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Frederick Charles Copleston (10 April 1907 – 3 February 1994) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
,
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
, and
historian of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, best known for his influential multi-volume '' A History of Philosophy'' (1946–75). Copleston achieved a degree of popularity in the media for debating the
existence of God The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorized ...
with
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
in a celebrated 1948
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcast; the following year he debated
logical positivism Logical positivism, later called logical empiricism, and both of which together are also known as neopositivism, is a movement in Western philosophy whose central thesis was the verification principle (also known as the verifiability criterion o ...
and the meaningfulness of
religious language Religious language may refer to: *Sacred language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, prim ...
with his friend the
analytic philosopher Analytic philosophy is a branch and tradition of philosophy using analysis, popular in the Western world and particularly the Anglosphere, which began around the turn of the 20th century in the contemporary era in the United Kingdom, United St ...
A. J. Ayer Sir Alfred Jules "Freddie" Ayer (; 29 October 1910 – 27 June 1989), usually cited as A. J. Ayer, was an English philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books '' Language, Truth, and Logic'' (1936) ...
.


Origins

Frederick Charles Copleston was born on 10 April 1907 at Claremont in the parish of
Trull Trull is a village, electoral ward and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated near Taunton. The parish which includes Dipford has a population of 2,288. History The name Trull is thought to derive from the word ''Trendle'' meaning circl ...
, near
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
in
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
, England, the eldest son of Frederick Selwyn Copleston (1850–1935), a judge of the High Court in
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
,
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, by his second wife, Norah Margaret Little. He was a member of the family of Copleston, lords of the manor of Copleston in Devon until 1659, one of the most ancient in that county according to a traditional rhyme related by John Prince (d.1723):
''"Crocker, Cruwys, and Coplestone'',
''When the Conqueror came were at home"''


Biography

He was raised an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
—his uncle, Reginald Stephen Copleston, was an
Anglican bishop of Calcutta The Diocese of Calcutta, Church of North India was established in 1813 as part of the Church of England. It is led by the Bishop of Calcutta and the first bishop was Thomas Middleton (1814–1822) and the second Reginald Heber (1823–1826). U ...
; another uncle, Ernest Copleston, was the
Anglican Bishop of Colombo The Anglican Bishop of Colombo is the ecclesiastical head of the Anglican Diocese of Colombo, a diocese in the Church of Ceylon which is part of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Diocese of Colombo was founded in 1845, as the diocese of the C ...
. Copleston was educated at
Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...
from 1920 to 1925. At the age of eighteen, he converted to the Roman Catholic faith, which caused a great deal of stress in his family. Copleston explained his recognition of the objective authority in the Catholic Church:
"It seemed to me that if Christ was truly the Son of God and if he founded a Church to teach all nations in His name, it must be a Church teaching with authority, as her Master did. Obviously one might deny that Christ was the Son of God, and one might reject the claim that he founded a Church. But if these two claims were accepted, it seemed to me that in spite of all its faults the Roman Catholic Church was the only one which could reasonably be thought to have developed out of what Christ established."
His father, though opposed to his son's becoming a Catholic, helped him complete his education at
St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...
, where he studied from 1925 to 1929. He graduated from
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1929 having managed a third in classical moderations and a good second at Greats. After Oxford, Copleston entered St. Mary's College, Oscott as a seminarian for the diocese of Clifton, but realized the life was not for him. In 1930, he entered instead the
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
s. After completing the two-year Jesuit novitiate in Roehampton, he followed the traditional course of studies for the priesthood at the Jesuit house of studies in
Heythrop Heythrop is a village and civil parish just over east of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Dunthrop. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 93. History Heythrop had a Norman parish church of Saint Ni ...
,
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
and in 1937 he was ordained a Jesuit priest there. In 1938 he travelled to Germany to complete his training, returning to Britain just before the outbreak of war in 1939. Copleston was originally destined to study for his doctorate at the
Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...
in Rome, but the war now made that impossible. Instead, he accepted a posting that saw him return to Heythrop in Oxfordshire to teach the
history of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
to the few Jesuits remaining there. From this time onwards, Copleston began writing his influential multi-volume '' A History of Philosophy'' (1946–75), a textbook that presents clear accounts of
ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...
, medieval, and modern philosophy. Still highly respected, Copleston's history has been described as "a monumental achievement" that "stays true to the authors it discusses, being very much a work in exposition". Copleston achieved a degree of popularity in the media for
debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a Discussion moderator, moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred ...
the
existence of God The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorized ...
with
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
in a celebrated 1948
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcast. (See
Copleston–Russell debate The Copleston–Russell debate is an exchange concerning the existence of God between Frederick Copleston and Bertrand Russell broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 28 January 1948 and again in April 1959. The debate centers on two points: the me ...
). The following year he debated
logical positivism Logical positivism, later called logical empiricism, and both of which together are also known as neopositivism, is a movement in Western philosophy whose central thesis was the verification principle (also known as the verifiability criterion o ...
and the meaningfulness of
religious language Religious language may refer to: *Sacred language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, prim ...
with his friend the
analytic philosopher Analytic philosophy is a branch and tradition of philosophy using analysis, popular in the Western world and particularly the Anglosphere, which began around the turn of the 20th century in the contemporary era in the United Kingdom, United St ...
A. J. Ayer Sir Alfred Jules "Freddie" Ayer (; 29 October 1910 – 27 June 1989), usually cited as A. J. Ayer, was an English philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books '' Language, Truth, and Logic'' (1936) ...
. Throughout the rest of his academic career, Copleston accepted a number of prestigious titles, including Visiting Professor at Rome's
Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...
, where he spent six months each year lecturing from 1952 to 1968. In 1970 the Jesuit Heythrop house of studies was relocated to London, where as Heythrop College it became a constituent part of the federal
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. Copleston became the new college's respected Principal and gave undergraduate courses. His uncontestable mastery of his material immediately won the confidence and respect of the students, who were drawn from among younger Jesuits and junior religious from male and female religious orders, and some lay men and women. Moreover, his affable manner, dry humour and unfailing courtesy made him popular. In that same year 1970, he was made
Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...
(FBA), and in 1972 he was given a personal professorship by the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. In 1975, he was made an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. After officially retiring in 1974, he continued to lecture. From 1974 to 1982, Copleston was Visiting Professor at the
University of Santa Clara Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and from 1979 to 1981, he delivered the
Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in o ...
at the
University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, which were published as ''Religion and the One''. These lectures attempted to "express themes perennial in his thinking and more personal than in his history". Toward the end of his life, Copleston received honorary doctorates from a number of institutions, including
Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...
, California,
Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...
, and the
University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...
. Copleston was offered memberships in the
Royal Institute of Philosophy The Royal Institute of Philosophy, founded in 1925, is a charity organisation that offers lectures and conferences on philosophical topics. The Institute is "dedicated to the advancement of philosophy in all its forms, in order to access the wid ...
and in the Aristotelian Society. In 1993 he was made
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
. Father Frederick Copleston died on 3 February 1994 at
St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...
in London, at the age of 86.


