Richard Stanley Peters

Richard Stanley Peters (31 October 1919 - 30 December 2011) was a British philosopher. His work belongs mainly to the areas of political theory, philosophical psychology, and philosophy of education.

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Biography

Peters was born 1919 in India. He spent his childhood with his grandmother in England. From 1933-1938 he was a student at Sidcot School in Winscombe. In the Second World War he served in the ambulance service with friends. From his marriage (1942) there were one son and two daughters.[1]

Academic career

Peters studied at Queen's college University of Oxford and received in 1942 Bachelor of Arts. Starting from 1944 he taught at the Sidcot Grammar School in Somerset. He was a part-time lecturer at Birkbeck college University of London, where he also studied philosophy and psychology. There he received his PhD in 1949. From 1949 to 1958 he was employed there as a full time lecturer. Afterwards until 1962 he was a reader in philosophy. In 1961 he had a one-year guest professorship for education at Harvard University. In following the year he moved on to Australian National University. From 1962 until his retirement in 1983, Peters was professor of the philosophy of education at the Institute of Education (founded 1947) University of London. In 1971 he was dean of the institute. Under his guidance the institute grew fast and considerably influenced the development of the philosophy of the education in England. At the institute Peters collaborated with Paul H. Hirst, who later became professor for education at King's college in London and then professor at University of Cambridge. Other famous university graduates of this time at institute were R. K. Elliott, David Cooper, John White, Patricia White and the late Robert Dearden.[2]

Influence on the philosophy of education

Peters is known particularly for his work in the philosophy of the education. However his early writings were occupied with psychology, more exactly with a philosophical view of psychological issues. Thus his research was in the areas motivation, emotions, personality as well as social behavior and the relationship between reason and longing.[3] Perhaps the most important work by Peters is "Ethics and Education".[4] With this and his subsequent publications he significantly influenced the development of the philosophy of education in Great Britain and world-wide. The influence was a result of his examination of the concept of education in the sense of analytic philosophy. Central tools thereby are term analysis. Peters explores two substantial aspects of the philosophy of education: the normative and the cognitive.

Works

Sources

References

  1. ^ http://www.ioe.ac.uk/services/693.html
  2. ^ http://ioewebserver.ioe.ac.uk/ioe/cms/get.asp?cid=12449&12449_0=13056
  3. ^ Hirst, P.H.: Richard Peters' contribution to the philosophy of education. In: D.E. Cooper (Ed.): Education, values and mind. Essays for R.S. Peters. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1986, pp. 8-43.
  4. ^ R.S. Peters: Ethics and Education. 5th Edition, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London 1968.

External links