Greg McElwain
@gsmcelwain.bsky.social
Professor of Philosophy. Mainly animal/environmental ethics and Mary Midgley.
Author of Mary Midgley: An Introduction (Bloomsbury, 2020): https://tinyurl.com/Mary-Midgley & Mary Midgley on What Matters: Conversations on Science, Ethics, and Nature (2026).
Author of Mary Midgley: An Introduction (Bloomsbury, 2020): https://tinyurl.com/Mary-Midgley & Mary Midgley on What Matters: Conversations on Science, Ethics, and Nature (2026).
Pinned
Greg McElwain
@gsmcelwain.bsky.social
· Feb 20
I'm halfway through a sabbatical dedicated to writing a book based on my yearly interviews with Mary Midgley from 2011-18 for @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social.
I'm curious about which topics people are most interested in? Feel free to DM!
I'm curious about which topics people are most interested in? Feel free to DM!
Reposted by Greg McElwain
I'm doing an online webniar tomorrow at 3pm (UK) with the wonderful @inparenthesis.bsky.social team on 'Mary Midgley among the economists'
Looking forward to joining the dots between one of our best recent philosophers and the critique of mainstream economics
More info & zoom link below 👇
Looking forward to joining the dots between one of our best recent philosophers and the critique of mainstream economics
More info & zoom link below 👇
October 21, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I'm doing an online webniar tomorrow at 3pm (UK) with the wonderful @inparenthesis.bsky.social team on 'Mary Midgley among the economists'
Looking forward to joining the dots between one of our best recent philosophers and the critique of mainstream economics
More info & zoom link below 👇
Looking forward to joining the dots between one of our best recent philosophers and the critique of mainstream economics
More info & zoom link below 👇
Reposted by Greg McElwain
Mary Midgley and Jane Goodall in 1989.
Goodall's influence is clear throughout Midgley's work and central to her claim that philosophy needs ethology
Goodall's influence is clear throughout Midgley's work and central to her claim that philosophy needs ethology
October 7, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Mary Midgley and Jane Goodall in 1989.
Goodall's influence is clear throughout Midgley's work and central to her claim that philosophy needs ethology
Goodall's influence is clear throughout Midgley's work and central to her claim that philosophy needs ethology
Reposted by Greg McElwain
We're excited to announce our new Online Seminar Series for the 2025-6 academic year!! We have 5 fantastic talks coming up. For titles and abstracts see our website - and get the dates in your diary!
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/news/
#philsky #philosophy
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/news/
#philsky #philosophy
News | In Parenthesis
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk
September 8, 2025 at 9:36 AM
We're excited to announce our new Online Seminar Series for the 2025-6 academic year!! We have 5 fantastic talks coming up. For titles and abstracts see our website - and get the dates in your diary!
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/news/
#philsky #philosophy
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/news/
#philsky #philosophy
Reposted by Greg McElwain
One is the brilliant #EllieRobson @philosophellie.bsky.social on #MaryMidgley and #Animals! Not to be missed and again, what an incredible resource and gift #PhilosophyBites is #philosophy #philsky @inparenthesis.bsky.social
#Midgley
#Midgley
Just released - two new episodes of the Philosophy Bites podcast - listen here (and soon on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.philosophybites etc) Philosophybites.libsyn.com
Philosophy Bites
EDIT_HERE
Philosophybites.libsyn.com
August 17, 2025 at 11:16 AM
One is the brilliant #EllieRobson @philosophellie.bsky.social on #MaryMidgley and #Animals! Not to be missed and again, what an incredible resource and gift #PhilosophyBites is #philosophy #philsky @inparenthesis.bsky.social
#Midgley
#Midgley
The wonderful @philosophellie.bsky.social on Mary Midgley’s animal thought.
