person1919–2001

Elizabeth Anscombe

Disciplines:

Summary

British philosopher — pupil and literary executor of Wittgenstein — author of Intention (1957) and Modern Moral Philosophy (1958) — who coined the term 'consequentialism,' revived virtue ethics, and created the philosophy of action.

Core Contribution

Creates the philosophy of action — Anscombe's Intention introduced the category of intentional action into analytic philosophy and her Modern Moral Philosophy rehabilitated Aristotelian virtue ethics against utilitarian and deontological alternatives, setting the terms of the virtue ethics revival.

Key Spikes & Highlights

Protested Truman's honorary degree at Oxford in 1956 on grounds that he was responsible for the mass murder of civilians through the atomic bomb — her willingness to publicly condemn a war hero who was being honored by her university, as a Catholic convert acting on just war principles, is the most consequential single act of moral philosophy-in-practice in academic history
Translated Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations into English and was his designated literary executor — she controlled the Wittgenstein Nachlass and her translation decisions affected how Wittgenstein was read in the English-speaking world for 50 years

Notable Works & Achievements

Intention

Modern Moral Philosophy

An Introduction to Wittgenstein's Tractatus

Causality and Determination

Historical Influences

Ludwig Wittgenstein Aristotle

Intellectual Lineage

Limerick, Ireland Oxford Cambridge

Contemporaries & Peers

Ludwig Wittgenstein Philippa Foot Iris Murdoch

Minds Influenced

Philosophy of action Virtue ethics revival

Intellectual Posterity

Consequentialism Intention Modern Moral Philosophy Wittgenstein literary executor

Discussing