Editing Frederick Copleston

{{Short description|British Jesuit priest and philosopher (1907–1994)}}
{{for|the member of the Indian Civil Service|Frederick Selwyn Copleston}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| name        = Frederick Copleston
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|SJ|CBE|FBA}}
| image       = Frederick Copleston 1987.jpg
| caption     = Frederick Copleston, 1987
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|df=yes|1907|4|10}}
| birth_name  = Frederick Charles Copleston
| birth_place = [[Taunton]], England
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1994|2|3|1907|4|10}}
| death_place = London, England
| main_interests = [[History of philosophy]]
| alma_mater  = [[St. John's College, Oxford]]
| region = [[Western philosophy]]
| era    = [[Contemporary philosophy]]
| school_tradition = [[Christian philosophy]]
}}
{{Jesuit}}
[[File:CoplestonArms.png|thumb|Arms of Coplestone, lords of the [[Copplestone|manor of Copleston]] in Devon: ''Argent, a chevron engrailed gules between three leopard's faces azure'']]

'''Frederick Charles Copleston''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|SJ|CBE|FBA}} (10 April 1907 – 3 February 1994) was a British [[Catholic priest]], [[philosopher]], and [[History of philosophy|historian of philosophy]], best known for his influential multi-volume ''[[A History of Philosophy (Copleston)|A History of Philosophy]]'' (1946–75).

Copleston achieved a degree of popularity in the media for debating the [[existence of God]] with [[Bertrand Russell]] in a celebrated 1948 [[BBC]] broadcast; the following year he debated [[logical positivism]] and the meaningfulness of [[Sacred language|religious language]] with his friend the [[analytic philosophy|analytic philosopher]] [[A. J. Ayer]].

==Origins==
Frederick Charles Copleston was born on 10 April 1907 at Claremont in the parish of [[Trull]], near [[Taunton]] in [[Somerset]], England, the eldest son of [[Frederick Selwyn Copleston]] (1850–1935), a judge of the High Court in [[Rangoon]], [[Burma]], by his second wife, Norah Margaret Little.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-57886|title=Copleston, Frederick Charles (1907–1994), philosopher and Jesuit|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/57886|last1=Hughes|first1=Gerard J.}}</ref> He was a member of the family of Copleston, lords of the [[Copplestone|manor of Copleston]] in Devon until 1659, one of the most ancient in that county according to a  traditional rhyme<ref>Referred to in Gerard J. Hughes, ''Frederick Charles Copleston'', Proceedings of the British Association, Vol.87, 1995, pp.277-86, p.277 [https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1368/87p277.pdf]</ref> related by [[John Prince (biographer)|John Prince]] (d.1723):<ref>[[John Prince (biographer)|Prince, John]], (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, p.274</ref>
<blockquote>
''"Crocker, Cruwys, and Coplestone'',<br />
 ''When [[William the Conqueror|the Conqueror]] came were at home"'' 
</blockquote>

==Biography==
He was raised an [[Anglican]]—his uncle, [[Reginald Stephen Copleston]], was an [[Anglican Diocese of Calcutta|Anglican bishop of Calcutta]]; another uncle, [[Ernest Copleston]], was the [[Anglican Bishop of Colombo]]. Copleston was educated at [[Marlborough College]] from 1920 to 1925.<ref name="gifford"/> At the age of eighteen, he converted to the Roman Catholic faith, which caused a great deal of stress in his family.<ref name="gifford"/> Copleston explained his recognition of the objective authority in the Catholic Church:<blockquote>"It seemed to me that if Christ was truly the Son of God and if he founded a Church to teach all nations in His name, it must be a Church teaching with authority, as her Master did. Obviously one might deny that Christ was the Son of God, and one might reject the claim that he founded a Church. But if these two claims were accepted, it seemed to me that in spite of all its faults the Roman Catholic Church was the only one which could reasonably be thought to have developed out of what Christ established."<ref>[https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/jesuit-and-his-faith-991 Doino, William, Jr., "A Jesuit and His Faith"]</ref> </blockquote>His father, though opposed to his son's becoming a Catholic, helped him complete his education at [[St John's College, Oxford]], where he studied from 1925 to 1929. He graduated from [[Oxford University]] in 1929 having managed a third in classical moderations and a good second at [[Literae Humaniores|Greats]].<ref name="gifford" /> After Oxford, Copleston entered [[St. Mary's College, Oscott]] as a seminarian for the diocese of Clifton, but realized the life was not for him.<ref>Gerard J. Hughes, ''Copleston, Frederick Charles, 1907-1994'', British Academy memoir, p. 278.</ref>

