Philip Ellis Wheelwright (July 6, 1901 – January 6, 1970) was an American

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 ...

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

literary theorist Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mora ...

. He was born in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

, the son of a stockbroker, and died in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

. Wheelwright was educated at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, with a B.A. in 1921 and a Ph.D. in 1924 with his dissertation "The Concepts of Liberty and Contingency in the Philosophy of

Charles Renouvier Charles Bernard Renouvier (; January 1, 1815 – September 1, 1903) was a French philosopher. He considered himself a "Swedenborg of history" who sought to update the philosophy of Kantian liberalism and individualism for the socio-economic rea ...

," the French Kantian philosopher who so influenced

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

. Wheelwright taught at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

from 1927 to 1935, while from 1930 to 1933 editing the journal ''Symposium'', an avant-garde review of literary criticism. After two years devoted to his own writing, in 1937 he returned to teaching as professor of philosophy at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, on whose faculty he remained until 1953. In 1966 he retired from the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

, where he had been a professor since 1954, a founding charter member of the faculty of UC Riverside's undergraduate College of Letters and Science (now dubbed the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences). Wheelwright also taught at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

for one semester in 1953. He was known as an eloquent lecturer.''The American Philosophical Society Centennial Series'' (2013), pp. 415-16. Wheelwright published in 1935 ''A Critical Introduction to Ethics'', an introductory textbook to philosophical ethics; in the same year and for the general public, he published ''

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

'', a translation "into the English of today" of selections from seven of the Greek philosopher's most important books: ''Natural Science'', ''The Metaphysics'', ''Zoology'', ''Psychology'', ''The Nicomachean Ethics'', ''On Statecraft'', and ''The Art of Poetry''. But Professor Wheelwright is best-known for works in the field of

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, ''The Burning Fountain: a Study in the Language of Symbolism'' (1954) and ''Metaphor and Reality'' (1962). He also published a book on

early Greek philosophy Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

, ''The Presocratics'' (1966).

References

External links

PhilWeb page
1901 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American philosophers American literary critics Dartmouth College faculty American ethicists American scholars of ancient Greek philosophy 20th-century American historians University of California, Riverside faculty {{US-philosopher-stub