Samuel Alexander - Work and Publications

Work and Publications

After taking his degree, Alexander was made a Fellow of Lincoln College, where he remained as philosophy tutor from 1882 to 1893. It was during this period that he developed his interest in psychology, then a neglected subject. In 1887, he won the Green moral philosophy prize with an essay on the subject "In what direction does Moral Philosophy seem to you to admit or require advance?" This was the basis of his volume Moral Order and Progress, which was published in 1889 and went into its third edition in 1899.

By 1912, however, Alexander had altered his views to some extent and considered that the book had served its purpose, had become dated, and should be allowed to die. During the period of his fellowship at Lincoln, he had also contributed articles on philosophical subjects to Mind, the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, and the International Journal of Ethics. He did some travelling on the continent, and in the winter of 1890-1 was in Germany working at the psychological laboratory of Professor Hugo Münsterberg at Freiburg. Among his colleagues at Lincoln was Walter Baldwin Spencer.

For some time, Alexander had wanted to obtain a professorship. He made three unsuccessful attempts before he was appointed at the Owens College, Manchester in 1893, remaining there for the rest of his life. There, he quickly became a leading figure in the University. Unconventional in his attire and his manner of conducting his classes, there was something in him that drew students and colleagues alike to him. He wrote little, and his growing deafness made it difficult for him to get much out of philosophical discussions, though he could manage conversation.

An important change in his home life occurred in 1902 when the whole of his family – his mother, an aunt, two elder brothers and his sister - came from Australia to live with him. This in some families would have been a dangerous experiment, but it worked well in Alexander's case. His sister became a most efficient hostess and on Wednesday evenings fellow members of the staff, former pupils, a few advanced students and others would drop in and spend a memorable evening. His home at that time was at 6 Mauldeth Road West in Withington (from 1904 in the City of Manchester).

He was given the Hon. LL.D. of St Andrews in 1905, and in later years he received Hon. Litt. D. degrees from Durham, Liverpool, Oxford and Cambridge. In 1908, he published Locke, a short but excellent study, which was included in the Philosophies Ancient and Modern Series. He was president of the Aristotelian Society from 1908–1911 and from 1936–1937. In 1913, was made a fellow of the British Academy. He was appointed Gifford lecturer at Glasgow in 1915, and delivered his lectures in the winters of 1917 and 1918. These he developed into his great work Space, Time, and Deity, published in two volumes in 1920, which his biographer has called the "boldest adventure in detailed speculative metaphysics attempted in so grand a manner by any English writer between 1655 and 1920." That its conclusions should be universally accepted was scarcely to be expected, but it was widely and well reviewed, and made a great impression on philosophic thinkers at the time and for many years after. His Arthur Davis Memorial Lecture on Spinoza and Time was published in 1921, and in 1924 Alexander retired from his chair.

Though Alexander kept his Manchester professorship until retirement, 'He tried, on several occasions, to return to Oxford as a professor, but (I am as good as certain) never thought of leaving 'dear sooty Manchester' for any place other than Oxford' ('Samuel Alexander, 1859-1938', Proceedings of the British Academy, XXIV, 1938 : 382). The Public Orator of Oxford, Arthur Blackburne (Oxford University Calendar, 1932 : 23), took rather a condescending view of Manchester and commended Alexander for his civilising activities in the city :

Et quid est gratius quam ea studia quae praecipue nostra sunt eo quoque pervenire ubi plerique se negotiis potius quam Musis deditos esse profitentur?' (quoted in 'Samuel Alexander, 1859-1938', Proceedings of the British Academy, XXIV, 1938 : 382).

This translates as (Geoffrey Thomas, Birkbeck College) :

'And what is more pleasant than that those studies, which are especially ours, should also reach that area where the majority confess themselves to be devoted to business rather than the Arts?'