Frederick Copleston | |
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 Frederick Copleston, 1987 | |
| Born | Frederick Charles Copleston (1907-04-10)10 April 1907 Taunton, England |
| Died | 3 February 1994(1994-02-03) (aged 86) London, England |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | St. John's College, Oxford |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Christian philosophy |
| Main interests | History of philosophy |
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Frederick Charles CoplestonSJ CBE FBA (10 April 1907 – 3 February 1994) was a BritishCatholic priest,philosopher, andhistorian of philosophy, best known for his influential multi-volumeA History of Philosophy (1946–75).
Copleston achieved a degree of popularity in the media for debating theexistence of God withBertrand Russell in a celebrated 1948BBC broadcast; the following year he debatedlogical positivism and the meaningfulness ofreligious language with his friend theanalytic philosopherA. J. Ayer.
Frederick Charles Copleston was born on 10 April 1907 at Claremont in the parish ofTrull, nearTaunton inSomerset, England, the eldest son ofFrederick Selwyn Copleston (1850–1935), a judge of the High Court inRangoon,Burma, by his second wife, Norah Margaret Little.[1] He was a member of the family of Copleston, lords of themanor of Copleston in Devon until 1659, one of the most ancient in that county according to a traditional rhyme[2] related byJohn Prince (d.1723):[3]
"Crocker, Cruwys, and Coplestone,
Whenthe Conqueror came were at home"
He was raised anAnglican—his uncle,Reginald Stephen Copleston, was anAnglican bishop of Calcutta; another uncle,Ernest Copleston, was theAnglican Bishop of Colombo. Copleston was educated atMarlborough College from 1920 to 1925.[4] At the age of eighteen, he converted to the Roman Catholic faith, which caused a great deal of stress in his family.[4] Copleston explained his recognition of the objective authority in the Catholic Church:
"It seemed to me that if Christ was truly the Son of God and if he founded a Church to teach all nations in His name, it must be a Church teaching with authority, as her Master did. Obviously one might deny that Christ was the Son of God, and one might reject the claim that he founded a Church. But if these two claims were accepted, it seemed to me that in spite of all its faults the Roman Catholic Church was the only one which could reasonably be thought to have developed out of what Christ established."[5]
His father, though opposed to his son's becoming a Catholic, helped him complete his education atSt John's College, Oxford, where he studied from 1925 to 1929. He graduated fromOxford University in 1929 having managed a third in classical moderations and a good second atGreats.[4] After Oxford, Copleston enteredSt. Mary's College, Oscott as a seminarian for the diocese of Clifton, but realized the life was not for him.[6]
In 1930, he entered instead theJesuits.[4] After completing the two-year Jesuit novitiate in Roehampton, he followed the traditional course of studies for the priesthood at the Jesuit house of studies inHeythrop,Oxfordshire and in 1937 he was ordained a Jesuit priest there. In 1938 he travelled to Germany to complete his training, returning to Britain just before theoutbreak of war in 1939.[4] Copleston was originally destined to study for his doctorate at thePontifical Gregorian University in Rome, but the war now made that impossible. Instead, he accepted a posting that saw him return to Heythrop in Oxfordshire to teach thehistory of philosophy to the few Jesuits remaining there.[4]
From this time onwards, Copleston began writing his influential multi-volumeA History of Philosophy (1946–75),[7] a textbook that presents clear accounts ofancient, medieval, and modern philosophy.[8] Still highly respected, Copleston's history has been described as "a monumental achievement" that "stays true to the authors it discusses, being very much a work in exposition".[4]
Copleston achieved a degree of popularity in the media fordebating theexistence of God withBertrand Russell in a celebrated 1948BBC broadcast[9] (seeCopleston–Russell debate). The following year he debatedlogical positivism and the meaningfulness ofreligious language with his friend theanalytic philosopherA. J. Ayer.[10]
Throughout the rest of his academic career, Copleston accepted a number of prestigious titles, including visiting professor at Rome'sGregorian University, where he spent six months each year lecturing from 1952 to 1968.[4] In 1970 the Jesuit Heythrop house of studies was relocated to London, where asHeythrop College it became a constituent part of the federalUniversity of London. Copleston became the new college's respected principal and gave undergraduate courses. His uncontestable mastery of his material immediately won the confidence and respect of the students, who were drawn from among younger Jesuits and junior religious from male and female religious orders, and some lay men and women. Moreover, his affable manner, dry humour and unfailing courtesy made him popular. In that same year 1970, he was madeFellow of the British Academy (FBA), and in 1972 he was given a personal professorship by the University of London. In 1975, he was made an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford.[4]
After officially retiring in 1974, he continued to lecture. From 1974 to 1982, Copleston was visiting professor at theUniversity of Santa Clara,California, and from 1979 to 1981, he delivered theGifford Lectures at theUniversity of Aberdeen,Scotland, which were published asReligion and the One. These lectures attempted to "express themes perennial in his thinking and more personal than in his history".[4] Toward the end of his life, Copleston received honorary doctorates from a number of institutions, includingSanta Clara University, California,Uppsala University, and theUniversity of St Andrews.[4]
Copleston was offered memberships in theRoyal Institute of Philosophy and in theAristotelian Society.[11] In 1993 he was madeCBE.[12] Father Frederick Copleston died on 3 February 1994 atSt Thomas' Hospital in London, at the age of 86.[4]
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In addition to his influential multi-volumeHistory of Philosophy (1946–75),[7] one of Copleston's most significant contributions to modern philosophy was his work on the theories of SaintThomas Aquinas. He attempted to clarify Aquinas'sFive Ways (in theSumma Theologica) by making a distinction betweenin fieri causes andin esse causes. By doing so, Copleston makes clear that Aquinas wanted to put forth the concept of an omnipresent God rather than a being that could have disappeared after setting the chain of cause and effect into motion.[13][14]
Other select works
Related works
Hughes, Gerard J. (1987)The Philosophical assessment of theology: essays in honour of Frederick C. Copleston
