Talk:Bryan Magee

Is my fix correct?
It seems to be, judging by the sentence after it, but could someone please make sure? Thx.

Info on Schoenman corrected
The comment that Schoenman was "still very much alive" was referring to Magee's apparent disregard of the possibility that Schoenman was still around (and likely to sue). The phrase has been removed to prevent confusion.


 * I read Magee's Confessions of a Philosopher some years ago and would recommend it highly, as I would his other philosophical books derived from his TV series of interviews. As I remember (but memory is fallible) Magee's criticism of Schoenman was along the lines that Schoenman could hardly have done more damage to Russell's reputation than if he had been a CIA plant.  I was surprised to later learn that Schoenman had prevailed in a libel suit against Magee given that Russell himself had written a memorandum criticizing Schoenman (and repudiating him as Russell's agent or envoy) not long before Russell's death.  (I think -- again, if memory serves -- that this memorandum is included in Ronald Clark's biography of Russell.  And Clark's biography is highly critical of Schoenman, as I remember.)  Demonstrating the difference in libel laws between Britain and the U.S..  137.82.188.68 (talk) 03:04, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Contemporary Philosopher?
Bryan Magee would be first to argue that he is not a philosopher, he is a student and teacher of philosophy. He is deeply critical of the vast majority of the philosophical community who call themselves 'philosophers' when they have not created any significant answers to what he considers serious philosophical problems. Hence his inclusion in the 'contemporary philosopher' category is puzzling. Also questions about the phrase 'Labour's move to the left.' Magee himself says that it was he who grew disenchanted with socialism and became a sort of pragmatic Thatcherite. It wasn't so much that Labour moved Left (considering its post-war years were its most radical), but that he moved Right.

Biblography
Amazon carries 16 titles by Magee, this page only lists four.

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 14:55, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Magee & Popper
Part of this article currenty reads:
 * In 1959, Magee met Karl Popper and became close friends with the philosopher, even suggesting the eventual title of Popper's autobiography, Unended Quest. Magee also suggested improvements for the first volume of Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies.

If Magee did not know Popper until 1959 how did he help with The Open Society and Its Enemies which was published in 1945? &mdash; Steven Andrew Miller (talk) 05:58, 13 May 2010 (UTC)


 * The article no longer claims that Magee met Karl Popper in 1959. If this was indeed the case, it should probably be re-added with a suitable source. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:42, 27 July 2019 (UTC)

Steven Andrew Miller, the improvements could be made in a much later edition of the first volume.108.24.200.168 (talk) 03:54, 21 August 2022 (UTC)Joe Bidet

Move / Delete names of programs
Can anyone think of a good way to either move or outright delete the descriptions/names of the individual programs that make up the three philosophy series, Modern British Philosophy, Men of Ideas, and The Great Philosophers? I find sentences like the following very hard to read.

"Following an "Introduction to Philosophy" presented by Magee in discussion with Isaiah Berlin, Magee took part in dialogues with Charles Taylor ("Marxist Philosophy"); Herbert Marcuse ("Marcuse and the Frankfurt School"); William Barrett ("Heidegger and Modern Existentialism"); Anthony Quinton ("The Two Philosophies of Wittgenstein"); A.J. Ayer ("Logical Positivism and its Legacy"); Bernard Williams ("The Spell of Linguistic Philosophy"); R.M. Hare ("Moral Philosophy"); W.V.O. Quine ("The Ideas of Quine"); John Searle ("The Philosophy of Language"); Noam Chomsky ("The Ideas of Chomsky"); Hilary Putnam ("The Philosophy of Science"); Ronald Dworkin ("Philosophy and Politics"); Iris Murdoch ("Philosophy and Literature"); Ernest Gellner ("Philosophy: The Social Context")."

If they must be kept, maybe we can add a section to the bottom with the programs in a list. Squandermania (talk) 00:58, 22 May 2012 (UTC)


 * I quite agree. I think those three successive entire paragraphs are too dense and should be converted into a table (or three separate tables), at the bottom of the article, showing the programme titles and subjects. It might also be possible to include original broadcast dates. Martinevans123 (talk) 11:40, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Journal Articles
I recently discovered to my surprise that in addition to his books, Bryan Magee has published journal articles as recently as 2011. Citations are available in JSTOR, and some full articles can be downloaded. Those written since Confessions are engaging addenda to what he expressed in that work. Would it be proper to add them to the bibliography, mixed chronologically with the books, or would they be better separated into their own section? 74.184.218.247 (talk) 01:47, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, it would. His journal articles are sadly lacking. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:39, 27 July 2019 (UTC)

New Statesman Interview
Interview with Magee in the New Statesman a week or so ago, in which he expresses his mild disappointment at what he perceives as his lack of success either in academic philosophy or in worldly ambition. Might be worth adding some stuff if somebody feels like tracking it down.

He is currently wheelchair-bound and living in a nursing home in Oxford.Paulturtle (talk) 04:27, 12 April 2018 (UTC)


 * Yes, it's here. I didn't know that John Cleese was a fan. Martinevans123 (talk) 07:24, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

Daughter
Is his daughter's name really spelled Gunnela? The established spelling is Gunilla. Thuresson (talk) 21:34, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Well, The Grauniad spells it that way twice: ? As does Wolfson College here? And his book The Story of Philosophy / The Story of Thought has this dedication: "I dedicate this book with love to my daughter Gunnela and her husband Santiago": . So yes, I think so. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:39, 21 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Thank you, I found her in the Swedish population register as "Jean Gunnela Magee Mateluna". Thuresson (talk) 16:15, 23 September 2018 (UTC)