William Keith Chambers Guthrie (1 August 1906 – 17 May 1981) was a Scottish classical scholar, best known for his History of Greek Philosophy, published in six volumes between 1962 and his death. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 "Classical literature" redirects here For literature in Classical languages outside the Graeco-Roman sphere see Ancient literature. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
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Early life and education
Although of long standing Scottish stock on both his father's and mother's side, Guthrie was born and brought up in London where his father, Charles James Guthrie, pursued a career with the Westminster Bank. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Westminster Bank was a British Commercial bank which operated in England and Wales from 1834 until its merger into the National Westminster Bank
After attending Dulwich College, Guthrie went up to Cambridge University in 1925 winning the Eric Evan Spicer scholarship to Trinity College. Dulwich College is an independent selective fee-paying public school for boys in Dulwich, a suburb of south-east London United Kingdom The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. He excelled in his studies, being supervised by, amongst others, Francis Cornford and A. S. F. Gow, and was placed in the first class of both Parts of the Classical Tripos, with distinction in Part II and the award of the Craven Prize. Francis Macdonald Cornford ( 27 February 1874 &ndash 3 January 1943) was an English classical scholar and Poet Andrew Sydenham Farrar Gow ( 27 August 1886 - 2 February 1978) was a Classical scholar at Cambridge University specialising The Classical Tripos at Cambridge University is equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford.
After graduating he embarked on a postgraduate career at Trinity. Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an Academic degree or the associated ceremony See also Postgraduate Training in Education Postgraduate education (synonymous in North America with graduate education, and sometimes described He met his future wife, Adele Marion Ogilvie, an Australian studying at Newnham College, while supervising her undergraduate studies in 1929-1930. Newnham College is a Women's college in the University of Cambridge. In some Educational systems undergraduate education is Post-secondary education up to the level of a Bachelor's degree. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. They married in 1933 and went on to have two children. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Early career and World War Two
In 1930 Guthrie left Trinity College to take up a Bye Fellowship at Peterhouse, going on to become a full Fellow in 1932. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Peterhouse is the oldest college in the University of Cambridge. A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Between 1936-1937 he served as a university proctor and in 1939 was appointed as the University Orator, a position he held for eighteen years, responsible for delivering speeches in Latin in honour of recipients of honorary doctorates. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Proctor, an English variant of the word procurator, is a person who takes charge of or acts for another Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa ( Latin: 'for the sake of the honour' is an Academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding
During the war he exchanged scholarship for military service serving in the Intelligence Corps between 1941 - 1945, based initially in London, then in St Albans and, from 1943, in Istanbul, achieving the temporary rank of Major. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Military service in its simplest sense is service by an individual or group in an Army or other military organization whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary The Intelligence Corps (also known as Int Corps) is one of the Corps of the British Army. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar St Albans is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London. Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey Major is a Military rank the use of which varies according to country
Post war career
Returning to Cambridge after the war Guthrie was much in demand in his capacity as Orator, called upon to deliver Latin encomia in honour of such dignitaries as Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Jan Smuts, Nehru, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Viscount Slim and General Montgomery. Encomium is a Latin word deriving from the Classical Greek ἐγκώμιον ( encomion) meaning the praise of a person or thing Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874 Clement Richard Attlee 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC ( 3 January 1883 &ndash 8 October 1967 Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, PC, ED, KC, FRS (24 May 1870 &ndash 11 September 1950 was a prominent Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू ʤəʋäɦəɾläl nɛɦɾu (14 November 1889 27 May 1964 was a major political leader of the Congress Party Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general Field Marshal William Joseph "Bill" Slim 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, KStJ Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC, (məntˈgʌmərɪ əv ˈæləmeɪn
In 1946 he was promoted to Reader before becoming the third Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy in 1952, the year in which he became a Fellow of the British Academy. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In the academic hierarchy in the United Kingdom and some universities in Australia and New Zealand, reader is the rank between Senior lecturer The Laurence Professorship of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University was established in 1930 as one of the offices endowed by the bequest of Sir Perceval Maitland Laurence Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The British Academy is the United Kingdom 's National academy for the Humanities and the Social sciences It was established by Royal Charter In 1950 he edited an edition of his mentor Cornford's essays under the title The Unwritten Philosophy. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
In 1957 he moved to his third Cambridge college when invited to become the Master of Downing College where he would remain for the rest of his life. Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) Downing College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. As Master he took a full part in the administrative, cultural and social life of the college, occasionally preaching in the college chapel and supporting the undergraduate music club and boat club. A sermon is an oration by a Prophet or member of the Clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, or religious topic A chapel is a holy place or area of Worship for Christians, which may be attached to an institution such as a large church, a College, a He oversaw a rewriting of the college statutes and introduced a maximum term for a Master of fifteen years, by which he chose voluntarily to abide although it did not apply to him.
In 1956 he was approached by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press to write a history of ancient philosophy. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP is a Publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534 This page lists some links to ancient philosophy. In Western philosophy, the spread of Christianity through the Roman Empire marked the end of Hellenistic The first volumes, devoted to the pre-Socratics, of what would his life's magnum opus were published to high acclaim in 1962 and 1964. The Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers were active before Socrates or contemporaneously but expounding knowledge developed earlier Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera) from the Latin meaning great work, refers to the best the greatest Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. The work continued while serving as Master of Downing and became his life's full mission after retiring from that position in 1972. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The venture remained, however, unfinished at his death aged 74 in 1981 the year in which he published the sixth volume in the series, devoted to Aristotle. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.
As a philosopher Guthrie followed in the tradition of Cornford in believing that ancient philosophers should be read and interpreted against their own historical background, rather than engaged with, as has been the practice of later generations of classical philosophers, in the context of the whole canon of philosophy both ancient and modern.
References
- William Keith Chambers Guthrie, 1906–1981 by G. E. R. Lloyd, Proceedings of the British Academy 68, 561-577
Works
- Orpheus and Greek Religion (1935)
- The Greeks and their Gods (1951)
- Protagoras and Meno (1956) dialogues of Plato, translator
- The Greek Philosophers from Thales to Aristotle (1960)
- In the Beginning (1965)
- On the Heavens, translator (1969)
- The Pre-Socratics: A Collection of Critical Essays (1974)
- A History of Greek Philosophy Volume I: The Earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans (1962)
- A History of Greek Philosophy Volume II: The Presocratic Tradition from Parmenides to Democritus (1965)
- A History of Greek Philosophy Volume III: The Fifth-Century Enlightenment - Part 1: The Sophists; Part 2: Socrates (1971)
- A History of Greek Philosophy Volume IV: Plato - the Man and his Dialogues: Earlier Period (1975)
- A History of Greek Philosophy Volume V: The Later Plato and the Academy (1978)
- A History of Greek Philosophy Volume VI: Aristotle: An Encounter (1981)
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Terrot Reaveley Glover |
Cambridge University Public Orator 1939 - 1958 |
Succeeded by Lancelot Patrick Wilkinson |
| Preceded by Reginald Hackforth |
Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy Cambridge University 1952 - 1973 |
Succeeded by Gwilym Ellis Lane Owen |
| Preceded by Sir Lionel Whitby |
Master of Downing College, Cambridge 1957 - 1972 |
Succeeded by Morien Morgan |
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