Legacy

In addition to his influential multi-volume ''
History of Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
'' (1946–75), one of Copleston's most significant contributions to modern philosophy was his work on the theories of Saint
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...
. He attempted to clarify Aquinas's Five Ways (in the ''
Summa Theologica The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholasticism, scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all ...
'') by making a distinction between '' in fieri'' causes and '' in esse'' causes. By doing so, Copleston makes clear that Aquinas wanted to put forth the concept of an omnipresent God rather than a being that could have disappeared after setting the chain of cause and effect into motion.


Works

* ''A History of Philosophy'' (1946–1975) Other select works *'' Friedrich Nietzsche: Philosopher of Culture'' (1942), expanded edition; (1975) *'' Arthur Schopenhauer: Philosopher of Pessimism'' (1946) *''
Medieval Philosophy Medieval philosophy is the philosophy that existed through the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century until after the Renaissance in the 13th and 14th centuries. Medieval philosophy, ...
'' (1952), revised edition: '' A History of Medieval Philosophy'' (1972) *''
Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
'' (1955), reprinted from 1976 as ''
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...
'', * "Logical Positivism - A Debate" (with A. J. Ayer) in: Edwards, Paul, Pap, Arthur (eds.), '' A Modern Introduction to Philosophy'' (1957) *'' Contemporary Philosophy: Studies of Logical Positivism and Existentialism'' (1956), republished with a new first chapter in 1972 *'' Religion and Philosophy'' (1974) *'' Philosophers and Philosophies'' (1976) *''On the History of Philosophy and Other Essays'' (1979) *'' Philosophers and Culture'' (1980) *'' Religion and the One: Philosophies East and West'' (1982) *'' Philosophy in Russia: From Herzen to Lenin and Berdyaev'' (1986) *''Russian Religious Philosophy'' (1988) *''Memoirs of a Philosopher'' (1993) For more complete publication details see "Frederick C. Copleston: An 80th Birthday Bibliography" (1987). "Frederick C. Copleston: A Bibliography" (1987),in: Hughes, Gerard J. (1987) '' The Philosophical assessment of theology: essays in honour of Frederick C. Copleston'' pp.211–215 or his
PhilPapers PhilPapers is an interactive academic database of journal articles in philosophy. It is maintained by the Centre for Digital Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, and as of 2022, it has "394,867 registered users, including the majorit ...
br>listing
Related works Hughes, Gerard J. (1987) '' The Philosophical assessment of theology: essays in honour of Frederick C. Copleston''


References


External links

* (BBC Radio, 28 January 1948)
Frederick Copleston on Schopenhauer
interview for '' The Great Philosophers'' by
Bryan Magee Bryan Edgar Magee (; 12 April 1930 – 26 July 2019) was a British philosopher, broadcaster, politician and author, best known for bringing philosophy to a popular audience. Early life Born of working-class parents in Hoxton, London, in 1930, w ...
(BBC. 1987)
Copleston, Frederick Charles, 1907-1994
British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
memoir by Gerard J. Hughes
E-Books by Frederick Charles Copleston available for loan
at
Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive, ...
*Volumes of Copleston's ''
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
'' available for loan at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
: ** Vol 1, Part I, Vol. 1 Part II, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5, Part I, Vol. 6. Part II, Vol. 7, Vol. 8. Part I, Vol. 9, and (as originally published) Vol. 10 and Vol. 11 ' {{DEFAULTSORT:Copleston, Frederick 1907 births 1994 deaths 20th-century English Roman Catholic priests 20th-century English historians 20th-century English Jesuits 20th-century English philosophers Alumni of Heythrop College Catholic philosophers Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Academics of Heythrop College English historians of philosophy English male non-fiction writers English Roman Catholics Epistemologists Fellows of the British Academy Jesuit philosophers Metaphysicians Moral philosophers Ontologists People educated at Marlborough College People from Taunton Philosophers of culture Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of history Philosophers of language Philosophers of religion Roman Catholic writers Thomists Writers from London Pontifical Gregorian University faculty