In 1930, he entered instead the [[Jesuit]]s.<ref name="gifford"/> After completing the two-year Jesuit novitiate in Roehampton, he followed the traditional course of studies for the priesthood at the Jesuit house of studies in [[Heythrop]], [[Oxfordshire]] and in 1937 he was ordained a Jesuit priest there.  In 1938 he travelled to Germany to complete his training, returning to Britain just before the [[World War II|outbreak of war in 1939]].<ref name="gifford"/> Copleston was originally destined to study for his doctorate at the [[Pontifical Gregorian University]] in Rome, but the war now made that impossible. Instead, he accepted a posting that saw him return to Heythrop in Oxfordshire to teach the [[history of philosophy]] to the few Jesuits remaining there.<ref name="gifford"/>

From this time onwards, Copleston began writing his influential multi-volume ''[[A History of Philosophy (Copleston)|A History of Philosophy]]'' (1946–75),<ref name=":0" /> a textbook that presents clear accounts of [[ancient philosophy|ancient]], medieval, and modern philosophy.<ref>The original and [[Doubleday (publisher)|DoubleDay]] editions of the ''History'' were published in 9 volumes. From 2003 (after the author's death) [[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]] added two (previously published) other works by Copleston to the series to present it as a work of 11 volumes.</ref> Still highly respected, Copleston's history has been described as "a monumental achievement" that "stays true to the authors it discusses, being very much a work in exposition".<ref name="gifford"/>

Copleston achieved a degree of popularity in the media for [[Copleston–Russell debate|debating]] the [[existence of God]] with [[Bertrand Russell]] in a celebrated 1948 [[BBC]] broadcast<ref>[[Open University]] edited audio [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVLKURgfft0 excerpt from the Russell/Copleston debate] (on the [[argument from contingency]]) introduced by Stuart Brown via [[YouTube]], and a [http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/apologetics/p20.htm Transcript] of the full debate.</ref> (see [[Copleston–Russell debate]]). The following year he debated [[logical positivism]] and the meaningfulness of [[Sacred language|religious language]] with his friend the [[analytic philosophy|analytic philosopher]] [[A. J. Ayer]].<ref name="telegraph-beeson"/>

Throughout the rest of his academic career, Copleston accepted a number of prestigious titles, including visiting professor at Rome's [[Gregorian University]], where he spent six months each year lecturing from 1952 to 1968.<ref name="gifford"/> In 1970 the Jesuit Heythrop house of studies was relocated to London, where as [[Heythrop College, University of London|Heythrop College]] it became a constituent part of the federal [[University of London]]. Copleston became the new college's respected principal and gave undergraduate courses. His uncontestable mastery of his material immediately won the confidence and respect of the students, who were drawn from among younger Jesuits and junior religious from male and female religious orders, and some lay men and women. Moreover, his affable manner, dry humour and unfailing courtesy made him popular. In that same year 1970, he was made [[Fellow of the British Academy]] (FBA), and in 1972 he was given a personal professorship by the University of London. In 1975, he was made an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford.<ref name="gifford"/>

After officially retiring in 1974, he continued to lecture. From 1974 to 1982, Copleston was visiting professor at the [[Santa Clara University|University of Santa Clara]], [[California]], and from 1979 to 1981, he delivered the [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of Aberdeen]], [[Scotland]], which were published as ''Religion and the One''. These lectures attempted to "express themes perennial in his thinking and more personal than in his history".<ref name="gifford"/> Toward the end of his life, Copleston received honorary doctorates from a number of institutions, including  [[Santa Clara University]], California, [[Uppsala University]], and the [[University of St Andrews]].<ref name="gifford"/>

Copleston was offered memberships in the [[Royal Institute of Philosophy]] and in the [[Aristotelian Society]].<ref name="gifford-fcc"/> In 1993 he was made [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]].<ref name="independent"/> Father Frederick Copleston died on 3 February 1994 at [[St Thomas' Hospital]] in London, at the age of 86.<ref name="gifford"/>

==Legacy==
{{Catholic philosophy}}
{{Further|A History of Philosophy (Copleston)}}
In addition to his influential multi-volume ''[[A History of Philosophy (Copleston)|History of Philosophy]]'' (1946–75),<ref name=":0"/> one of Copleston's most significant contributions to modern philosophy was his work on the theories of Saint [[Thomas Aquinas]]. He attempted to clarify Aquinas's [[Quinquae viae|Five Ways]] (in the ''[[Summa Theologica]]'') by making a distinction between ''[[in fieri]]'' causes and ''[[in esse]]'' causes. By doing so, Copleston makes clear that Aquinas wanted to put forth the concept of an omnipresent God rather than a being that could have disappeared after setting the chain of cause and effect into motion.<ref name="ashgate-hensel"/><ref name="abingdon"/>

