- John Lewis (philosopher)
John Lewis (
February 1 ,1889 -February 12 ,1976 ) was a BritishUnitarian minister andMarxist philosopher and author of many works onphilosophy ,anthropology , andreligion .Lewis's father, a successful builder and
architect , came from a Welsh farming family, and was a very religiousMethodist . Young Lewis's social and political views clashed with those of his father. Their quarrels eventually led to his father disinheriting him.Education and religious work
Lewis attended
Dulwich College andUniversity College, London , where he earned his B.Sc. Having been raised a Methodist, he soon left that church to become a Congregationalist. He studied for the ministry at Cambridge, and in 1916 was appointed to aPresbyterian church in Gravesend; in 1924, he moved to a church inBirmingham . He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from theUniversity of Birmingham , specialising in the philosophy ofKarl Marx , and becoming a Marxist himself.By 1929, his left wing views were too strong for the church he was in and he moved to
Ipswich as a Unitarian minister. Here, his leftist political sermons attracted a large youth following, but upset a group of older, more conservative members. Their complaints led Lewis to offer his resignation, to be put to a vote of the membership. In a packed and charged meeting, he received the support of the majority of church members.Political and social activism
Lewis participated in anti-war political activity starting in 1916. On one occasion, he had to be rescued from an angry crowd. He also became involved in work to support the unemployed, and served on the local
Trades Union Council . On one occasion, at Christmas, he led a group of unemployed men who marched to the Town Hall, where the Mayor was holding his formal Christmas dinner. They walked in and sat down, demanding to join the feast.He also was involved with the Boy Scout movement, running a Scout troop, and authoring training booklets. He acted as a guide for outdoor holidays organised by the
Holiday Fellowship . He often went toSwitzerland , and took parties up theMatterhorn .In the 1935 General Election he stood unsuccessfully as Labour candidate for
Great Yarmouth .Leftist politics
The
Bolshevik Revolution had a great effect on Lewis, and he studied Russian. He became aChristian Socialist , and later a Marxist.In 1936 the
Left Book Club , started by the publisherVictor Gollancz , was very popular. Lewis quit his ministry in Ipswich to take on the task of building a national network of discussion groups. The groups brought together in a progressive movement intelligent, literate people who had not found rewarding political action in leftwing parties. Soon there were groups in every town. In effect, the Left Book Club and its groups had become a quasi-political party.He also became the editor of the British Marxist journal, "The Modern Quarterly", from 1946-1953. He was very interested in polemical writing, and authored many books and articles in a polemical vein on topics of philosophy, social issues, and Marxism. In one exchange of polemics, he took on the French Marxist philosopher
Louis Althusser .Miscellaneous
During
World War II Lewis was a lecturer for the British Army, working with theArmy Education Corps and theArmy Bureau of Current Affairs and lecturing on, among other things, Britain's wartime ally, theSoviet Union .He also taught at several different schools, including a stint teaching biology at
Morley College .Works
* "The Old Testament in the 20th Century"
* "A Faith to Live By"
* "Christianity and the Social Revolution" (Ed.)
* "Textbook of Marxist Philosophy" (Ed.)
* "Douglas Fallacies: A Critique of Social Credit"
* "The Philosophy of the Soviet State"
* "An Introduction to Philosophy"
* "The Case Against Pacifism"
* "Marxism and Modern Idealism"
* "The Basis of Soviet Philosophy"
* "Marxism and the Open Mind"
* "Religions of the World"
* "Science, Faith, and Scepticism"
* "Anthropology"
* "Socialism and the Individual"
* "A History of Philosophy"
* "Man and Evolution"
* "The Life and Teaching of Karl Marx"
* "Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and Humanist"
* "Naked Ape or Homo sapiens?"
* "The Left Book Club: An Historical Record"
* "The Marxism of Marx"
* "Marxism and the Irrationalists"
* "The Uniqueness of Man"
* "Max Weber and Value Free Sociology: A Marxist Critique"References
* "The Anglo-Marxists: A Study in Ideology and Culture", by Edwin A. Roberts, New York: 1997. A chapter is devoted to Lewis.
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