Richard Stanley Peters (31 October 1919 – 30 December 2011) was an English philosopher. His work belongs mainly to the areas of political theory, philosophical

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 ...

, and

philosophy of education The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It includes the examination of educational theories, the presuppositions present in them, and the arguments ...

Earlier life

Peters was born in 1919 in

Mussoorie Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill st ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He spent his childhood with his grandmother in England. He was a pupil at

Sidcot School Sidcot School is a British co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils, associated with the Religious Society of Friends. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school is based in the Mendip Hills near the village of ...

Winscombe Winscombe is a large village in the North Somerset unitary district of Somerset, South West England, close to the settlements of Axbridge and Cheddar, on the western edge of the Mendip Hills, southeast of Weston-super-Mare and southwest of Bri ...

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_ ...

, 1933–1938. As a young man, his private tutor was Eric Blair (the writer

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

). As a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

in the

Second World War 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 ...

, he served in the

Friends Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 1946 ...

and with the Friends Relief Service in 1940–1944. From his marriage in 1942 to Margaret Lee Duncan (1917–1998), elementary school teacher and daughter of Alfred Duncan, engineer, came one son and two daughters.

Academic career

Peters studied at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

, and received the Bachelor of Arts in 1942. In 1944 he began teaching at Sidcot Grammar School. He became a part-time lecturer at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public university, public research university, located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal Universit ...

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 ...

, where he also studied philosophy and psychology, receiving his PhD in 1949. From then to 1958 he was a full-time lecturer, moving on to be a

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in philosophy until 1962. In 1961 he had a one-year guest professorship for education at

Harvard University 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 ...

. In the following year he went to

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

. From 1962 until retirement in 1983, Peters was Professor of the Philosophy of Education at the Institute of Education (founded 1947)

. In 1971 he was Dean of the Institute. Under his guidance the Institute grew fast and considerably influenced the development of the philosophy of education in England. At the Institute Peters collaborated with Paul H. Hirst, who later became Professor of Education at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, and then professor at

University of Cambridge , 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 ...

Influence on the philosophy of education

Peters is known particularly for his work in the philosophy of education. However, his early writings were occupied with

, more exactly with a philosophical view of psychological issues. Thus his research was in the areas motivation, emotions, personality as well as social behaviour and the relationship between reason and longing. Perhaps the most important work by Peters is ''Ethics and Education''.R. S. Peters: ''Ethics and Education'', 5th ed., George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, 1968. With this and his subsequent publications he significantly influenced the development of the philosophy of education in Britain and worldwide. The influence resulted from his examination of the concept of education in the sense of analytic philosophy, a central tool being term analysis. Peters explored two substantial aspects of the philosophy of education: the normative and the cognitive.

Works

All were published in London except where stated otherwise. *R. S. Peters: ''Hobbes'', Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1956. *R. S. Peters: '' The Concept of Motivation'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958 *R. S. Peters: "Education as initiation", 1964, in R. D. Archambault, ed.: ''Philosophical analysis and education'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965, pp. 87–111 *R. S. Peters: '' Ethics and education''. 5th e, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1968. In German: R. S. Peters: "Ethik und Erziehung". In: W. Loch, H. Paschen and G. Priesemann, eds: ''Sprache und Lernen. Internationale Studien zur pädagogischen Anthropologie'', Band 19, Düsseldorf, 1972 *R. S. Peters: "The philosophy of education", 1966, in J. W. Tibble, ed.: ''The Study of Education'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966, pp. 59–89 *R. S. Peters: "What is an educational process?", 1967, in R. S. Peters, ed.: ''The Concept of Education'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967, pp. 1–23 *R. S. Peters: "Michael Oakeshott's philosophy of education", 1968, in R. S. Peters: ''Essays on Educators'', George Allen & Unwin, London, 1981, pp. 89–109 *R. S. Peters and P. H. Hirst: ''The Logic of Education''. 2nd ed., Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971, In German: P. H. Hirst and R. S. Peters: ''Die Begründung der Erziehung durch die Vernunft'', in W. Loch, H. Paschen and G. Priesemann, eds: ''Sprache und Lernen. Internationale Studien zur pädagogischen Anthropologie'', Band 18, Düsseldorf, 1972 *R. F. Dearden, P. H. Hirst and R. S. Peters, eds: ''Education and the Development of Reason'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972 *R. S. Peters, ed.: ''The Philosophy of Education'', Oxford University Press, 1973 *R. S. Peters: ''Psychology and Ethical Development. A collection of articles on psychological theories, ethical development and human understanding'', George Allen & Unwin, 1974 *R. S. Peters: '' Education and the Education of Teachers'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977 *R. S. Peters, ed., '' John Dewey Reconsidered'', (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977) *R. S. Peters: '' Moral Development and Moral Education'', George Allen & Unwin, 1981 *R. S. Peters: "Philosophy of education". In P. H. Hirst, ed.: ''Educational theory and its foundation disciplines''. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983, pp. 30–61

Sources

*D. E. Cooper, ed.: ''Education, Values and Mind. Essays for R. S. Peters'', London/Boston/Henley, 1986 *J. Earwaker: "R. S. Peters and the Concept of Education", in ''Journal of Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain'', Vol. 7, 1973, pp. 239–259 *P. Enslin: "Are Hirst and Peters Liberal Philosophers of Education?" in ''Journal of Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain'', Vol. 19, 1985, pp. 211–222 *J. W. Steutel: "Konzepte und Konzeptionen. Zum Problem einer analytischen Erziehungsphilosophie", in ''Zeitschrift für Pädagogik''. Band 37, 1991, pp. 81–96 *J. Steutel and B. Spiecker: "R. S. Peters und P. H. Hirsts Analyse von Education in Hinblick auf eine Bildungstheorie", in O. Hansmann, ed.: ''Diskurs Bildungstheorie II. Problemgeschichtliche Orientierungen'', Weinheim 1989, pp. 508–536

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Richard Stanley 1919 births British conscientious objectors People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford British philosophers Philosophers of education 20th-century educational theorists People educated at Sidcot School 2011 deaths British people in colonial India