==Works==
*[[A History of Philosophy (Copleston)|''A History of Philosophy'']] (1946–1975)<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=1987|title=Frederick C. Copleston: An 80th Birthday Bibliography|journal=[[The Heythrop Journal]]|language=en|volume=28|issue=4|pages=418–438|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2265.1987.tb00104.x|issn=1468-2265}}</ref>

'''Other select works'''

*''[[iarchive:in.ernet.dli.2015.97747|Friedrich Nietzsche: Philosopher of Culture]]'' (1942), [[iarchive:friedrichnietzsc0000copl|expanded edition]]; (1975)
*''[[iarchive:arthurschopenhau0000copl|Arthur Schopenhauer: Philosopher of Pessimism]]'' (1946)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Corbishley|first=T.|date=October 1948|title=Arthur Schopenhauer. Philosopher of Pessimism. By Frederick Copleston (Burns Oates. 1946. 12s. 6d.)|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/philosophy/article/abs/arthur-schopenhauer-philosopher-of-pessimism-by-frederick-copleston-burns-oates-1946-12s-6d/673427719D3D33EB724F2C85341AE494|journal=Philosophy|language=en|volume=23|issue=87|pages=373–374|doi=10.1017/S0031819100006641|s2cid=170276089 |issn=1469-817X}}</ref>
*''[[iarchive:medievalphilosop00copl|Medieval Philosophy]]'' (1952), revised edition: ''[[iarchive:historyofmedieva0000copl|A History of Medieval Philosophy]]'' (1972)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McNamara|first=Brian|date=1976|title=Review of A History of Medieval Philosophy|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=65|issue=259|pages=265–266|issn=0039-3495|jstor=30089981}}</ref>
*''[[iarchive:aquinas00copl|Aquinas]]'' (1955), reprinted from 1976 as ''[[iarchive:thomasaquinas00copl/mode/2up|Thomas Aquinas]]'',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Aquinas.html?id=07AS-8aoEXQC Description.] Retrieved 18 August 2018.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Veatch|first=Henry|date=1957|title=Review of Aquinas|journal=Speculum|volume=32|issue=1|pages=152–154|doi=10.2307/2849260|issn=0038-7134|jstor=2849260}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Corbishley|first=T.|date=1957|title=Review of Aquinas|journal=Philosophy|volume=32|issue=120|pages=86–87|issn=0031-8191|jstor=3748547|doi=10.1017/S0031819100029247|s2cid=170786646 }}</ref>
*[[iarchive:modernintroducti00edwa/page/726/mode/1up|"Logical Positivism - A Debate"]] (with A. J. Ayer) in: [[Paul Edwards (philosopher)|Edwards, Paul]], [[Arthur Pap|Pap, Arthur]] (eds.), ''[[iarchive:modernintroducti00edwa|A Modern Introduction to Philosophy]]'' (1957)<ref>reprinted in Ayer, A. J., (1990) ''[[iarchive:meaningoflife0000ayer/page/18/mode/1up|The Meaning of Life and Other Essays]]'', the same being reviewed (with attention given to the Ayer/Copleston debate) in: McGinn, Colin (30 August 1990). [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v12/n16/colin-mcginn/old-scores "Old Scores"]. ''[[London Review of Books]]''. '''12''' (16).</ref>
*''Contemporary Philosophy: Studies of Logical Positivism and Existentialism'' (1956), republished with a new first chapter in 1972<ref>this 1972 edition was later [https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/history-of-philosophy-volume-11-9780826469052/ sold as Volume 11] of the [[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]] edition of Copleston's ''[[A History of Philosophy (Copleston)|A History of Philosophy]]'' from 2003</ref>
*''[[iarchive:religionphilosop0000copl|Religion and Philosophy]]'' (1974)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Connellan|first=Colm|date=1976|title=Review of Religion and Philosophy|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=65|issue=259|pages=261–265|issn=0039-3495|jstor=30089980}}</ref>
*''[[iarchive:philosophersphil0000copl|Philosophers and Philosophies]]'' (1976)
*''On the History of Philosophy and Other Essays'' (1979)<ref>Vater, Michael (1983) ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20200226204944/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b0ff/3a4ff817e0ea15590075c8207dea824d6508.pdf Review of On the History of Philosophy and Other Essays by Frederick Copleston]'' [published version in: ''[[The Review of Metaphysics]]'', Vol. 36, No. 3 (March 1983): 700-701 {{JSTOR|20127887}}]</ref>
*''[[iarchive:philosophiescult0000copl|Philosophies and Culture]]'' (1980)
*''Religion and the One: Philosophies East and West'' (1982)<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2016 |title=Religion & The One: Philosophies East and West |url=https://www.giffordlectures.org/books/religion-one-philosophies-east-and-west |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323173543/https://www.giffordlectures.org/books/religion-one-philosophies-east-and-west |archive-date=23 March 2023 |access-date=18 September 2019 |website=The Gifford Lectures |language=en}}</ref>
*''Philosophy in Russia: From Herzen to Lenin and Berdyaev'' (1986)<ref>this work, which was [https://web.archive.org/web/20200103152336/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-01-bk-6812-story.html reviewed] in 1987 by [[Geoffrey Hosking]] for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', was later [https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/history-of-philosophy-volume-10-9780826469045/ marketed as Volume 10] of the [[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]] edition of Copleston's ''[[A History of Philosophy (Copleston)|A History of Philosophy]]'' from 2003</ref>
*''Russian Religious Philosophy'' (1988)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gustafson|first=Richard F.|date=1 January 1990|title=Frederick C. Copleston. Russian Religious Philosophy: Selected Aspects. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988. xii, 158 pp. $24.95.|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/css/24/4/article-p464_8.xml|journal=Canadian-American Slavic Studies|language=en|volume=24|issue=4|pages=464–467|doi=10.1163/221023990X00787|issn=2210-2396}}</ref>
*''Memoirs of a Philosopher'' (1993)

