Roy Wood Sellars
Encyclopedia
Roy Wood Sellars was an American philosopher of critical realism
and religious humanism
, and a proponent of emergent evolution
. His son was the philosopher Wilfrid Sellars
. For much of his career he taught at the University of Michigan
.
In his 1967 book, Reflections on American Philosophy From Within he described his views on materialism
as evolutionary materialism, an extension to his 1922 groundbreaking book Evolutionary Naturalism.
He helped draft the Humanist Manifesto
in 1933.
Critical realism
In the philosophy of perception, critical realism is the theory that some of our sense-data can and do accurately represent external objects, properties, and events, while other of our sense-data do not accurately represent any external objects, properties, and events...
and religious humanism
Religious humanism
Religious humanism is an integration of humanist ethical philosophy with religious rituals and beliefs that center on human needs, interests, and abilities.-Origins:...
, and a proponent of emergent evolution
Emergent evolution
Emergent evolution is the hypothesis that, in the course of evolution, some entirely new properties, such as life and consciousness, appear at certain critical points, usually because of an unpredictable rearrangement of the already existing entities...
. His son was the philosopher Wilfrid Sellars
Wilfrid Sellars
Wilfrid Stalker Sellars was an American philosopher. His father was the Canadian-American philosopher Roy Wood Sellars, a leading American philosophical naturalist in the first half of the twentieth-century...
. For much of his career he taught at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
In his 1967 book, Reflections on American Philosophy From Within he described his views on materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
as evolutionary materialism, an extension to his 1922 groundbreaking book Evolutionary Naturalism.
He helped draft the Humanist Manifesto
Humanist Manifesto
Humanist Manifesto is the title of three manifestos laying out a Humanist worldview. They are the original Humanist Manifesto , the Humanist Manifesto II , and Humanism and Its Aspirations...
in 1933.
External links
- Biography at Notable American UnitariansUnitarianismUnitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
- Biography mirror
- Bibliography of Roy Wood Sellars
- Roy Wood Sellars 1880-1973, by William K. Frankena, Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, Vol. 47, 1973-74, pp. 230-32.