Rupert Crawshay-Williams
Born23 February 1908
London, England
Died12 June 1977(1977-06-12) (aged 69)
Portmeiron, Wales
Alma materQueen's College, Oxford
Occupation(s)Music critic, teacher, writer, philosopher
OrganizationRationalist Association
Notable workMethods and Criteria of Reasoning: An Inquiry into the Structure of Controversy (1957)
MovementHumanist
SpouseElizabeth Joyce Violet Powell (m. 1932)
Parent(s)Leslie Crawshay-Williams; Joyce Collier
RelativesGillian, Lady Greenwood of Rossendale (sister)

Rupert Crawshay-Williams (23 February 1908 – 12 June 1977) was a music critic, teacher, writer, and philosopher.[1]

Life

Rupert Crawshay-Williams was born in London on 23 February 1908.[1] The son of Leslie Crawshay-Williams and Joyce Collier,[2] he was the great-grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley.[1] His younger sister Gillian, born in 1910, was an artist and campaigner for nuclear disarmament, who became Lady Greenwood of Rossendale.[3] Crawshay-Williams was educated at Repton School[4] and Queen's College, Oxford.[1] He married Elizabeth Powell in 1932,[5] who was later described as "a perfect companion for Rupert."[4]

Until 1939, Crawshay-Williams worked as a music critic, before relocating in 1942 to Portmeirion, North Wales, where he taught English, French and mathematics.[1] He remained in Wales for the rest of his life.[4] The couple met, in 1947, Bertrand Russell, who was their close neighbour.[1][4] In 1970, Crawshay-Williams published an affectionate biography of his friend entitled Russell Remembered.[6][7] Like Russell, Crawshay-Williams was an "outspoken humanist" and an Honorary Associate of the Rationalist Press Association.[4][1]

Crawshay-Williams died on 12 June 1977 alongside his wife, Elizabeth, at their home.[1] Elizabeth, affected by paralysis and given a terminal diagnosis, and Rupert Crawshay-Williams opted to die together, swallowing a lethal dose of sleeping tablets.[8][1] The Sunday Mirror reported the couple's deaths under the headline "End of a Love Story", describing how following a quiet day at home, Crawshay-Williams wrote letters "to his friends, and to the local coroner", as well as a note left on the kitchen table which said "Do not enter the bedroom - call the doctor."[9] Crawshay-Williams' sister, Lady Greenwood, was reported to have said "They had no children and didn't want to trouble anyone," and the Deputy Coroner that "They were a devoted couple, and there is no evidence that they were of unsound mind."[9] A verdict of suicide was recorded.[9]

Philosophy

Following the Second World War, Crawshay-Williams focused largely on philosophy.[1] His first book, The Comforts of Unreason, was published in 1947.[1] According to Michael Potter, this was "a light and witty exposé of the human inclination towards deception, self-deception in particular".[1] Potter adds:

The Comforts of Unreason identifies and catalogues forces that lead minds astray – fallacious reasoning, euphemism, propaganda and unacknowledged desires. Crawshay-Williams followed Russell and W. K. Clifford in emphasizing the necessity of basing beliefs on available evidence.[1]

Crawshay-Williams' best known work is 1957's Methods and Criteria of Reasoning (1957), in which he attempted to explain "why so many theoretical and philosophical controversies seem to be intractable" (Potter).[1] He is best remembered today as influential in the fields of argumentation theory, rhetoric and communications studies, and on the work of Stephen Toulmin, Lucy Olbrechts-Tyteca, and Chaim Perelman.[1]

Works

  • The Comforts of Unreason: A Study of the Motives Behind Irrational Thought (1947)
  • Methods and Criteria of Reasoning: An Inquiry into the Structure of Controversy (1957)
  • Russell Remembered (1970)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Potter, Michael (2006), "Crawshay-Williams, Rupert", The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy, Continuum, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199754694.001.0001/acref-9780199754694-e-495, retrieved 2022-12-30
  2. ↑ "Rupert Crawshay WILLIAMS b. 23 Feb 1908 Marylebone, London, England d. 13 Jun 1977 Castle Yard, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gynedd, Wales: Some Silk Weavers and Stay Makers". wyndhammarsh.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  3. ↑ "Greenwood, Arthur William James [Anthony], Baron Greenwood of Rossendale (1911–1982), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31169. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Gilmour, J.S.L. (18 June 1977). "Mr and Mrs R. Crawshay-Williams". The Times. p. 16.
  5. ↑ "Rupert Crawshay WILLIAMS b. 23 Feb 1908 Marylebone, London, England d. 13 Jun 1977 Castle Yard, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gynedd, Wales: Some Silk Weavers and Stay Makers". wyndhammarsh.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  6. ↑ "Russell Remembered". The Humanist. November 1970. p. 333.
  7. ↑ Crawshay-Williams, Rupert (1970). Russell Remembered. W. & J. Mackay & Co Ltd. London. ISBN 0-19-211197-3. OCLC 129347.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ↑ Walter, Nicolas (August 1977). "Loss and gain". The Humanist. p. 5.
  9. 1 2 3 "End of a Love Story". Sunday Mirror. 17 July 1977. p. 29.
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