James Martin Hollis (14 March 1938 – 27 February 1998) was an English rationalist

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 ...

. Writing for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Tim O'Hagan, an Emeritus Professor at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

argued that central to Hollis's rationalism was "the epistemological unity of mankind", the view that "some beliefs are

universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

... There are, because there have to be, percepts and concepts shared by all who can understand each other." This rationalism, of Hollis, was in its early formulations strongly influenced by

Peter Strawson Peter Frederick Strawson (; 23 November 1919 – 13 February 2006) was an English philosopher. He was the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) from 1968 to 1987. Before that, he ...

and applied to understanding and explaining the approach of the

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

.Timothy O'Hagan
Obituary: Professor Martin Hollis
''

'', Wednesday, 11 March 1998

Biography

Martin Hollis was the son of a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

, and nephew of the

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

director-general

Roger Hollis Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...

. Educated at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, he did

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

before reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, from 1958 to 1961. From 1961 to 1963 he studied at

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

on a

Harkness Fellowship The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several cou ...

, encountering

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

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 the work of Quine and Rawls at Harvard, and meeting his future wife Patricia Wells, subsequently Baroness Hollis of Heigham. Returning to England, Hollis worked from 1963 to 1966 at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

. "Sent to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

to learn German, he returned to find himself posted to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. This was the last straw for a rational man, who was already moonlighting in Oxford, giving philosophy tutorials at New College and Balliol. He left the FCO." Appointed to a philosophy post at the new

in 1967, he remained in Norwich until his death. In 1972 he became Senior Lecturer, and in 1981 Professor. From 1980 to 1987 he was editor of ''

Ratio In mathematics, a ratio shows how many times one number contains another. For example, if there are eight oranges and six lemons in a bowl of fruit, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ...

''. He combined teaching and research with an increasing level of university administration, becoming Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1992. For ten years he was also a Norwich JP. Hollis was also a keen player of games. He played

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

at a high level, competitive

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, and was also interested in designing new games. All of this was not just a hobby but derived from his interest in

rationality Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reasons. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an abil ...

and

choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a give ...

, and the

paradoxes A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...

that rationality throws up, something he increasingly explored in his later work. He was also fond of

puzzles A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...

, especially creating

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

puzzles, and published them prolifically in a variety of publications including ''Cogito'' and

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

. (A collection of the latter was published as ''Tantalizers'' in 1970.)

Works

*''Tantalizers'', 1970 *(ed.)''The Light of Reason'', 1970 *(with E. J. Nell) ''Rational Economic Man'', 1975 *''Models of Man'', 1977 *(ed. with F. Hahn) ''Philosophy and Economic Theory'', 1979 *(with S. Lukes) ''Rationality and Relativism'', 1982 *''Invitation to Philosophy'', 1985 *''The Cunning of Reason'', 1987 *(with S. Smith) ''Explaining and Understanding International Relations'', 1990 *(ed. with S. Hargreaves Heap, B. Lyons, R. Sugden and A. Weale)''The Theory of Choice: A Critical Guide'', 1992 *''The Philosophy of Social Science'', 1994 *''Reason In Action'', 1996 *''Trust within Reason'', 1998.

References

External links

Martin Hollis ArchiveBibliography of writing by Martin Hollis
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hollis, Martin 1938 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English philosophers Academics of the University of East Anglia Alumni of New College, Oxford Analytic philosophers Aristotelian philosophers English cultural critics English male non-fiction writers Epistemologists Game theorists Metaphysicians Ontologists People educated at Winchester College Philosophers of culture Philosophers of economics Philosophers of education Philosophers of logic Philosophers of mind Philosophers of social science Presidents of the Aristotelian Society Rationalists Rationality theorists Social philosophers