John Macmurray - Philosophy

Philosophy

The main themes in Macmurray's philosophy are the primacy in human life of action over theory, and the essentially relational nature of human beings. These themes are the basis for his Gifford Lectures delivered in 1952 and 1954 at the University of Glasgow, and entitled The Self as Agent and Persons in Relation respectively. The overall title given to the two lecture series was The Form of the Personal. Macmurray summed up his philosophy in the introduction to The Self as Agent: "The simplest expression that I can find for the thesis I have tried to maintain is this: All meaningful knowledge is for the sake of action, and all meaningful action for the sake of friendship".

Macmurray rejected mind-body dualism and argued that the nature of human beings is personal, rather than mechanical or organic. He argued for the importance of emotion as motivating action, and looked to infancy and early childhood for evidence of the universal desire for relationship. He distinguished between society and community, with society being for organizations to achieve particular purposes, while community is an end in itself.

In dismissing the Cogito and its legacy of the primacy of thought over action Macmurray saw himself as breaking with the western philosophical tradition. However, he acknowledged the influence of Kant and Marx on his thinking, along with Christianity. On the other hand, he had no sympathy for, and did not engage with, the type of academic philosophy that was dominant during the latter part of his career.