Mary Midgley
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Mary Midgley née Scrutton (born 1919-09-19) is a British moral philosopher.
She was the daughter of the chaplain at Kings College, Cambridge and was educated at Downe House School (originally based in the former home of Charles Darwin) and Somerville College, Oxford where she was a scholar.
Now retired from a professorship at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, she is known for her popular works on religion, science and ethics. She wrote her first book, Beast and Man, at the age of 56. She strongly opposes reductionist and 'scientistic' philosophies, sometimes preferring a moral interpretation of the Gaia theory. She has famously sparred with Richard Dawkins over selfish genes and memes.
External links
- Guardian profile (http://www.guardian.co.uk/saturday_review/story/0,3605,421561,00.html)
- Guardian review of her book Myths We Live By (2003) (http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/politicsphilosophyandsociety/0,6121,1019509,00.html)