Herbert Paul Grice and John Jamieson Carswell Smart

Speranza

The Smart Papers. (J. J. C. Smart).

 

National Library of Australia, MS 7740.

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Collection Summary

Creator:	John Jamieson Carswell Smart, 1920-2012
Title:	Papers of J.J.C. Smart
Date Range:	1951-1996
Collection Number:	MS 7740
Extent:	70 cm (5 boxes)
Repository:	National Library of Australia

Introduction

Scope and Content

The papers consist predominantly of correspondence between Smart and philosophers in Australia, New Zealand, Britain, North America, Europe and Asia.

Most of the letters discuss philosophical questions, but some deal with practical matters, such as publications, conferences and travels.

The correspondents include

David Armstrong,
W.V. Quine,
David Lewis,
Donald Davidson,
John Leslie,
Antony Flew,
Gilbert Ryle and
R.M. Hare.

In addition to the letters, there is correspondence concerning Smart's association with the Fédération International des Societes de Philosophie and the Australian National University, together with a small group of his unpublished lectures and other writings.

 

Smart kept his correspondence in chronological order and in later years he made separte files for his Australian and overseas correspondents.

This arrangment has been maintained by the Library.

Smart retained copies of many of his own letters and in some files the outgoing letters exceed the incoming ones.

Only the writers of letter and not the recipients have been listed.

 

The collection is available for reference.

 

The first instalment of the papers was donated to the Library by Professor Smart in 1989.

He added the 1986-1996 correspondence files in 1999.

 

 

 

 

 

John Jamieson Carswell Smart was born in Cambridge, England, on 16 September 1920, the son of William and Isabel Smart.

He was educated at The Leys School (Cambridge), Glasgow University and at Queen's College, in the University of Oxford.

He served in the British Army, mainly in India and Burma, during World War II.

Smart was a Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, before being appointed Hughes Professor of Philosophy at the University of Adelaide in 1950.

He held this position until 1972, when he moved to La Trobe University as a Reader in Philosophy.

In 1976 he was appointed Professor of Philosophy at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.

He retired in 1986, but continued to work at the Australian National University until 1999.

During his career he held visiting professorships at several universities including Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Stanford.

Smart was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

In 1990 he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia.

In 1956 he married Janet Paine and they had two children.

She died in 1967 and in the following year he married Elizabeth Warner.

Smart's publications include:
An outline of a system of utilitarian ethics, Melbourne, 1961
Philosophy and scientific realism, London, 1963
Between science and philosophy, New York, 1968
Utilitarianism: for and against, Cambridge, 1973 (with Bernard Williams)
Ethics, persuasion and truth, London, 1984
Essays metaphysical and moral, Oxford, 1987
Our place in the universe, Oxford, 1989
Atheism and theism, Oxford, 1996 (with J.J. Haldane)

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Folder List

Folder 1 Fédération International des Societes de Philosophie, 1968-1974

Correspondence concerning Smart's membership of the Fédération

Folder 2 Australian National University, 1975-1988

Correspondence concerning Smart's appointment as Professor of Philosophy in 1975, his research at the University, his retirement in 1985, and letters sent by Smart to ANU academics.

Folder 3 Correspondence, 1951-1964

Correspondents include

Gilbert Ryle,
W.V. Quine,
Wilfrid Sellars,
 John Harsanyi,
Nathan Pusey,
H. Bondi,
R.M.Hare,
Hilary Putnam,
Dorothy Moore

Folder 4 Correspondence, 1964-1969

Correspondents include

C. Hartshorne,
Jay Rosenberg,
Nicholas Rescher,
Adolf Grunbaum,
R.C. Cross,
David Lewis,
W.V. Quine,
Judith Economos,
Carl Hempel,
Richard Schlegel,
Colin Burnett

Folder 5 Correspondence, 1965-1969

Correspondents include

Gilbert Ryle,
Don Locke,
Antony Flew,
I.J. Good,
Nicholas Maxwell,
John Tucker,
R.M. Hare,
David Lewis,
Adolf Grunbaum,
Judith Kahane,
Martin Gardner,
W.V. Quine

