ABSTRACT
Richards led the age of analysis into literary criticism. The person who most represented that age for him was G. E. Moore. "I spent seven years studying under him and have ever since been reacting to his influence," Richards observed in r968. 1 He was drawn, first, by Moore's most central philosophical concerns: the rejection of idealist metaphysics, the appeal to direct intuition and common sense, realism, theories of meaning, synonymity, definition, and other linguistic topics, and the placement of works of art among the highest goods. Second, Moore's search for first principles, for a "new and initially uncommitted beginning,"2 notably in Principia Ethica (r9o3), had its parallel in Richards' attempt to refound criticism in psychology and the philosophy of language in The Meaning of Meaning and Principles of Literary Criticism. The working title of the latter had been, after Moore's example, "Principia Critica." Third, Richards absorbed-and emulated-Moore's methodological style: the analytical aggressiveness, the relentless drawing of distinctions, the norm of common sense and sincerity, and the professional tone. Fourth, one acknowledges the influence of the man: Moore was independent-minded, questioning, gentle, and Socratic, though he certainly lacked irony. His personal magnetism drew Richards to his lectures and discussion groups for years. Richards admired the way Moore teased and prodded
language, modeling and remodeling sentences to extract their meaning or "proposition." When Richards said the "first sign of discipleship is the mannerisms," he was calling attention to his early classroom style, which he based on Moore's.3 Beyond a style of teaching there was a habit of mind that could fabricate and dismantle theories and methods, his instruments for examining the truth, falsehood, and meaning of propositions. Looking back in later years, Richards saw this attitude, which he named "complementarity," as perhaps his largest debt to Moore.
