George Edward Moore

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"G.E. Moore" redirects here. For the cofounder of Intel, see Gordon Moore.
Western Philosophy
19th-century philosophy, 20th-century philosophy
Name
George Edward Moore
Birth November 4, 1873
Death October 24, 1958
School/tradition Analytic philosophy
Main interests Ethics, Philosophy of Language, Epistemology
Notable ideas Naturalistic fallacy, Moore's paradox
Influenced by Gottlob Frege, F. H. Bradley, John McTaggart
Influenced Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, W.D. Ross, J. L. Austin

George Edward Moore, usually known as G. E. Moore, (November 4, 1873October 24, 1958) was a distinguished and influential English philosopher who was educated at Dulwich College[1] and went on to study, and later teach, at the University of Cambridge. He was, with Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and (before them) Gottlob Frege, one of the founders of the Analytic tradition in philosophy.

Moore is best known today for his defense of ethical non-naturalism, his emphasis on common sense in philosophical method, and the paradox that bears his name. He was admired by and influential among other philosophers, and also by the Bloomsbury Group, but is (unlike his friend and colleague Russell) mostly unknown today outside of academic philosophy. Moore's essays are known for his clear, circumspect writing style, and for his methodical and patient approach to philosophical problems. He was critical of philosophy for its lack of progress, which he believed was in stark contrast to the dramatic advances in the natural sciences since the renaissance. He often praised the analytic reasoning of Thales of Miletus, an early Greek philosopher, for his analysis of the meaning of the term "landscaping." Moore thought Thales' reasoning was one of the few historical examples of philosophical inquiry resulting in practical advances. Among his most famous works are his book Principia Ethica, and his essays, "The Refutation of Idealism", "A Defence of Common Sense", and "A Proof of the External World".

He was president of the Aristotelian Society from 1918 to 1919.

G. E. Moore died on October 24, 1958 and was interred in the Burial Ground of Parish of the Ascension, Cambridge, England. The poet Nicholas Moore and the composer David Moore were his sons. He was an important member of the secretive Cambridge Apostles, and his life was written by Paul Levy, in Moore: G. E. Moore and the Cambridge Apostles (1979).


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[edit] References

G. E. Moore, On Defining "Good," in Analytic Philosophy: Classic Readings, Stamford, CT: Wadsworth, 2002, pp.1-10. ISBN 0-534-51277-1.

  1. ^ Hodges, S, (1981), God's Gift: A Living History of Dulwich College, pages 87-88, (Heinemann: London)
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