George Santayana (1863–1952)
Author of The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outline of Aesthetic Theory
About the Author
A gentle philosopher-poet, born and reared in Spain, educated at Harvard University and later professor of philosophy there, George Santayana resided in England, France, and Italy after 1914. At the beginning of World War II, he entered the nursing home in Rome managed by nuns known as the Blue show more Sisters and remained there until his death. His last book, The Poet's Testament (1953), contains a few unpublished lyrics, several translations, and two plays in blank verse. The title comes from the poem read at his funeral, which begins: "I give back to the earth what the earth gave/All to the furrow, nothing to the grave." Santayana wrote philosophy in an inimitable prose, enriched with imagery and metaphor. His meanings were always complex and often ironic. In this style, so untypical of the professionalized philosophy common in the English-speaking world during his lifetime, Santayana nevertheless articulated an epistemological critical realism and an ontology of essence and matter that drew the attention and admiration of philosophers and scholars. His first published philosophical book, The Sense of Beauty (1896), was an important contribution in aesthetics, a classic text that is still in use. His multivolume work The Life of Reason expresses his naturalistic philosophy of history and culture. It states the essence of his attitude toward nature, life, and society. Scepticism and Animal Faith (1923) presents his theory of knowledge and also serves as an introduction to his system of philosophy, Realms of Being (1927--40). The titles of the separate volumes of this remarkable work, now out of print, reveal the lineaments of his system: Realm of Essence (1927), Realm of Matter (1930), Realm of Truth (1937), and Realm of Spirit (1940). His ideas were "popularized" in his only novel, The Last Puritan, which became a surprise bestseller overnight. According to the New York Times, "He came into a changing American scene with a whole group of concepts that enormously enriched our thinking. He gave a moving vitality to what had often been obscure abstractions . . . he made the whole relationship of reason and beauty, each to the other, come alive and stay alive." Although Santayana's Complete Poems (1975) is out of print, several volumes of his poetry are available and are listed below. Publication of The Complete Works of George Santayana, under the general editorship of Herman J. Saatkamp, Jr., is in progress. Conforming to the guidelines of a critical edition, The Complete Works is a long-range multivolume project of which a few volumes have already appeared to critical acclaim. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known as George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. (wikipedia.org)
Series
Works by George Santayana
Character and Opinion in the United States with Reminiscences of William James and Josiah Royce and Academic Life in… (1920) 99 copies
The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy and Character and Opinion in the United States (Rethinking the Western… (1967) 83 copies
The Letters of George Santayana, Book 1: [1868]-1909 (The Works of George Santayana, Vol. 5) (2001) 14 copies
Santayana on America; essays, notes, and letters on American life, literature, and philosophy (1968) 11 copies
Physical Order and Moral Liberty. Previously Unpublished Essays of George Santayana (1969) 10 copies
The Letters of George Santayana, Book 3: 1921-1927 (The Works of George Santayana, Vol. 5) (2002) 8 copies
The Letters of George Santayana, Book 4: 1928-1932 (The Works of George Santayana, Vol. 5) (2003) 8 copies
The Letters of George Santayana, Book Five, 1933--1936: The Works of George Santayana, Volume V (Volume 5) (2003) 8 copies
The Letters of George Santayana, Book Six, 1937-1940: The Works of George Santayana, Volume V, Book Six (George… (2004) 8 copies
The Letters of George Santayana, Book Seven, 1941-1947: The Works of George Santayana, Volume V, Book Seven (George… (2006) 8 copies
The Letters of George Santayana, Book Eight, 1948-1952: The Works of George Santayana, Volume V, Book Eight (George… (2008) 8 copies
The Letters of George Santayana, Book 2: 1910-1920 (The Works of George Santayana, Vol. 5) (2001) 8 copies
Essays in literary criticism 7 copies
George Santayana's Marginalia, A Critical Selection: Book One, Abell--Lucretius (The Works of George Santayana)… (2011) 7 copies
Rare George Santayana PERSONS AND PLACES 1944 First edition Hardcover DJ Philosopher (1944) 3 copies
Winds of Doctrine, critical edition, Volume 9: Studies in Contemporary Opinion (The Works of George Santayana) (2023) 2 copies
The Works of George Santayana, Triton Edition, Volume XV [15]: Realms of Being: The Realm of Truth; The Realm of… (1937) 2 copies
The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell 2 copies
The Life of Reason, critical edition, Volume 7: Introduction and Reason in Common Sense, Volume VII, Book One (The… (2011) 1 copy
[No title] 1 copy
The Best Works of George Santayana (Best Works Include The Life of Reason, The Sense of Beauty, Three Philosophical… (2015) 1 copy
The Hermit of Carmel 1 copy
System in lectures 1 copy
Goethe's Faust 1 copy
Associated Works
The Glorious American Essay: One Hundred Essays from Colonial Times to the Present (2020) — Contributor — 83 copies
Out of the Best Books: An Anthology of Literature, Vol. 3: Intelligent Family Living (1967) — Contributor — 33 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Santayana y Borrás, Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de
- Birthdate
- 1863-12-16
- Date of death
- 1952-12-26
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Spain
- Birthplace
- Madrid, Spain
- Place of death
- Rome, Italy
- Places of residence
- Avila, Spain
Madrid, Spain
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Rome, Italy - Education
- Boston Latin School
Harvard University (BA, PhD)
University of Berlin
University of Cambridge (King's College) - Occupations
- philosopher
professor
essayist
poet
novelist
literary critic (show all 7)
playwright - Relationships
- James, William (teacher)
Royce, Josiah (teacher)
Eliot, T. S. (student)
Frost, Robert (student)
Stein, Gertrude (student)
Lippmann, Walter (student) (show all 13)
Du Bois, W. E. B. (student)
Kallen, Horace (student)
Brooks, Van Wyck (student)
Aiken, Conrad (student)
Morison, Samuel Eliot (student)
Frankfurter, Felix (student)
Du Bois, W. E. B. (student) - Organizations
- Harvard Lampoon
Harvard Monthly (founding member)
Harvard Philosophical Club (president)
Hasty Pudding Club - Awards and honors
- Phi Beta Kappa
Walker Fellowship
Royal Society of Literature Benson Meda (1928)
Columbia University Butler Gold Medal (1945)
Honorary degree, University of Wisconsin
Wallace Stevens dedicated the poem "To An Old Philosopher in Rome" to Santayana
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 111
- Also by
- 20
- Members
- 3,330
- Popularity
- #7,680
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 23
- ISBNs
- 340
- Languages
- 8
- Favorited
- 9