George Molnar (1934–1999) was a Hungarian-born

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 ...

whose principal area of interest was

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

. He worked mainly in the Philosophy Department at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

but resided in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1976 to 1982. He published four philosophical papers in two separate spells; the first two in the 1960s and the second two after a return to the profession in the 1990s. His book '' Powers: A Study in Metaphysics'' was published posthumously in 2003.

Early life

Molnar was a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

. His parents were

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

resident in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. His father Imre deserted baby George and his mother Rosa before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and emigrated to Australia with his secretary Mimi, leaving them in Budapest during the Nazi occupation and the

Siege of Budapest The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet Union, Soviet and Kingdom of Romania, Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital (political), capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the b ...

. Rosa and George escaped from Hungary after the war in 1949 and were stateless refugees in Europe until 1951 when they arrived in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Education

Molnar studied economics at the

and switched to philosophy in his final year, under the Australian realist philosopher

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

. He was later to be appointed as John Anderson Senior Research Fellow.

Career

In the 1950s and 1960s Molnar was a prominent member of the Libertarian Society at Sydney University and an influential academic member of the

Sydney Push The Sydney Push was an intellectual subculture in Sydney from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. Its politics were predominantly left-wing libertarianism. The Push operated in a pub culture and included university students, academics, manual w ...

. Along with philosophers David J. Ivison, Roelof Smilde, Darcy Waters and Jim Baker, Molnar was a contributor to the libertarian ''Broadsheet''. Molnar's writing was published in the British

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

periodicals ''

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

'' and ''

Anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

'' in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In a 1961 article in ''Anarchy'', he argued that an anarchist society was probably impossible, and that the anarchist movement ought to aim to be a "permanent opposition" to

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

forces in society. Philosophers and libertarians who frequented the racecourse knew Molnar as a fervid gambler. His other interests included

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is poss ...

and early Australian colonial history (particularly the railway systems). At various times he was a taxi-driver, tram-conductor, union advocate and public servant. In the 1970s Molnar was active in philosophy department disturbances. He taught philosophy at Sydney University until he resigned in 1976 and moved to the UK. While living in a libertarian-style commune in Leeds, according to contemporary activist Max Farrar, Molnar became a member of the Marxist movement Big Flame. In 1982 he returned to Sydney, joined the Department of Veterans' Affairs and became active in the Administrative and Clerical Officers Association (ACOA), later returning to Sydney University as a part-time tutor.

Publications

An infrequent but influential publisher of articles and material, Molnar was working on a book at the time of his death. He was in email contact with

Stephen Mumford Stephen Dean Mumford (born 31 July 1965) is a British philosopher, who is currently Head of Department and Professor of Metaphysics in the Department of Philosophy at Durham University. Mumford is best known for his work in metaphysics on dis ...

at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

, who acted as archivist of his work, edited the book and saw it through to publication in 2003 under the title ''Powers: A Study in Metaphysics'',Varga S
Twice the man
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' 9 August 2003 with a foreword by David Armstrong. Its publisher,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, wrote "This is contemporary metaphysics of the highest quality".Powers: A Study in Metaphysics
Oxford University Press, 30 November 2006. Accessed 15 March 2012 In 2019 a collection of 19 personal memoirs was published under the title ''George Molnar: Politics and Passions of a Sydney Philosopher'', collated and edited by his partner of 20 years Carlotta McIntosh.

Bibliography

Books

* Molnar, George. ''Powers: A Study in Metaphysics'', edited by Stephen Mumford, Oxford University Press, 2003

Articles

* "Sexual Freedom in the Orr Case", ''Australian Highway'' 41 (3) (June 1960): pp. 54–5 * "The Nature of Moralism", ''Sydney Libertarians Broadsheet'' 48, May 1966, pp. 1–4 * "The Sexual Revolution", ''Sydney Libertarians Broadsheet'' 39, September 1964, pp. 1–5 * "Space, Time and the Proposition" (Molnar's edition of the Anderson lectures on Alexander), Sydney University Press, 2005 * "Defeasible Propositions", ''Australian Journal of Philosophy'' 45 (1967), pp. 185–97 * "Kneale's Article Revisited", ''Philosophical Review'' 78 (1969), pp. 79–89 * "Are Dispositions Reducible?", ''Philosophical Quarterly'' 49 (1999), pp. 1–17 * "Truthmakers for Negative Truths", ''Australasian Journal of Philosophy'' 78 (2000), pp. 72–86