrumental in confirming his ambition to study philosophy. Grayling later remarked on the text, "It superinduced order on the random reading that had preceded it, and settled my vocation."
After returning to England in his teens Grayling studied at Sussex University and Magdalen College, Oxford where he obtained his doctorate in 1981. The subject of his thesis was "scepticism and transcendental arguments." This was supervised by the philosophers P. F. Strawson and A. J. Ayer. Grayling lectured in philosophy at St Anne’s College, Oxford before taking up a post at Birkbeck College, London where he subsequently became Reader in Philosophy, and then Professor of Philosophy.
Academic interests
Grayling’s main areas of interest are the theory of knowledge, metaphysics, and philosophical logic. He brings these subjects together in an attempt to define the relationship between mind and world, and in so doing he is challenging the ideas of philosophical scepticism. His arguments are elucidated in a number of publications, including The Refutation of Scepticism (1985), Berkeley: The Central Arguments (1986), Wittgenstein (1988), and Russell (1996). Grayling uses philosophical logic to counter the arguments of the sceptic, thereby shedding light on the traditional ideas of the realism debate and developing associated views on truth and meaning. His ideas are described in the later chapters of An Introduction to Philosophical Logic (1982), and advanced in a series of papers including Epistemology and Realism (1991-2), and Independence and Transcendence: The Independence Thesis and Realism (1998). In these publications he puts forward the idea that we should consider realism as a primarily epistemological—rather than a metaphysical or a semantic—concept on the relations between mind and world.
Grayling has written widely on contemporary issues including war crimes, the legalisation of drugs, euthanasia, secularism, and human rights. In support of his belief that the philosopher should engage in public debate, he brings the philosophical perspective to issues of the day in his work as a commentator on radio and television. In a series of popular books, commencing with The Meaning of Things (2001), Grayling has made the basics of philosophy available to the layman.
Positions held
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
- Fellow of the World Economic Forum
- Member of the editorial boards of Reason in Practice and Prospect
- British Academy visitor to the Institute of Philosophy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (1986)
- Director of the Sino-British Summer School in Philosophy in Beijing (1988, 1993)
- Jan Hus Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy at the Czech Academy of Science (1994 and 1996)
- Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship (1998)
- Honorary Secretary of the Aristotelian Society (1993-2001)
- Gifford Lecturer at the University of Glasgow (2005)
- Past chairman of June Fourth, a human rights group concerned with China
Publications
- Berkeley: The Central Arguments (1986) ISBN 0812690370
- China: A Literary Companion (1995) With Susan Whitfield ISBN 0719553539
- An Introduction to Philosophical Logic (1998) ISBN 0631206558
- Philosophy: A Guide Through the Subject Vol 1 (1998) ISBN 0198752431
- Philosophy 2 ISBN 0198751788
- The Meaning of Things: Applying Philosophy to Life (2001) ISBN 0297607588
- Wittgenstein (2002) ISBN 345104739X
- Quarrel of the Age: the life and times of William Hazlitt (2001) ISBN 184212496X
- Russell: A Very Short Introduction (2002) ISBN 0192802585
- The Reason of Things (2002) ISBN 0297829351
- What Is Good?: The Search for the Best Way to Live (2003) ISBN 0297841327
- Life, Sex and Ideas: The Good Life Without God (2003) ISBN 019517755X
- The Art of Always Being Right: Thirty Eight Ways to Win When You Are Defeated (2004) Author: Arthur Schopenhauer. Introduction by Grayling ISBN 1903933617
- The Mystery of Things (2004) ISBN 0297645595
- The Heart of Things: Applying Philosophy to the 21st Century (2005) ISBN 0297848194
- Descartes: The Life of Rene Descartes and its place in his times (2005) ISBN 0743231473
- Among the Dead Cities: Was the Allied Bombing of German and Japan in World War II a crime or a necessity? (2006) ISBN 0747576718