Karl Britton
British philosopher (1909-1983)
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Karl William Britton (12 October 1909 – 23 July 1983) was a British philosopher.[1] Throughout his entire career, Britton was interested in the philosophy of John Stuart Mill, on whom he published a book in 1953 which was long regarded as the standard student text.[2]
Life
Britton was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, one of four children; his older sister was Clare Winnicott and his older brother, James, was a noted academic. He attended Southend High School and, from 1927 to 1932, Clare College, Cambridge, where he gained his MA (Cantab) in history and moral sciences. In 1931 he was President of the Cambridge Union Society.[3] His first academic appointment (1932–1934) was as Choate Fellow at Harvard University. He then taught at University College, Swansea before, in 1951, becoming Professor of Philosophy at King's College, Durham, later the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he remained until his retirement in 1975.[3] He died in Riding Mill, Northumberland, in 1983.
Works
- Communication: a Philosophical Study of Language, 1939
- John Stuart Mill, 1953, 2nd ed. 1970
- Philosophy and the Meaning of Life, 1969