Folder 6 Correspondence, 1969-1970

Correspondents include

David Lewis,
Michael Green,
A. Boyce Gibson,
David Armstrong,
Fred Alexander,
Antony Flew

Folder 7 Correspondence, 1971

Correspondents include

I.M.D. Little,
Bernhard Rensch,
David Lewis,
Donald Davidson,
W.V. Quine,
Dagfinn Follesdal,
Jaakko Hintikka,
D.C. Dennett,
John Leslie,
David Armstrong,
A.K. Stout,
F.C. Jackson

Folder 8 Correspondence, 1972-1974

Correspondents include

F.C. Jackson,
J.L. Mackie,
James Culbertson,
David Lewis,
Gilbert Ryle,
M.L. Meakin,
W.V. Quine,
Donald Davidson.
J.N. Crossley

Folder 9 Correspondence, 1974-1975

Correspondents include

Bas van Fraassen,
Antony Flew,
W.V. Quine,
Robert Kirk,
David Lewis,
Derek Lawden,
Georg von Wright,
David Cousin

Folder 10 Correspondence, 1975-1976

Correspondents include

David Armstrong,
Hugh Stretton,
Hugh Montgomery,
W.V. Quine,
Donald Davidson,
Francis Sparshott,
Gilbert Ryle,
Antony Flew

Folder 11 Correspondence, 1977

Correspondents include

Robin Haack,
V.A. Edgeloe,
Hector Monro,
Peter Singer,
Frank Jackson

Folder 12 Correspondence, 1978

Correspondents include

Donald Davidson,
Joel Kupperman,
Gilbert Harman,
Harry Allen,
R.G. Frey,
Bernard Mayo

Folder 13 Correspondence, 1979

Correspondents include

 John Harsanyi,
Stephen Croddy,
 Bill Lycan,
Chris Mortensen,
Hugh Mellor,
Adolf Grunbaum

Folder 14 Correspondence, 1980

Correspondents include John Mackie, Hugh Mellor, Bernard Mayo, W.V. Quine, John Harsanyi

Folder 15 Correspondence, 1980-1981

Correspondents include David Armstrong, Hector Monro, Max Charlesworth, Winston Nesbitt

Folder 16 Correspondence, 1981

Correspondents include

J. O. Urmson (Corpus Christi, Oxford)
Antony Flew,
Igor Primorac,
L. Jonathan Cohen (Queen's College, Oxford)
Ian Hacking,
Donald Regan,
Paul Churchland,
Joel Kupperman

Folder 17 Correspondence, 1982

Correspondents include

Peter Smith, Antony Flew,
Bernard J. Harrison,
Lars Bergstrom, Anne Maclean, Donald Davidson,
L. Jonathan Cohen, Joel Kupperman

Folder 18 Australia and New Zealand, 1982-1983

Correspondents include Basil Rennie, David Stove, Michael Devitt

Folder 19 Overseas, 1983

Correspondents include Bruce Vermazen, David Lewis, Guy Stock, Bernard Mayo, Bernard Williams

Folder 20 Overseas, 1984

Correspondents include John Leslie, Gilbert Plumer, David Lewis, Donald Davidson, William Lycan, Antony Flew, Guy Stock, Neil Tennant

Folder 21 Australia and New Zealand, 1984-1985

Correspondents include
David Armstrong,
C.A.J. Coady (author of "The senses of the Martians")
Michael Bradley, Paul Simpson, Michael Devitt

Folder 22 Overseas, 1985

Correspondents include B.C. Postow, Donald Regan, W.V. Quine, Stephen Voss, Onora O'Neill

Folder 23 Overseas, 1986

Correspondents include

Sir Alfred Ayer, Ullin Place, John Wright, W.V. Quine, Jeff Foss, John Leslie, Hilary Putnam

Folder 24 Australia and New Zealand, 1986-1987

Correspondents include David Armstrong, Peter Singer, Graham Oddie

Folder 25 Overseas, 1987

Correspondents include Bernard Mayo, R.M. Hare, W.V. Quine, James Young, John Leslie, Donald Davidson, Ruth Millikan

