- Alan Stout
Alan Ker Stout (9 May 1900-1983) was a moral philosopher working at the
University of Sydney , who also wrote on cinema. His father was G. F. Stout, British philosopher.Biography
His mother, Isabella Ker (born in 1855), died in the
UK (St Andrews ) in 1935; his father then joined him in Sydney, when he died in 1944. A.K. Stout married Evelyn Roberts in 1927.A.K. Stout gained his MA at
University of Oxford . In 1924 he undertook a lectureship at the University College of North Wales, then at the University of Edinburgh in 1934. He taught in Sydney from 1939 to the end of his career in 1965. He was the president of the New South Wales Film Society, and officer ofUnesco for films.In Syndney, his appointment was meant to diminish the influence of John Anderson, the philosopher whose opinions were at odds with official requirements of the government. Stout was then supposed to teach the "sensitive" subjects, like moral and political philosophy, whereas Anderson taught logic and metaphysics. There was no genuine opposition between both philosophers though, because Stout ended up supporting Anderson's inconvenient ideas. Nonetheless, he criticised Anderson's view on philosophical matters, opposing his strong determinism.
From 1950 to 1967, Alan K. Stout was the editor of the "
Australasian Journal of Philosophy ".Major publications
Books
*"Documentary films", Sydney, 1944
*"Making films in Australia", Melbourne : Australian National Film Board, 1946.
*"Abortion law reform", Sydney, 1968.Articles
*"The Basis of Knowledge in Descartes", "Mind", New Series, Vol. 38, No. 151, (Jul., 1929), pp. 330-342.
*"The Basis of Knowledge in Descartes" (II), "Mind", New Series, Vol. 38, No. 152, (Oct., 1929), pp. 458-472.
*"Descartes' Proof of the Existence of Matter", "Mind", New Series, Vol. 41, No. 162, (Apr., 1932), pp. 191-207.
*"Symposium: Can Philosophy Determine What Is Ethically or Socially Valuable?", J. L. Stocks, A. K. Stout, W. D. Lamont, "Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society", Supplementary Volumes, Vol. 15, "What can Philosophy Determine?", (1936), pp. 189-235
*"Free Will and Responsibility", "Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society", 37 (1936-37), reprinted in "Readings in Ethical Theory", selected and edited byWilfrid Sellars andJohn Hospers , New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1952.
*"But Suppose Everyone Did the Same", "Australasian Journal of Philosophy" 32, 1954, pp. 1-29.ources
*D. H. Monro, "Obituary Alan Ker Stout, 1900-1983", "Australasian Journal of Philosophy", 61:3 (1983), pp. 337-339.
*J. Franklin, "Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia", Sydney 2003, ch. 5.
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