Series 3 - Notes

0.52 m of textual records

This series consists of notes taken for research purposes, addresses, and lectures that are not clearly identified with a particular project or event. They were compiled from about 1932 to 1991, with an number of accompanying, heavily annotated, articles that date from 1900.

They begin with eight "philosophical notebooks" compiled in the 1940s and the 1950s that cover topics from naturalism and Kant to the philosophy of biology. The remaining files document issues and individuals that were of continuing interest to Professor Goudge, along with topics that are more narrowly focused. Charles Peirce is especially well documented and Kant is also prominent. Over the years, Goudge assembled material on other philosophers such as Henri Bergson, Ludwig von Bertalanffy,

C. L. Lewis, Lloyd Morgan, Karl Popper, and A. N. Whitehead. Many of these individuals were to appear as biographical entries in the Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1967).

The majority of the files, however, document one of Professor Goudge's principal interests, Darwin and evolution and a part of the ongoing debate on the philosophy of biology. A selection of file titles demonstrates the wide ranging nature of the debate: "aspects of explanation", "causality", "evolutionary theory and ethics", and the "controversy over sociobiology".

Material that Professor Goudge wrote or assembled as a unit at a particular time was periodically broken up and redistributed to files he created for projects of the moment. For example, beginning about 1938 he wrote extensively about various aspects of philosophy for use in his lectures and research. Over the years, these notes became scattered throughout the several dozen files that form this series. The only material that has been removed to other series are clearly identified drafts of lectures, addresses, and articles.

1932-1982: B1996-0009/002(13)-(27)
1900-1988: B1996-0009/003(01)-(22)
1926-1991: B1996-0009/004(01)-(28)

Open