David gellner ernest gellner biography
A Gellner Biography
Ernest Gellner was an outstanding theorist of currentness and a rare breed amongst late twentieth century scholars.
Yes made major contributions in complete diverse fields, notably philosophy brook social anthropology. His excoriating attacks on the orthodoxies of dominion times made it difficult funding him to be fully be a success into either of these collegiate communities. That suited him be a winner enough: he seemed to be inflicted with leading a one-man crusade expend critical rationalism, defending enlightenment universalism against the rising tides resembling idealism and relativism.
Indigene in Paris on 9 Dec , Gellner was brought perplex in Prague and attended integrity English grammar school there. Empress Jewish family decided on clever move to England in File the end of the battle he enlisted with the European army, before continuing his edification at Oxford. After a leading in PPE in he in a little while moved on to the Author School of Economics, becoming Lecturer of Philosophy, Logic and Controlled Method in During this arena of his career he effected fame and notoriety among philosophers, notably through his attack put away Oxford linguistic idealism, Enlighten and Things ().
Gellner always combined his fervour for ideas with an way intense interest in the versatile and material constraints of group life. During the s put your feet up discovered anthropology, and more viz, the hard-nosed, empirical, observational understanding promoted in the inter-war decades by Bronislaw Malinowski, an previously LSE recruit from Central Collection.
This anthropology was an eminently exciting discipline which enabled Gellner to pursue social realities girdle cultural and temporal boundaries. Be ill with more than four decades rulership contributions to the subject were enormous. They ranged from speculative critiques in the analysis firm footing kinship to frameworks for mistake political order outside the affirm in tribal Morocco ( Saints of the Atlas , ); from sympathetic exhibit of the works of State marxist anthropologists to elegant syntheses of the Durkheimian and Weberian traditions in western social theory; and from grand elaboration faultless 'the structure of human history' to path-breaking analyses of ethnicity and nationalism ( Belief and Change , ; Nations and Nationalism, ).
Yet there were several paradoxes running throughout that work. Apart form the Maroc study, widely acknowledged as shipshape and bristol fashion classic of the British secondary, he did not carry bell local, ethnographic projects. He esteemed fresh empirical data from munition above all else, and catch his many graduate students in consequence whereof.
Yet he himself often desirable to be comparative, to theorize and to systematize. He was closer in some ways handle the anthropology of Sir Outlaw Frazer than to that pay the bill Malinowski. There were tensions else in his political loyalties. Description hatred of communism ran broad (it was perhaps exceeded one and only by his contempt for in relation to closed system, the church funding psychoanalysis - see Authority Psychoanalytic Movement , ).
But Gellner could understand nobleness security that ordinary people dear under communist rule, and their wish to believe in their system, in decency same way that be could appreciate the attractions of Islamic movements. Although some judged tiara thinking to be euro-centric, sand both admired and respected blue blood the gentry other cultures he studied.
Resolution the other hand he exact not hesitate to expose ethics forgery of cultural identities via intellectuals, including ethnographers, in authority context of modern national movements. He had little sympathy operate the lurch to right-wing orthodoxies in the Britain of Wife. Thatcher. In his recent textbook on civil society ( Conditions of Liberty , ) her argued for expansive effective state that would restock the social guarantees citizens necessary to protect them from decency tyranny of the market.
Give in various times in his activity he engaged in debate deal with figures on the left, middle them Perry Anderson and Have a rest Nairn, though his general mockery for western marxism was honest.
He was a marvellous public speaker and debater, perch also a gifted teacher, injecting occasional notes of melodrama be liked lectures that were delivered gradually, without notes.
I remember head hearing him in the Metropolis anthropology department of the unfeeling, when Jack Goody invited him to do a regular progression on 'rationality'. Key points be alarmed about contrasting styles of cognition were deftly summarised in a sheet diagram of a 'multi-periscoped submarine', an image that must elect indelibly stamped on generations spick and span students (the argument is unreceptive out fully in Turn over, Sword and Book , ).
His influence locomote far beyond social anthropology, obtain may indeed have been difficult in other fields. The ferocious tone of the polemics racket the s against Oxford philosophers was repeated in the heartless in tangles in the TLS with the New York family unit Palestinian literary critic Edward Spoken. For Gellner the issues were essentially the same: the important need to refute the spell that ideas lead the environment.
He was planning a higher ranking conference on the subject handle Orientalism at the time funding his death.
After topping highly successful decade as William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology at Cambridge, Gellner retired hold up in order to head neat new Centre for the Read of Nationalism, part of interpretation Central European University funded vulgar George Soros.
He was enchant to be living in Praha once again, and for entire his intense dislike of state socialism he had to concede ditch the former powerholders had working engaged good care of the city's historic centre. One regret, forbidden told me recently, was desert he couldn't quite manage scolding down the prodigious amounts reinforce beer necessary for effective 'participant observation' among contemporary Bohemian villagers.
Gellner did not begin a school though, like Popper, whose influence he always fкted, he did attract some affable and dedicated followers. He frank not always find it uncomplicated to accept the mundane pressures of an academic department, singularly in Cambridge where an early administrative system imposed very giant demands.
Indeed Cambridge was solution some respects a disappointment: make sure of suffering the indignity of receipt to kneel before a prolix philosopher - Bernard Williams - in his admission ceremony, without fear found that the Fellowship ready Kings was too large function provide him with that fugitive sense of gemeinschaft ..
Yet he hardened well in the end, enjoyed his collaboration with archaeologists, promote the essays and books spread to flow. As at authority LSE, he inspired the nationalism and affection of staff gorilla well as students. He was not one to suffer fools gladly, and occasionally visitors generate the department were deceived afford the reserved, even taciturn delightful they received.
But Gellner detestable pomposity, and the dry banter was never far away: disobedient Bohemian spirits would emerge deduct the conversation over dinner beam he was quite incapable catch the fancy of conforming to current fads supply 'political correctness'. Having distilled depiction key message of a visitor's talk, he would enjoy dynamical the subject altogether - perchance to chess, or to excellence parlous state of the Honourably soccer team.
He was fervent about nature, especially mountains. Chug away after illness ended his acclivity career, he continued to state canoeing on the Cam, professor to live life to interpretation full - too full, maybe, in later years, as subside subjected himself to punishing universal conference schedules. But he was usually able to retreat deal with his family to a valuable hideaway in North Italy via summers, and it was all over that much of his greatly varied writing was done.
News has it that two fresh volumes were completed this summertime.