The Cultural Politics of Analytic Philosophy Continuum Studies in British Philosophy Series Editor: James Fieser, University of Tennessee at Martin, USA Continuum Studies in British Philosophy is a major monograph series from Continuum. The series features fi rst-class scholarly research monographs across the fi eld of British philosophy. Each work makes a major contribution to the fi eld of philosophical research. Applying Wittgenstein – Rupert Read Berkeley and Irish Philosophy – David Berman Berkeley’s Philosophy of Spirit – Talia Bettcher Bertrand Russell, Language and Linguistic Theory – Keith Green Bertrand Russell’s Ethics – Michael K. Potter Boyle on Fire – William Eaton The Coherence of Hobbes’s Leviathan – Eric Brandon Doing Austin Justice – Wilfrid Rumble The Early Wittgenstein on Religion – J. Mark Lazenby F. P. Ramsey – edited by Maria J. Frapolli Francis Bacon and the Limits of Scientifi c Knowledge – Dennis Desroches Hobbes and the Making of Modern Political Thought – Gordon Hull Hume on God – Timothy S. Yoder Hume’s Social Philosophy – Christopher Finlay Hume’s Theory of Causation – Angela Coventry Idealist Political Philosophy – Colin Tyler Iris Murdoch’s Ethics – Megan Laverty John Stuart Mill’s Political Philosophy – John Fitzpatrick Matthew Tindal, Freethinker – Stephen Lalor The Philosophy of Herbert Spencer – Michael Taylor Popper, Objectivity and the Growth of Knowledge – John H. Sceski Rethinking Mill’s Ethics – Colin Heydt Russell and Wittgenstein on the Nature of Judgement – Rosalind Carey Russell’s Theory of Perception – Sajahan Miah Thomas Hobbes and the Politics of Natural Philosophy – Stephen J. Finn Thomas Reid’s Ethics – William C. Davis Wittgenstein and Gadamer – Chris Lawn Wittgenstein and the Theory of Perception – Justin Good Wittgenstein at his Word – Duncan Richter Wittgenstein on Ethical Inquiry – Jeremy Wisnewski Wittgenstein’s Religious Point of View – Tim Labron The Cultural Politics of Analytic Philosophy Britishness and the Spectre of Europe Thomas L. Akehurst Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704 London SE1 7NX New York, NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © Thomas L. Akehurst 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-8470-6450-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Akehurst, Thomas L. The cultural politics of analytic philosophy: britishness and the spectre of Europe/Thomas L. Akehurst. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references ISBN-13: 978-1-84706-450-9 (HB) ISBN-10: 1-84706-450-7 (HB) 1. Analysis (Philosophy) 2. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770–1831–Infl uence. 3. Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844–1900–Infl uence. 4. Germany--Politics and government--20th century. I. Title. B808.5.A34 2010 146’.40941--dc22 2009019738 Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group Contents Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Nazi Philosophy 16 Chapter 2 The Expulsion of the Invaders 53 Chapter 3 Philosophical Method: Virtue vs Vice 88 Chapter 4 The Virtuous Tradition: Analysis, Liberalism, Britishness 126 Epilogue 163 Notes 170 Bibliography 198 Index 209 Acknowledgements The research for this book was made possible by a University of Sussex Seedcorn Scholarship, and subsequent work has been made easier by a Scouloudi Foundation Historical Award. I am grateful to both of these insti- tutions, and to the East Sussex Fire and Rescue service for preventing the whole project going up in smoke at an early stage. Given that the cultural history of philosophy is a relatively unpeopled fi eld in this country, I’ve been very fortunate to fi nd so many readers and commentators. Many of them have had to stray from their preferred fi elds and display considerable tolerance in engaging with this project. They have, in so doing, immeasurably improved the resulting book. I am grate- ful to the historians at the University of Sussex who have supported me in my idiosyncratic research choices. I am especially indebted to Knud Haakonssen, Alun Howkins, and Paul Betts. The encouragement of the latter, in particular, has proved fortifying at all points of this process. I have also benefi ted greatly from the comments of Stefan Collini, James Hampshire, Michael Morris, Andrew Rebera, Jonathan Rée, Darrow Schecter and Brian Young. Ben Jones, Shamira Meghani, Katherine Nielsen, Karen Schaller and Reto Speck read parts or all of the manuscript for me – catching many errors I would have missed entirely. While this book is not unequivocal in its praise of analytic philosophy, I would like to offer unequivocal gratitude (and praise) for the teaching of my own phi- losophy tutors, among them Hallvard Lillehammer, Neil Manson, and the late Peter Lipton. I am tremendously grateful to my friends: Chris, Emma, Jon, Karen, Kat, Katerina, Matt, Petra, Reto and Tim for their company and conversation. In keeping with the theme of Britishness, I will say least about those whose support has mattered most: Shamira, my parents, and my sister. I’ll send them all postcards. Sections of the argument of Chapters 1 and 2 of this book have previ- ously appeared in ‘The Nazi Tradition: the analytic critique of continental philosophy in mid-century Britain’, History of European Ideas 34 (2008), 548–557. Acknowledgements vii Extracts from Russell’s History of Western Philosophy are reproduced by permission of the Taylor and Francis Group (World excluding USA) and with the permission of Simon and Schuster, Inc. (USA) Copyright 1945 by Bertrand Russell. Copyright renewed 1973 by Edith Russell. All rights reserved. This page intentionally left blank Introduction Hitler’s ideals come mainly from Nietzsche.1 (Bertrand Russell 1935) Nor is it news to philosophers that Nazi, Fascist and Communist doctrines are descendants of the Hegelian gospel. They may therefore wonder whether Dr. Popper is not fl ogging a dead horse in exposing once again the motives and fallacies of Hegel. But Dr Popper is clearly right in saying that even if philosophers are at long last immunized, historians, sociologists, political propagandists and voters are still unconscious victims of this virus . . .2 (Gilbert Ryle 1947) If Empiricist philosophy is strong to-day, perhaps we may hope to see a revival of Liberalism the day after to-morrow.3 (H. H. Price 1940) By God, Ryle, I believe you are right. No one ever had Common Sense before John Locke – and no-one but Englishmen have ever had it since.4 (Bertrand Russell 1965) The history of Germany is not a good advert for romantic philosophy; I do think that if they had had philosophers of the calibre of Bentham and the Mills during this period, and if they had listened to them, history might have been very different.5 (R. M. Hare 1989) British analytic philosophy has something of a reputation. Particularly in its early years, the discipline was seen as aloof from the concerns of politics and human life. In his infamous Words and Things, Ernest Gellner con- demned Oxford analysis for its ‘conspicuous triviality’.6 More recently, some