Mary Midgley

Mary Midgley, née Scrutton, (b. 13 September 1919) is a British moral philosopher. She was a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and is best known for her popular works on religion, science and ethics. She strongly opposes reductionist and scientistic philosophies and is especially concerned with attempts, as she sees it, to make science function as a substitute for the humanities, a role for which she claims it is wholy inadequate. Midgley has famously sparred with Richard Dawkins over selfish genes and memes and has also written in favour of a moral interpretation of the Gaia theory.

External links

• Mary, Mary, quite contrary The Guardian profile 13 January 2001.
• Mary, Mary, quite contrary New Scientist interview 3 November 2001 (requires subscription to read the full article).
• Butterflies and Wheels Discussion of the early arguments between Midgley and Dawkins by Jeremy Stangroom. From TPM Online.
• Guardian review of her book Myths We Live By
• Kenan Malik's review of Science and Poetry