John Anderson (philosopher) - Freethought and The Sydney Libertarians

Freethought and The Sydney Libertarians

Anderson's insistence on unceasing inquiry and criticism became central to the intellectual principles of the university's Libertarian Society which supplanted the Freethought Society in the early 1950s and provided a philosophic platform for the much broader subculture known as "the Push" throughout the 1960s. He was a defender of free speech and was critical of the Australian government's bans on certain political publications (1928). He advocated religious and sexual freedoms and free discussion of issues in an era when mention of taboo subjects commonly resulted in angry public condemnation by prominent moralists.

After the Second World War, however, Anderson began exhibiting more conservative views. Jim Baker interprets this latter stage not so much as "a definite change in his overall thinking than ... an alteration of emphasis and interest". In other words, according to Baker, while Anderson's political positions changed over time his philosophy remained constant. To many, however, it seemed that Anderson was departing from his pluralism. During the 1949 coal miners' strike, for instance, he supported the government's action in using troops as strikebreakers. At a Freethought Society meeting in August 1950 he refused to oppose conscription for the war in Korea. In 1951 he refused to allow students to use the Freethought Society to canvass the 'No' case for Menzies' attempt to ban the Communist Party in the referendum of that year. This was the last straw for many Freethinkers; Anderson's apparent authoritarianism caused most to abandon the Freethought Society and to establish the Libertarian Society. (It must be pointed out that Anderson did not support the banning of the Communist Party—in fact he attacked the proposal.) The Freethought Society held its last meeting in 1951. The Libertarian Society functioned from 1952 to 1969.

Anderson broke off contact with the former disciples who formed the Libertarian Society and never associated with "Push" people who routinely sang his praises along with the bawdy songs he had imported to his new country. However, even after retirement in 1958 and to the brink of his death in 1962, he was seen daily in his study, continuing his work and reviewing earlier work. Among his last publications were Classicism (1960), Empiricism and Logic (1962) and Relational Arguments (1962)