Just released - two new episodes of the Philosophy Bites podcast - listen here (and soon on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.philosophybites etc) Philosophybites.libsyn.com
Philosophy Bites
EDIT_HERE
Philosophybites.libsyn.com
August 17, 2025 at 1:42 PM
The wonderful @philosophellie.bsky.social on Mary Midgley’s animal thought.
"I suppose in a very admirable and harmless way, I take science to have a religious aspect. That is, it involves people responding to the vastness of the universe."
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
August 11, 2025 at 3:59 PM
"I suppose in a very admirable and harmless way, I take science to have a religious aspect. That is, it involves people responding to the vastness of the universe."
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
"We rejoice in the whole of nature and being part of it, as something to which we belong."
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
August 4, 2025 at 3:47 PM
"We rejoice in the whole of nature and being part of it, as something to which we belong."
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
Reposted by Greg McElwain
Back at the very special #dewisacre for more #philosophyinthewild ‘finding hope in mixed communities’ & this time - with the adults! It means the world to us that the adults relished this event, fell in love with the wisdom of #MaryMidgley & that Ned the cat was so happy & involved too 1/3
July 24, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Back at the very special #dewisacre for more #philosophyinthewild ‘finding hope in mixed communities’ & this time - with the adults! It means the world to us that the adults relished this event, fell in love with the wisdom of #MaryMidgley & that Ned the cat was so happy & involved too 1/3
Reposted by Greg McElwain
Back in the garden, for #philosophyinthewild, which has been a truly #mixedcommunity garden this week! 🐑
@stdavidscathedral.bsky.social @inparenthesis.bsky.social
#PhilosophyMatters #MaryMidgley #Arts #Poetry #Hope #FindingHopeInMixedCommunities
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/philosophy-i...
@stdavidscathedral.bsky.social @inparenthesis.bsky.social
#PhilosophyMatters #MaryMidgley #Arts #Poetry #Hope #FindingHopeInMixedCommunities
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/philosophy-i...
July 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Back in the garden, for #philosophyinthewild, which has been a truly #mixedcommunity garden this week! 🐑
@stdavidscathedral.bsky.social @inparenthesis.bsky.social
#PhilosophyMatters #MaryMidgley #Arts #Poetry #Hope #FindingHopeInMixedCommunities
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/philosophy-i...
@stdavidscathedral.bsky.social @inparenthesis.bsky.social
#PhilosophyMatters #MaryMidgley #Arts #Poetry #Hope #FindingHopeInMixedCommunities
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/philosophy-i...
"Central to thinking about animals is the idea of community: a genuine unity of beings which are important to each other."
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
July 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
"Central to thinking about animals is the idea of community: a genuine unity of beings which are important to each other."
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
"How to think involves how to live."
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
June 30, 2025 at 3:48 PM
"How to think involves how to live."
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction
#marymidgley #philsky
"The world in which the kestrel moves, the world that it sees, is, and always will be, entirely beyond us. That there are such worlds all around us is an essential feature of our world."
-Mary Midgley, Beast and Man
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Beast and Man
#marymidgley #philsky
June 23, 2025 at 4:20 PM
"The world in which the kestrel moves, the world that it sees, is, and always will be, entirely beyond us. That there are such worlds all around us is an essential feature of our world."
-Mary Midgley, Beast and Man
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Beast and Man
#marymidgley #philsky
“Hubris calls for nemesis, and in one form or another it's going to get it, not as a punishment from outside but as the completion of a pattern already started.”
-Mary Midgley, The Myths We Live By
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, The Myths We Live By
#marymidgley #philsky
June 16, 2025 at 3:52 PM
“Hubris calls for nemesis, and in one form or another it's going to get it, not as a punishment from outside but as the completion of a pattern already started.”
-Mary Midgley, The Myths We Live By
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, The Myths We Live By
#marymidgley #philsky
"The trouble with human beings ([Butler] said) is not really that they love themselves too much; they ought to love themselves more. The trouble is simply that they don’t love others enough."
