Margaret Kennedy Knight (née Horsey), (23 November 1903 – 10 May 1983), was a psychologist and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

Biography

Born in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

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, Knight went to

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, graduating in 1926. In 1948 she gained a master's degree. It was in her third year at Cambridge that she found the "moral courage", as she put it, finally to abandon the religious beliefs she had long been uneasy with. In the preface to her book ''Morals Without Religion'' (1955), she wrote, "a fresh, cleansing wind swept through the stuffy room that contained the relics of my religious beliefs. I let them go with a profound sense of relief, and ever since I have lived happily without them." Between 1926 and 1936 Margaret worked as a librarian, information officer and editor for journal published by the

National Institute of Industrial Psychology National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. She married her husband Arthur Rex Knight in 1936, then in 1938 she started working alongside him as an assistant lecturer in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

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 ...

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. Ten years later in 1948 she was promoted to lecturer in psychology, a post she held till her retirement in 1970. In collaboration with her husband, Knight wrote ''A Modern Introduction to Psychology'' (1948), which went through many editions. An advocate of Scientific Humanism, Knight gave two short radio talks on the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

in 1955 under the title ''Morals Without Religion''. The first talk was broadcast on 5 January and caused a storm of controversy. The Sunday Graphic headline described her as "The Unholy Mrs. Knight", and called her "a menace".

Publications

*''Honest to Man: Christian ethics reexamined'' (1974). London: Elek/Pemberton. *''Humanist Anthology: from

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

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, ...

'' (1961). London: Barrie and Rockliff. (Editor) *''Morals without religion : and other essays'' (1955). London: Dobson. (Includes the text of the two BBC talks) *''William James; A Selection From His Writings on Psychology'' (1950) Middlesex: Penguin/Pelican. (Editor) *''A Modern Introduction to Psychology'' (with Rex Knight) (1st edition, 1948). London: University Tutorial Press.

References

External links

Margaret Knight on the BBC Home Service, 1955"Morals Without Religion"
reprinted from ''The Freethinker''
"Christianity: the debit account", first published 1975, reprinted 1992
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Margaret 1903 births 1983 deaths British psychologists People from Hertfordshire Academics of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge British humanists 20th-century psychologists