Richard Ithamar Aaron

Background

Richard Aaron was born on November 6, 1901, in Seven Sisters, Wales, United Kingdom. He was a son of William Aaron and Margaret Griffith.

Education

Richard Aaron attended Ystalyfera Grammar School. He attended the University of Wales where he studied history and philosophy. Aaron also studied at Oriel College where he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree for a dissertation entitled "The History and Value of the Distinction between Intellect and Intuition" in 1928.

Career

Richard Aaron started his career as a Lecturer at Swansea University in 1926. In 1932, he was appointed a professor of philosophy and held this post until his retirement in 1969. Aaron also worked for a semester as a professor of philosophy at Carlton College in Minnesota.

Richard Aaron published his first book The Nature of Knowing in 1930. Later he became involved in studies of the works of John Locke. In 1937, Aaron published a book that covers the life and work of Locke. Later he wrote such books as Hanes Athroniaeth O Descartes I Hegel, The Theory of Universals, Knowing and the Function of Reason. He also helped write articles for the 1974 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

Achievements

• Richard Aaron was an English educator, philosopher and writer who was famous for his works on John Locke. His most famous books are The Theory of Universals and John Locke.
  
  Richard Aaron attempted to boost interest in philosophy in Wales. In 1932, he established a philosophy section at the University of Wales Guild of Graduates that still conducts all its proceedings in Welsh.

Works

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• book

  • Hanes Athroniaeth O Descartes I Hegel 1932
  • John Locke 1973
  • The Theory of Universals 1967
  • Knowing and the Function of Reason 1971

Views

Richard Aaron was interested in epistemology and the history of ideas. His own philosophical preoccupations centered on the topic of universals, where he defended a theory of naturally recurring common qualities, and on the nature of knowledge, where he argued in favor of a form of probable knowledge which is better than fallible opinion, though falling short of infallible knowledge.

Membership

Richard Aaron was a member of the British Academy.

Interests

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  John Locke, John Cook Wilson

Connections

Richard Aaron married Rhiannon Morgan in 1937. The marriage produced two sons and three daughters.

Father:

William Aaron

Mother:

Margaret Griffith

Wife:

Rhiannon Morgan

References

• The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales provides an introduction to the literature and culture of this fascinating country, covering a time period that ranges from the days of King Arthur to the present-day flowering of Welsh national consciousness. Its nearly three thousand entries treat the principal genres of Welsh literature, the complexities of Welsh poetic art, myth, legend.
  1986