Description

Richard Wollheim (1923-2003) is known primarily for his writings on aesthetics, and on philosophy of mind and psychoanalysis, being a towering figure in these fields. Yet his work had a very wide scope, and a discernible further major strand in his academic output is political philosophy, on which this volume of previously uncollected papers concentrates. The papers range over a number of topics, but several themes recur: a concern for the workings of democracy; a robust defence of individual liberty; great respect for individuality and individual differences and the vital roles of education and culture. There are also studies of the thought of John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell, and Isaiah Berlin. Wollheim's distinctive voice is a constant: wit, verve, sophistication, erudition, and subtlety. The originality and penetration of his thinking is apparent throughout. He is always to be seen thinking things through for himself; often in reaction to the great philosophers, sometimes (though relatively rarely) with the assistance of contemporaries, but always with the determination of getting to the bottom of things, with a distinctive approach that remains full of fresh insights.

This is one of three planned volumes of Wollheim's previously uncollected work for Oxford University Press. The others are Writing on Art, edited by Gary Kemp and Elisabetta Toreno; and Writing on Philosophy and the Mind, edited by Garry Hagberg.