"The Philosophical Society of England !!
Sn1,—This society informs me that "all holders of Chairs of Philosophy and Readerships in Philosophy in British universities" are "declared to be entitled ex officio Fellows of the Philosophical Society of England." But I smell a rat.
(1) The title of the society is misleading. It is not among the three societies of the philosophers of England, namely the Aristotelian Society, the Mind Association and the Royal Institute of Philosophy. Most of my colleagues have never heard of" The Philosophical Society of England." I know or know of most of. the active philosophers of Great Britain, but I can identify only two of its 340 (odd) Members or "Fellows."
(2) However, a pretentious name might cover a bona fide association of amateurs; and just this impression is given by the distinguished names of the society's Patron, President, Vice-Presidents, Hon. Vice- Presidents and Hon. Fellows. Eminent philosophers, clerics, psycho- logists and scholars benevolently vouch for its bona fides.
(3) The society has a Council, an Hon. Sec., a Treasurer (vacant), a Secretary for Foreign Correspondence, a Librarian, a Registrar, an Academic Adviser, a Director of Studies, and, interestingly, an Examining Board. Yet, with one exception, no officer and no member of the Council or its Examining Board is known by me to have any philosophical credentials whatsoever. Some of them have no university degrees.
The society 'holds meetings and organises lectures. It also encourages the formation of local centres and study groups and the introduction of matter of philosophical interest in schools and other educational institutions." It has no premises save the studio from which its secretary writes. Its meetings are held in hired or borrowed rooms. Why then does it simulate a sort of university ? What are the functions of the Librarian, the Director of Studies and, above all, the Registrar ? "The Academic Adviser," we read in the society's laws, "shall act as a consultant . . . in all matters appertaining to Academical Dress, University Degrees and Ceremonial Procedure."
The function of the Examining Board is clear. A candidate for a " Fellowship " submits to it a dissertation, with a guinea. If successful, he pays 30s. p.a. (ordinary members pa I5s.) or a lump sum of 15 guineas for a "Life Fellowship." He then calls himself " F.Ph.S." Further, according to the "Regulations for the Fellowship, "every Fellow of the Society shall be entitled to receive from the Hon. General Secretary an official authority to obtain the authorised academical dress of a Fellow from the Society's Robemakers, countersigned by the Society's Academical Adviser." Elsewhere we read: "Fellows are entitled to wear on academic occasions a awn, hood and cap." The green hood of "the Philosophical Society di England" is described in The Degrees and Hoods of the World's Universities and Colleges by Haycroft and Stringer (Cheshunt Press, 1948). Is the society a university, or is it not ?
Many societies harmlessly gratify their members with domestic ranks and badges. But " F.Ph.S." makes one think of learned societies; and "authorised academical dress" of universities. Some gullible folk do construe the title "Fellowship" or the letters " F.Ph.S." as genuine certificates of intellectual merit. The phrase and the letters appear in Who's Who, while Crockford's Clerical Directory has dis- appointed some " Fellows " by refusing to record them. Before the society's reconstitution in 1948, one of its Presidents was connected with the "University of Sulgrave." Is the society still not shy of selling counterfeit academic titles ?
(4) Of some 160 clergymen in the society, all but about two dozen are "Fellows." From the laity, there are about 90 "Fellows" to about 80 ordinary members. Only a small fraction of these "Fellows" seem to possess university degrees. So either there exists a lot of untapped philosophical talent in very unexpected places, or the examiners have no standards.
Last year, a service, advertised in the Manchester Guardian, was held in Manchester Cathedral for "The Philosophical Society of England," with a Bishop (" Hon. Fellow ") preaching. The university's philo- sophical department was invited, in vain, to walk, - gowned, in a procession to the Cathedral. The bona fide philosophical societies do not go in for such build-ups.
I have _refused the society's wholesale- invitation. To accept a Fellowship" would be to concede that the title was professionally reputable, and so to decoy ,innocents into buying bogus academic
titles and hoods.—I am, Sir, yours etc., GILBERT RYLE. Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy. Magdalen College, Oxford.
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