Macmurray on Relationship

Jeanne Warren presents aspects of John Macmurray's philosophy of the personal.

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It was good to see an article on John Macmurray (1891-1976) in Issue 167 of Philosophy Now. The author, Colin Stott, ended by suggesting that Macmurray is “worthy to stand alongside Russell and Wittgenstein as a leading philosopher of the twentieth century.” I heartily agree. So here I would like to examine briefly some of Macmurray's analysis of the interpersonal, by presenting some features of his philosophy of 'persons in relation'.

In his writings Macmurray devotes as much space to spelling out an alternative to the egocentric bias of Western philosophy as he does to arguing against its theoretical bias. Regarding the theoretical bias, he concludes that 'I do' is more foundational than 'I think'. Regarding the egocentric bias, he argues that the fundamental unit of personal reality is not 'I', but 'you-and-I'. We can note a connection by observing that 'I do' implies a 'you' interacting with an 'I', but Macmurray's two criticisms remain distinct. Macmurray didn't argue for the importance of positive personal relationships, he started from it, observing that the most valued thing in our lives is the relationships central to them, giving our lives meaning. Sartre said “Hell is other people”: Macmurray could equally have said “Heaven is other people.” Both are true, but Macmurray is more inclined to dwell on the positive.