Susan Stebbing Analysis, Common Sense, and Public Philosophy

Susan Stebbing: Analysis, Common Sense, and Public PhilosophyÂis the first edited volume to be dedicated exclusively to the philosophy of Susan Stebbing (1885-1943)—a pivotal yet neglected figure in the male-dominated tradition of analytic philosophy, and the first woman to hold a Chair in Philosophy in Britain. This volume collects eleven new essays that explore central themes of Stebbing's philosophy: the significance of her work on metaphysical analysis; her contributions to public philosophy, including her work in the philosophy of physics, critical thinking, ethics, and counter-propaganda efforts; and her work in philosophical logic and the philosophy of language. The volume and its contributors seek both to reinstate Stebbing's place in the analytic tradition by examining her work in context and to highlight the continued relevance of her ideas to contemporary philosophy.

Annalisa Coliva is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. She has been named Inclusive Excellence Professor (2022-2024), DECADE Mentor (2023-2024), and Inclusive Excellence Mentor in the Department of Philosophy (2022-2025). She also serves as Co-director of the Minor in Medical Humanities. Previously she was Chair of the Department of Philosophy (2017-2022), Chancellor Fellow (2019-2022), DECADE Mentor for the School of Humanities (2022-2023), and Director of the Graduate Emphasis in Medical Humanities (2022-2023). She is the editor in chief of the Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy. Her research focuses on epistemology, philosophy of mind, and the history of analytic philosophy

Louis Doulas is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Extending New Narratives in the History of Philosophy project at McGill University. His research is both historical and theoretical, focusing on the history of early analytic philosophy and issues in epistemology and methodology. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine.

Introduction: Susan Stebbing: Analysis, Common Sense, and Public Philosophy, Annalisa Coliva and Louis DoulasSection I. The Significance of Susan Stebbing's Work on AnalysisThe Significance of Susan Stebbing's Work on Analysis, Annalisa ColivaStebbing on Clarity, Eric SchliesserSection II. Public Philosophy, Science, and Common SenseSusan Stebbing's Anti-Idealist Philosophy of Physics: Her Rebuttal of Eddington's Argument from Intrinsic Nature, Frederique Janssen-LauretMaking Sense of Stebbing and Moore on Common Sense, Louis DoulasSusan Stebbing's Critique of Popular Science: Guiding or Gatekeeping?, Karl EgertonStebbing's Pelicans: Public Philosophy in Philosophy and the Physicists and Thinking to Some Purpose, Peter WestSection III. The Logic and Politics of Everyday LanguageSusan Stebbing and Some Poorly Explored Venues of Analytic Philosophy, Nikolay MilkovSusan Stebbing and the Politics of Symbolic Logic, David DunningSection IV. Natural Language, Definitions, and Verbal DisputesSusan Stebbing: Philosophy, Pragmatics, and Critical Discourse Analysis, Siobhan ChapmanStebbing on Linguistic Convention: Understanding, Definition, and Verbal Disputes, Bryan PickelStebbing, Translations, and Verbal Disputes, Teresa Kouri Kissel