Arthur O. Lovejoy (1873–1962)
Auteur van The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea
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"Reflections on the History of Ideas" 1 exemplaar
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Algemene kennis
- Gangbare naam
- Lovejoy, Arthur O.
- Officiële naam
- Lovejoy, Arthur Oncken
- Geboortedatum
- 1873-10-10
- Overlijdensdatum
- 1962-12-30
- Geslacht
- male
- Nationaliteit
- USA
- Geboorteplaats
- Berlin, Germany
- Plaats van overlijden
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Woonplaatsen
- California, USA
Baltimore, Maryland, USA - Opleiding
- University of California, Berkeley (B.A.|1895)
Harvard University (M.A.|1897)
Sorbonne - Beroepen
- Professor of Philosophy
intellectual historian
philosopher - Organisaties
- Johns Hopkins University
American Association of University Professors
American Civil Liberties Union
Journal of the History of Ideas
University of Missouri
Washington University in St. Louis (toon alle 7)
Stanford University - Prijzen en onderscheidingen
- American Philosophical Society (1932)
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- 1,002
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- #25,741
- Waardering
- 4.1
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- 8
- ISBNs
- 40
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- 5
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I was interested to learn that the concept of a 'missing link' did not enter European thought with Darwin's theory. I already knew that Darwin did not originate the idea of evolution, but merely suggested a physical mechanism for it. The theory of plentitude, as elaborated in the 18th century, required that God create every possible type of being, so that there would be no gaps between the levels of existence. Such a gap, as the one that seemed to exist between the higher apes and the human race led some to try to fit remote races such as the Hottentots or Australians between apes and the fully human. For others, the missing link threatened the entire theory.
Lovejoy also explains that the concept of the 'best of all possible worlds' was not as fatuous as Voltaire notoriously made it seem in his character of Dr. Pangloss. The concept assumes that given the constraints of physical matter, free-will, etc. some worlds are not possible. Of the ones that are possible, this must be the best, because a good God, or Plato's 'the Good" cannot create less than the best. This does not mean that the world is a paradise, obviously a world that contains lions, because they are worthy of existence, and gazelles because they are also worthy of existence cannot be the best for both lions and gazelles at all times.
In any case, the book is worth reading since it examines and explains concepts that produced or influenced a great deal of philosophy and art within Western culture. My only complaint is of the amount of material that is left untranslated. There are ample examples in English, but the German, much of the French and the Latin are wasted on me.… (meer)