Three Aspects of Moore's Philosophy 1

It is reported that a Chinese who came to Cambridge commented on his philosophical pilgrimage as follows: ‘I came to Cambridge to study philosophy with Professor Moore, and what I learned was something about the English language.’ The aspect of Moore’s philosophical activity which these words suggest is nowadays perhaps the one uppermost in the minds of Moore’s critics and of all the subsequent school of analysts to whom Professor Brand Blanshard attributed ‘that preoccupation with language which is one of the most curious aspects of the current philosophy of analysis’. ² There are, however, other aspects of Moore’s doing of philosophy which have also acted as powerful determinants of the direction philosophy has taken, perhaps the most familiar being his defence of common sense. This defence of common sense had as a by-product, very probably not consciously intended by Moore, a defence of ordinary language. It may not be possible consistently to interpret the work of his lifetime as directed to both of these ends at once, but it is undeniable that various philosophers have interpreted it as directed to one or the other and sometimes to both. Either interpretation is plausibly supported by placing different constructions on the technique Moore made use of, namely, analysis. With this technique for clarifying concepts, i.e., for clarifying the meanings of words, Moore’s name has come to be associated—not because he made important use of it for the first time in the history of philosophy, for in fact many historical figures have used it, but because through him the technique of analysis became very explicit and was used by him in a characteristic way. The defence of common sense, the defence of ordinary language, the clarification of concepts—each in its way has had an enormous influence on philosophy in the English-speaking world. I should like to comment on each, and thereby to attempt to do at this memorial meeting in honour of Professor Moore the kind of critical philosophical study for which he has set the standard.