Abstract
This chapter considers and evaluates the philosophical relationship between Alexander and R.G. Collingwood, focusing particularly on metaphysics and the philosophy of history. Their relationship was founded not on their agreement but to a considerable extent on their differences and their willingness to offer and accept critical commentary on each other’s writings. Following the publication of his An Essay on Philosophical Method in 1933, Collingwood sought to develop his own positive metaphysical system, which consists of a developmental and historical view of reality. It is argued that Alexander’s Space, Time, and Deity played a central part in Collingwood’s construction of his system, supplemented by the work of Whitehead and other process and emergence philosophers.
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Notes
- 1.
Jean-Christophe was a ten-volume series of novels (1904–1912) by Romain Rolland.
- 2.
R.G. Collingwood to W.G. Collingwood, 12 July 1917. In possession of Mrs Teresa Smith, FLTR522.
- 3.
R.G. Collingwood to Kenneth Sisam, Clarendon Press, 11 March 1940.
- 4.
R.G. Collingwood to Samuel Alexander, 30 July 1928.
- 5.
R.G. Collingwood to Samuel Alexander, 30 March 1935.
- 6.
The reference is to Beauty and Other Forms of Value. Collingwood did not review the book, although he reviewed a number of Alexander’s other writings especially on aesthetics.
- 7.
R.G. Collingwood to Samuel Alexander, 2 November 1933.
- 8.
R.G. Collingwood to Samuel Alexander, 3 November 1933.
- 9.
The original working title of the book.
- 10.
For an account of the genesis, content and argument of An Essay on Philosophical Method, see J. Connelly and G. D’Oro, Introduction to the revised and extended 2005 edition of the book.
- 11.
Human Nature and Human History, p. 7 n; The Idea of History, p. 210 n.
- 12.
Ibid., pp. 11, 213.
- 13.
Who wrote on aesthetics under her maiden name of Margaret Bulley.
- 14.
R.G. Collingwood to Samuel Alexander, 24 April 1938.
References
Alexander, S. 1914. The Basis of Realism. The British Academy: Oxford University Press.
———. 1936. The Historicity of Things. In Philosophy and History: Essays Presented to Ernst Cassirer, ed. Raymond Klibansky and H.J. Paton, 11–25. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Collingwood, R.G. 1933–1934. Notes Toward a Metaphysic. Bodleian Library, Dep. 18/3–7.
———. 1939. An Autobiography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 1940. An Essay on Metaphysics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
———. 1945. The Idea of Nature. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Laird, John. 1939. Memoir. In Philosophical and Literary Pieces, ed. J. Laird, 1–96. London: Macmillan.
Sinclair, May. 1917. A Defence of Idealism. London: Macmillan.
———, May. 1922. The New Idealism. London: Macmillan.
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Connelly, J.M. (2021). Becoming Real: The Metaphysics of Samuel Alexander and R.G. Collingwood. In: Fisher, A. (eds) Marking the Centenary of Samuel Alexander's Space, Time and Deity. History of Analytic Philosophy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65121-3_11
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