Richard Wollheim


Richard Arthur Wollheim was a British philosopher noted for original work on mind and emotions, especially as related to the visual arts, specifically, painting. Wollheim served as the president of the British Society of Aesthetics from 1992 onwards until his death in 2003.

Biography

Richard Wollheim was the son of Eric Wollheim, a theatre impresario, and Constance Mary Baker, an actress who used the stage name Constance Luttrell. He attended Westminster School, London, and Balliol College, Oxford, interrupted by active military service in World War II for which he volunteered. He obtained two first class BA degrees, one in History in 1946, the other in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1948. The same year, he began teaching at University College London, where he became Grote Professor of Mind and Logic and Department Head from 1963 to 1982.
He retired from that position to take up a professorship at Columbia University. He then taught at the University of California at Berkeley. He chaired the Department at UC Berkeley, 1998–2002. Between 1989 and 1996 he split his time between Berkeley and the University of California, Davis, where he was Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities. Additionally, he held visiting positions at Harvard University, the University of Minnesota, Graduate Center, CUNY and elsewhere.
He was elected as a fellow of the British Academy in 1972 and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1986.
Wollheim gave several distinguished lecture series. He delivered the William James Lectures at Harvard in 1982, published as The Thread of Life and the Ernst Cassirer Lectures at Yale in 1991, upon which were based his On the Emotions. He also gave the Andrew W. Mellon lectures in Fine Arts at the National Gallery of Art in 1984 which, with much elaboration, became his Painting as an Art.
In 1962, Wollheim published an article "A paradox in the theory of democracy", in which he argued that a supporter of democracy faces a contradiction when he votes. On the one hand he wants a particular party or candidate to win, but on the other hand he wants whoever wins the most votes to win. This has become known as Wollheim's paradox.
His Art and its Objects had a significant impact upon both aesthetics and the philosophy of art.
In a 1965 essay, 'Minimal Art', he coined the term Minimalism.
As well as for his work on the philosophy of art, Wollheim was known for his philosophical treatments of depth psychology, especially that of Sigmund Freud, to whose work he had been introduced by his father.
Wollheim was an honorary affiliate of the British Psychoanalytical Society, to whom he gave an Ernest Jones lecture in 1968 and in 1991 he was given an award for his services to psychoanalysis by the International Psychoanalytical Association.

Personal life

Wollheim married Anne Barbara Denise, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel George Powell, of the Grenadier Guards, after her divorce from her first husband, the literary critic Philip Toynbee. They had twin sons, Bruno and Rupert. Their marriage was dissolved in 1967. Wollheim married Mary Day Lanier, stepdaughter of Dwight Macdonald, in 1969; their daughter is Emilia.

Publications

For an extensive bibliography of Richard Wollheim's publications by a professional bibliographer, see Eddie Yeghiayan's UC-Irvine site. See also the 'Philweb' listing.
Many of Richard Wollheim's publications are outside academic categories. Besides books, he published many articles, in journals and edited collections, book reviews, and gallery catalogues for shows. He also left writings in manuscript, letters and recordings of his talks.

Books and monographs (selected)

Edited books

Selected articles