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Greg McElwain

@gsmcelwain.bsky.social

470 followers 400 following 47 posts

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).

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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!

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Reposted by Greg McElwain

Ellie Robson @philosophellie.bsky.social · 4d

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

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Reposted by Greg McElwain

(women) In Parenthesis @inparenthesis.bsky.social · Sep 8

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

News | In Parenthesis

www.womeninparenthesis.co.uk

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Sep 5

A little early! Sep 13 😊

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Reposted by Greg McElwain

Dr Elizabeth Mackintosh @drelizabethmac1.bsky.social · Aug 17

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

Nigel Warburton @nigelwarburton.bsky.social · Aug 17

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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Aug 17

The wonderful @philosophellie.bsky.social on Mary Midgley’s animal thought.

Nigel Warburton @nigelwarburton.bsky.social · Aug 17

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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Aug 11

A good religion/science question since some historical traditions did see the universe as much more limited in scope/structure (e.g. the firmament).

Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Aug 11

"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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Aug 4

"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

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Reposted by Greg McElwain

Dr Elizabeth Mackintosh @drelizabethmac1.bsky.social · Jul 24

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

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Reposted by Greg McElwain

Dr Elizabeth Mackintosh @drelizabethmac1.bsky.social · Jul 22

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...

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Jul 14

"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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Jun 30

"How to think involves how to live."

-Mary Midgley, Mary Midgley: An Introduction

#marymidgley #philsky

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Jun 23

"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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Jun 17

Indeed! And I'm especially attached to that edition because it's a copy that Midgley gave me in 2012. Had an extra copy laying around!

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Jun 16

“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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Jun 9

"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

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Reposted by Greg McElwain

Nat Dyer @natjdyer.bsky.social · Jun 4

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...

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

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Reposted by Greg McElwain

Peter West @peterwest23.bsky.social · Jun 2

Upcoming workshop on Susan Stebbing and Mary Midgley: ianjameskidd.weebly.com/midgley-steb...

@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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Jun 2

"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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · Jun 2

Thanks, Amy - writing it has been very enjoyable!

Reposted by Greg McElwain

Chris @multiplicityct.bsky.social · May 30

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

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · May 31

Thanks, Joseph! She's an important thinker.

Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · May 31

Absolutely!

Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · May 30

Thank you, Chris!

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Greg McElwain @gsmcelwain.bsky.social · May 30

Here is a piece on Mary Midgley that I wrote for the @apaphilosophy.bsky.social public philosophy blog!

#marymidgley #philsky

Mary Midgley and The Necessity of Philosophy

blog.apaonline.org

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