'''Related works'''

Hughes, Gerard J. (1987) ''[[iarchive:philosophicalass0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up|The Philosophical assessment of theology: essays in honour of Frederick C. Copleston]]''

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="abingdon">{{cite web |title=The Cosmological Argument for The Existence of God |publisher=Abingdon |url=http://study.abingdon.org.uk/rs/AS%20Philosophy%20notes/cosmological_argument.pdf |access-date = 29 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104641/http://study.abingdon.org.uk/rs/AS%20Philosophy%20notes/cosmological_argument.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016  }}</ref>

<ref name="ashgate-hensel">{{cite book|last=Hensel |first=Howard M. |title=The Prism of Just War: Asian and Western Perspectives on the Legitimate Use of Military Force |date=2013| publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=9781409499510 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2PR7zou5msMC&q=Frederick+Copleston+Thomas+Aquinas&pg=PT101}}</ref>

<ref name="gifford">{{cite web |last=Cameron |first=Jon |title=Frederick Charles Copleston |publisher=Gifford Lectures |url=http://www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp?AuthorID=43 |access-date=24 November 2010 |archive-date=23 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723181143/http://www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp?AuthorID=43 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="gifford-fcc">{{cite web|title=Frederick Charles Copleston |date=18 August 2014 |publisher=Gifford Lectures |url=http://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/frederick-charles-copleston |access-date = 29 October 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="independent">{{cite news|title=Obituary: The Rev Professor Frederick Copleston SJ |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=5 February 1994|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-the-rev-professor-frederick-copleston-sj-1392152.html |access-date = 24 November 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="telegraph-beeson">{{cite book|last=Beeson |first=Trevor |title=Priests and Prelates: The Daily Telegraph Clerical Obituaries |date=2006 |publisher=A&C Black |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awPGiqoCrSgC&q=Frederick+Copleston+Ayer+logical+positivism+debate&pg=PA112 |isbn=978-0-82648-100-9 |access-date = 30 March 2016}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
* {{YouTube|gdoVwHesSHk|Fr. Frederick C. Copleston vs Bertrand Russell}} (BBC Radio, 28 January 1948)
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHMD05OcJTQ Frederick Copleston on Schopenhauer] interview for ''[[The Great Philosophers]]'' by [[Bryan Magee]] (BBC. 1987)
*[https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/87p277.pdf Copleston, Frederick Charles, 1907-1994] [[The British Academy|British Academy]] memoir by Gerard J. Hughes
*[https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL124731A/Frederick_Charles_Copleston E-Books by Frederick Charles Copleston available for loan] at [[Open Library]]
*Volumes of Copleston's ''[[A History of Philosophy (Copleston)|History]]'' available at [[Internet Archive]]: [[iarchive:historyofphiloso03copl/page/n5|Vol. 3]], [[iarchive:AHistoryOfPhilosophyV5FCoplestone|Vol. 5: Part I]], [[iarchive:AHistoryOfPhilosophyV7FCoplestone|Vol. 7]],

{{Authority control}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copleston, Frederick}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century British historians]]
[[Category:20th-century British male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century British non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century British philosophers]]
[[Category:20th-century British Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:20th-century English Jesuits]]
[[Category:Academics of Heythrop College]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Pontifical Gregorian University]]
[[Category:Alumni of Heythrop College]]
[[Category:British historians of philosophy]]
[[Category:British male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:British philosophers of religion]]
[[Category:British Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Catholic philosophers]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Fellows of the British Academy]]
[[Category:Jesuit philosophers]]
[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]
[[Category:People from Taunton]]
[[Category:Thomists]]
[[Category:Writers from Somerset]]