David George Ritchie

David George Ritchie

Philosophy

Profession: Philosopher Talents etc.: As a child, was kept away from other children because he was frail and bookish; thus, read and fished in his free time (Professional) Role in St Andrews: Chair of logic and metaphysics Dean of the faculty of arts Representative of Senatus at university court Lecturer in logic, psychology, metaphysics, history of philosophy Years in St Andrews: 1894-1903

history

1853

fal2@st-andrews.ac.uk

Organisation

196

David George Ritchie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_George_Ritchie

TEXT

Q3703192

D.O.B: 1853 D.O.D: 1903 Family origins: Father: Dr George Ritchie, Presbyterian minister and moderator pf the general assembly of the Chruch of Scotland; family linked to scholarly pursuits (e.g. Dr David Ritchie, professor of logic, and the Carlyles) Mother: Elisabeth Bradfute Dudgeon Education: Jedburgh Academy Edinburgh University: psychology, logic, metaphysics with Campbell Fraser; moral philosophy with Henry Calderwood; Greek with J. S. Blackie Balliol College Oxford Private life/family life: Married Flora Lindsay, daughter of Colonel A. A. Macdonell of Lochgarry Only one of the twin daughters survived After death of Flora, married Ellen Sara Haycraft, professor of psychology at University College, Cardiff Son Arthur

Involved in which fields of scholarship? Philosophy Most famous contribution(s) to scholarship 1 (i.e. in philosophy): Most important influences: Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Hamilton, Mill Interests: philosophical idealism, social reform, political philosophy Most work produced as tutor in Jesus College, Oxford British idealist: Interested in developing political and social philosophy from idealist foundations: application of evolutionary theories to social thought Study of Lamarck and Darwin: Darwinism and Politics (1889; 3rd edn, 1895) and in Principles of State Interference (1891; 4th ed, 1902): 'the theory of natural selection lends no support to the political dogma of laissez faire'; rather, evolutionary science pointed to the need for increased state intervention He challenged the antithesis between the individual and the state that had been established by nineteenth-century Liberals and which continued to underscore opposition to enlarging the role of the state. Arguing that this antithesis was founded on an aggregative view of individuals, Ritchie affirmed that individuals are indivisible from their membership in a society. In response to Mill, he denied that society was merely a collection of autonomous, self-governing individuals, or that state intervention curtailed individual freedom. Individual freedom lies in community with others, not in separation from them State as a moral entity: 'The state has as its end, the realisation of the best life by the individual': provided conditions in which the common good was enhanced -> defended compulsory education, factory legislation, and numerous other interventions, 'intelligent and scientific state action' above piecemeal philanthropic reforms Ritchie held that the laws of social evolution, properly examined, could equip the social reformer to guide society in the direction of progress. Vigorously opposed to intuitionism, with its consequent creed of political Conservatism, Ritchie remained a spirited advocate of uncompromising political reform. He ranged himself alongside progressive Liberals or socialists on most contemporary issues: he supported home rule for Ireland; he considered the South African War to be a just conflict; he advocated sweeping reform of property tenure; and he demonstrated a strong belief in world federation. Authoritative modification of utilitarianism: moral good is the deliberate adoption of those feelings, acts, and habits which are advantageous, not to the individual, but to the welfare of the whole community; affirmed that idealism and utilitarianism were wholly consistent Ritchie desired to draw parallels between idealism and other schools of thought. (e.g. demonstrated that idealism was not opposed to natural science, as some critics had argued) Critique of natural rights theory (Natural Rights, 1895): objected to the expectation that individuals possess rights independently from their political or social context and affirmed instead that rights are acquired only by membership in a society (other liberals such as L. T. Hobhouse and J. A. Hobson expressed concern that Ritchie had too sharply minimized the importance of individual rights to a just and democratic society) Ritchie was a passionate democrat: condemned the inequity of class difference, noting too the destructiveness of the inequalities between men and women; Ritchie had little faith that any innate sense of sympathy or common feeling could overcome the 'ceaseless struggle and competition' of the evolutionary process. Persuaded by Darwinian theories of natural selection and the struggle for existence, he was struck by the ubiquity of conflict and competition in and among societies. Darwin and Hegel (1893): parallels between the two thinkers Philosophical Studies (1905): to resolve confusion between fact and value, and between origin and validity; Ritchie's writing was plain, accessible, and polemical. His insistence that evolutionary theory lent no support for laissez-faire but rather was an argument for increased state intervention was followed by progressive political reformers, such as Sidney Webb and the new Liberals. His vision of a moral state, persuasively outlined in accessible articles and speeches, enjoyed a similar impact. Indeed, more than Green, Ritchie has been credited with establishing the basis for the new Liberal defence of an enlarged state. His communitarian interpretation of the relationship between the individual and the state in a just and progressive society also resonates in contemporary communitarian political theory. If you want to read one thing written by him/her, it should be: Darwin and Hegel (1893)

1903

Any political involvement? Progressive political sympathies: An early friend, F. C. Montague, recalled: 'He was a zealous democrat, although his mode of thought seemed to have little affinity with that of the common mind. He was a socialist, and had the strongest belief in state action whenever possible' (Ritchie, 7) While he promoted socialist tenets, most notably in his attack on individualism and a minimalist state, Ritchie did not hold to any one socialist programme, and was even uncomfortable with several doctrines advanced by his fellow Fabians. Other societies/groups elsewhere? Philosophical society university of Edinburgh Co-operative Society of Oxford Society for Study of Social Questions, Social Science Club, … Oxford Fabian Society 1889-1893 Associated places in St Andrews: (e.g. home, lab, favourite spot) Eastern cemetery: tomb containing his ashes Possible human interest story 1: By the end of his studies, felt unable to take holy orders as his family had envisioned because he had developed scepsis against religious doctrines. Possible human interest story 2: Also because of the intellectual and politcally interested wives, Ritchie was in favour of the empancipation of women. He asked for a radical reorganisation of the national economy for the advancement of women Possible human interest story 3: Known among his students for his patience, quiet lectures, exactitude and precision Possible human interest story 4: Diplomacy in long-standing discpute with Dundee University College Possible human interest story 5: 'It is with pain', observed the university newspaper, 'that one has to record that Professor Ritchie is of no use on the golf course, either inside or outside a bunker' (College Echoes, 13 Dec 1901) Awards/Honours: As an undergraduate: Medals in Latin, Greek, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy After graduation: Scottish universities’ classical scholarship 1875 Dean of faculty of arts and representative of senatus at university court in St Andrews 1898: honorary degree of LLD conferred by his alma mater Other interesting/quirky facts (not necessarily related to subject areas): Appreciated art, poetry, local history, botany Biographical sources: (e.g. OxDNB, family memoir, other...) OxDNB Available images of the person: Portrait in photographic collections, St Andrews Available images of places/objects associated with the person: Own image of tomb?