Benjamin J. B. Lipscomb

This is a fine book of group biography tracing the connections between four key female philosophers of the mid-20th century. From significantly varying backgrounds and with differing temperaments, they met at Oxford just prior to and during the second world war. There they poured themselves into the study of philosophy and life. They each contended with the prevailing subjectivist moral theories of their day and, following different paths, arrived at views that set them apart, promoting the rich complexity of life in our moral thinking as against theory-laden principled choices or acts of will. More Aristotle than Ayer. More virtue than existential choice.

Perhaps the best parts of the book are the biographical. Certainly tracing these four lives over the course of more than 50 years offers a worthy insight into life, not just academic life, at Oxford University and beyond. I was more interested, however, in the specifically philosophical developments and there too I was not disappointed. Of course I wanted more. But that would simply be a different kind of book.

It is unlikely that this book will find a wide readership but I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in how philosophers think about moral matters.… (meer)