G. E. M. Anscombe

Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (March 18, 1919 – January 5, 2001) (known as Elizabeth Anscombe, published as G. E. M. Anscombe) was a British analytic philosopher, a theologian and a pupil of Ludwig Wittgenstein. She contributed extensively to the fields of ethics, especially to the modern revival of virtue ethics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, Logic, Semiotics, and language theory. Her 1958 article "Modern Moral Philosophy", introduced the term "consequentialism" into the English language.

Work

In 1942 Anscombe became a postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge, where she met Ludwig Wittgenstein, of whom she became one of the foremost interpreters. She wrote a substantial introduction (1959) to his pre-war Tractatus. Her translation of his other master work, Philosophical Investigations (1953), remains the standard edition in English; she also translated several of his other, lesser works. Her own books include Intention (1957) and three volumes of collected papers, published in 1981: From Parmenides to Wittgenstein; Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind; and Ethics, Religion and Politics. She was for many years the Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge, a position to which she was elected in 1970.

Related Topics:
1942 - University of Cambridge - Ludwig Wittgenstein - Tractatus - Philosophical Investigations - 1970

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Anscombe is credited with having coined the term "consequentialism". In her 1958 essay "Modern Moral Philosophy", Anscombe wrote, "The denial of any distinction between foreseen and intended consequences, as far as responsibility is concerned, was not made by Sidgwick in developing any one 'method of ethics'; he made this important move on behalf of everybody and just on its own account; and I think it plausible to suggest that this move on the part of Sidgwick explains the difference between old-fashioned Utilitarianism and the consequentialism, as I name it, which marks him and every English academic moral philosopher since him."

Related Topics:
Consequentialism - 1958 - Sidgwick - Utilitarianism

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Anscombe also coined the term brute facts, as opposed to institutions. The term had a major role to play in John Searle's philosophy and speech act theory.

Related Topics:
Brute fact - John Searle - Speech act

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