-Mary Midgley, Utopias, Dolphins, and Computers
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Utopias, Dolphins, and Computers
#marymidgley #philsky
June 9, 2025 at 4:09 PM
"The trouble with human beings ([Butler] said) is not really that they love themselves too much; they ought to love themselves more. The trouble is simply that they don’t love others enough."
-Mary Midgley, Utopias, Dolphins, and Computers
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Utopias, Dolphins, and Computers
#marymidgley #philsky
Reposted by Greg McElwain
The philosopher Mary Midgley undergirds a lot of my thinking (even about economics)
I just reread this piece I wrote about her in 2020 and it still holds up pretty well
philosophynow.org/issues/140/M...
I just reread this piece I wrote about her in 2020 and it still holds up pretty well
philosophynow.org/issues/140/M...
Mary Midgley (1919-2018) | Issue 140 | Philosophy Now
Nat Dyer looks at the humanity of a philosopher who tried to make philosophy more human.
philosophynow.org
June 4, 2025 at 11:28 AM
The philosopher Mary Midgley undergirds a lot of my thinking (even about economics)
I just reread this piece I wrote about her in 2020 and it still holds up pretty well
philosophynow.org/issues/140/M...
I just reread this piece I wrote about her in 2020 and it still holds up pretty well
philosophynow.org/issues/140/M...
Reposted by Greg McElwain
Upcoming workshop on Susan Stebbing and Mary Midgley: ianjameskidd.weebly.com/midgley-steb...
@philosophellie.bsky.social
Ian Kidd
Karl Egerton
Me
@philosophellie.bsky.social
Ian Kidd
Karl Egerton
Me
Midgley, Stebbing, and the History of Philosophy
A workshop devoted to the work of Susan Stebbing (1885-1943) and Mary Midgley (1919-2018) and their place in and relation to the history of philosophy. When : 17th July 2025 Where : Monica...
ianjameskidd.weebly.com
June 2, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Upcoming workshop on Susan Stebbing and Mary Midgley: ianjameskidd.weebly.com/midgley-steb...
@philosophellie.bsky.social
Ian Kidd
Karl Egerton
Me
@philosophellie.bsky.social
Ian Kidd
Karl Egerton
Me
"Great philosophers, then, need a combination of gifts that is rare. They must be lawyers as well as poets. They must have both the new vision that points the way we are to go and the logical doggedness that sorts out just what is, and what is not, involved in going there."
-Mary Midgley, UDC
-Mary Midgley, UDC
June 2, 2025 at 3:56 PM
"Great philosophers, then, need a combination of gifts that is rare. They must be lawyers as well as poets. They must have both the new vision that points the way we are to go and the logical doggedness that sorts out just what is, and what is not, involved in going there."
-Mary Midgley, UDC
-Mary Midgley, UDC
Reposted by Greg McElwain
We are naturally connected: to the wild world, animals, one another. @gsmcelwain.bsky.social has an excellent overview of Mary Midgley's work, which is always relevant and increasingly prominent. From the APA blog. #philsky
Mary Midgley and The Necessity of Philosophy
Mary Midgley has become an increasingly prominent name in recent years. This could be attributed to her passing in 2018, which, along with the rise in Midgley and “Wartime Quartet” scholarship, has dr...
blog.apaonline.org
May 30, 2025 at 3:37 PM
We are naturally connected: to the wild world, animals, one another. @gsmcelwain.bsky.social has an excellent overview of Mary Midgley's work, which is always relevant and increasingly prominent. From the APA blog. #philsky
Here is a piece on Mary Midgley that I wrote for the @apaphilosophy.bsky.social public philosophy blog!
#marymidgley #philsky
#marymidgley #philsky
Mary Midgley and The Necessity of Philosophy
Mary Midgley has become an increasingly prominent name in recent years. This could be attributed to her passing in 2018, which, along with the rise in Midgley and “Wartime Quartet” scholarship, has dr...
blog.apaonline.org
May 30, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Here is a piece on Mary Midgley that I wrote for the @apaphilosophy.bsky.social public philosophy blog!