Folder 26 Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Europe, 1988

Correspondents include Linda Burns, Charles Pigden, Peter Menzies, Guy Stock, Jeremy Butterfield

Folder 27 United States, Canada and South America, 1988

Correspondents include

Michael Ruse,
W.V. Quine,
John Leslie,
Storrs McCall

Folder 28 Correspondence, 1989

Correspondents include John Wright, David Armstrong, W.V. Quine, John Leslie, Paul Edwards, Ullin Place

Folder 29 Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Europe, 1990

Correspondents include B. Rennie, David Armstrong, Hector Monro, André Fuhrmann, R.M. Hare, John Watkins

Folder 30 United States and Canada, 1990

Correspondents include James Sorenson, Irwin Goldstein, Arnold Johanson, Scott Arnold, Jagdish Hattiangadi, Eugene Kamenka

Folder 31 Australia and New Zealand, 1991

Correspondents include John Clendinnen, David Armstrong, John Furge, Peter Forrest, Andrew Holster, David Stove, Alex Millmow, Paul Simpson

Folder 32 Overseas, 1991

Correspondents include Bill Lycan, Ferrel Christensen, James Young, David Lewis, Christopher Daly, Huw Price, Jenny Teichman

Folder 33 Australia and New Zealand, 1992

Correspondents include Angas Hurst, John McKie, Justice Gerard Brennan, Jim Franklin, Eddie Hughes, Charles Pigden, Keith Campbell

Folder 34 Overseas, 1992

Correspondents include Ullin Place, Christopher Daly, Dame Iris Murdoch, John Heil, Paul Edwards, Charles Martin, Edward Averill, John Leslie

Folder 35 Australia and New Zealand, 1993

Correspondents include John Bigelow, Jack Copeland, John Fox, John Clendinnen, Jim Franklin, Peter Forrest

Folder 36 Britain, Europe and Asia, 1993

Correspondents include Ullin Place, Christopher Daly, Stephan Hartmann, Danny Shaw,
Mark Sainsbury (author of "Saying and Conveying", and "Logical Form").

Folder 37 USA and Canada, 1993

Correspondents include Sydney Shoemaker, Ray Bradley, Hilary Putnam, W.V. Quine, James Young, Paul Edwards

Folder 38 Australia, New Zealand, Briatian and Europe, 1994

Correspondents include Jim Mackenzie, Peter Forrest, Murray MacBeath, Stephan Hartmann, John Leslie, Bryan Magee, Alex Miller

Folder 39 USA and Canada, 1994

Correspondents include Jonathan Adler, Anil Gupta, Anthony Serafini, Ray Bradley, David Lewis, David Duemler, Susan Haack

Folder 40 Australia and New Zealand, 1995

Correspondents include Justice David Hodgson, H.S. Green, Peter Forrest

Folder 41 Overseas, 1995

Correspondents include Ullin Place, Antony Flew, Hilary Putnam, John Leslie, Anil Gupta, Jonathan Adler, Susan Haack

Folder 42 Australia and New Zealand, 1996

Correspondents include David Armstrong, Alan Chalmers, John Barrett, Justice David Hodgson, Daniel Nolan

Folder 43 Overseas, 1996

Correspondents include Ullin Place, Michael Lockwood, Antony Flew, Alex Miller, Geoffrey Scarre, Jenny Teichman, W.V. Quine, John Leslie

Folder 44

 

Unpublished papers, 1964-1976

Includes:

 Two ways of life - some moral issues.

How to turn the Tractatus (Wittgenstein) into (almost) Donald Davidson.

A critique of Meinongian semantics

The prisoner's dilemma and utilitarianism

Has modal logic got an intelligible semantics?

Science as an approximation to truth

Abstract entities

Can theories be criticized only from the point of view of other theories?

Physics, extensionality and idealisations

The mechanistic nightmare

Men and machines'

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Box List

Folder	Box
1-8	1
9-17	2
18-25	3
26-34	4
35-44	5