John Foster (philosopher)

John Foster
Born Brian Jonathan Foster
(1941-05-05)5 May 1941
London, England
Died 1 January 2009(2009-01-01) (aged 67)
London, England
Notable work A World for Us (2008)
School Analytic philosophy
Institutions Brasenose College, Oxford
Main interests
 Metaphysics
Notable ideas
 Phenomenalistic idealism

Brian Jonathan Foster (1941–2009), known as John Foster, was a British philosopher. He authored several books, including The Case for Idealism and A World for Us: The Case for Phenomenalistic Idealism.[1]

John Foster was tutorial Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1966 to 2005 and was Emeritus Fellow there until his death in 2009.

Biography

Foster was born in North London on 5 May 1941 and grew up in Southgate. He studied at Mercers' School, but transferred to the City of London School to do A-levels after Mercers' was closed—he wrote a letter to The Times to protest the closing of the school. He started studying classics at Lincoln College, Oxford, but transferred to psychology, philosophy and physiology after discovering a distaste for studying ancient history. Foster became friends with A. J. Ayer although was strongly critical of Ayer's philosophy. He later wrote a book on Ayer's work that Anthony Quinton described as "the only serious monograph about his philosophy".[2]

Foster was a devoted Christian and an outspoken pro-life campaigner. Foster met his wife-to-be Helen in 1963 and the two married in Royal Tunbridge Wells in 1967. He joined the Church of England. In 1989 both John and Helen converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism.[2]

Foster died 1 January 2009.

Philosophical work

In 2008, he put forward a thesis called phenomenalistic idealism, which combines phenomenalism and idealism.[3]

Works

  • Foster, John (1982). The Case for Idealism. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. ISBN 0-7100-9019-6.
  • Foster, John (1985). A. J. Ayer. Routledge & Kegan Paul, Boston. ISBN 0415203899.
  • Foster, John (1991). The Immaterial Self: A Defence of the Cartesian Dualist Conception of Mind. Routledge, New York. ISBN 9780415156332.
  • Foster, John (2000). The Nature of Perception. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 978-0198237693.
  • Foster, John (2004). The Divine Lawmaker: Lectures on Induction, Laws of Nature, and the Existence of God. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 978-0199250592.
  • Foster, John (2008). A World for Us: The Case for Phenomenalistic Idealism. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-929713-4.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Garrett, Brian Jonathan (2010). "John Foster, A World For Us: The Case for Phenomenalistic Idealism. Review". Philosophy in Review. XXX (6): 397–399.
  2. 1 2 Sinclair, Peter (2010). "John Foster Remembered" (PDF). The Brazen Nose: 135–141.
  3. ↑ Foster, John (2008). A World for Us: The Case for Phenomenalistic Idealism. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-929713-4.
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