#marymidgley #philsky
#marymidgley #philsky
"Our need for each other – our need for all the normal intercourse of human life – is not a weakness but a strength...Of course our dependencies are dangerous, but who wants to live safely like a billiard ball or a doll that never leaves its package?"
-Mary Midgley, The Solitary Self
#philsky
-Mary Midgley, The Solitary Self
#philsky
May 19, 2025 at 3:24 PM
"Our need for each other – our need for all the normal intercourse of human life – is not a weakness but a strength...Of course our dependencies are dangerous, but who wants to live safely like a billiard ball or a doll that never leaves its package?"
-Mary Midgley, The Solitary Self
#philsky
-Mary Midgley, The Solitary Self
#philsky
Specific grievances wear out; the unchangingness of group hostilities marks them as fraudulent. They are not responses to real external dangers, but fantasies. We erect a glass at the border of our own group, and see our own anger reflected against the darkness behind it.
-Mary Midgley, Wickedness
-Mary Midgley, Wickedness
May 12, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Specific grievances wear out; the unchangingness of group hostilities marks them as fraudulent. They are not responses to real external dangers, but fantasies. We erect a glass at the border of our own group, and see our own anger reflected against the darkness behind it.
-Mary Midgley, Wickedness
-Mary Midgley, Wickedness
"We did not expect the earth to be vulnerable, capable of health or sickness, wholeness or injury. But it turns out that we were wrong: the earth is now unmistakably sick."
-Mary Midgley, Science and Poetry
#marymidgley #philsky #environment
-Mary Midgley, Science and Poetry
#marymidgley #philsky #environment
May 5, 2025 at 3:48 PM
"We did not expect the earth to be vulnerable, capable of health or sickness, wholeness or injury. But it turns out that we were wrong: the earth is now unmistakably sick."
-Mary Midgley, Science and Poetry
#marymidgley #philsky #environment
-Mary Midgley, Science and Poetry
#marymidgley #philsky #environment
"It is not true, as has often been suggested, that we cannot be interested in anything unlike ourselves. Both poetry and science show us as being interested in all manner of unlike things."
-Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They Matter
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They Matter
#marymidgley #philsky
April 28, 2025 at 3:37 PM
"It is not true, as has often been suggested, that we cannot be interested in anything unlike ourselves. Both poetry and science show us as being interested in all manner of unlike things."
-Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They Matter
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They Matter
#marymidgley #philsky
Reposted by Greg McElwain
Call for Abstracts: Women in Parenthesis 2025-6 online Work in Progress series!
We welcome talks on the Wartime Quartet and connected figures! Have a look at the link below for previous talks
Send 250 words to anabarandalla@me.com by 31st July 2025!
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/news/
#philsky
We welcome talks on the Wartime Quartet and connected figures! Have a look at the link below for previous talks
Send 250 words to anabarandalla@me.com by 31st July 2025!
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/news/
#philsky
April 23, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Call for Abstracts: Women in Parenthesis 2025-6 online Work in Progress series!
We welcome talks on the Wartime Quartet and connected figures! Have a look at the link below for previous talks
Send 250 words to anabarandalla@me.com by 31st July 2025!
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/news/
#philsky
We welcome talks on the Wartime Quartet and connected figures! Have a look at the link below for previous talks
Send 250 words to anabarandalla@me.com by 31st July 2025!
www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk/news/
#philsky
"Inequalities above one's own level tend to be visible: those below it to be hidden."
-Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They Matter
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They Matter
#marymidgley #philsky
April 21, 2025 at 3:37 PM
"Inequalities above one's own level tend to be visible: those below it to be hidden."
-Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They Matter
#marymidgley #philsky
-Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They Matter
#marymidgley #philsky