{{Short description|Welsh theologian and philosopher (1910-1992)}} {{Infobox academic | name = Hywel Lewis | birth_name = Hywel David Lewis | image = Philosopher Hywel Lewis (1910-1992) in 1973.jpg | education = University College of North Wales (B.A., 1932; M.A., 1934)<br>Jesus College, Oxford (BLitt, 1935) | discipline = Philosophy, theology | sub_discipline = Political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of religion | workplaces = University College of North Wales, King's College London | spouse = Megan Jones (m. 1943; d. 1962)<br>(Kate Alice) Megan Pritchard (m. 1965) | influences = H. A. Prichard, W. D. Ross | caption = Lewis in 1973 | birth_date = 21 May 1910 | birth_place = Llandudno, Wales | death_date = 6 April 1992 | death_place = Normandy, Guildford, England | relatives = {{interlanguage link|Alun Tudor Lewis|cy}} (brother) }} {{EngvarB|date = September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} '''Hywel David Lewis''' (21 May 1910 – 6 April 1992) was a Welsh theologian and philosopher.<ref>Sutherland, Stewart. (1993). "Obituary: Hywel David Lewis 1910–1992" ''Philosophy''. Vol. 68, No. 264. pp. 263–264. {{JSTOR|3751175}} {{Doi|10.1017/S0031819100040377}}</ref> He was best known for his defence of dualism and personal survival.<ref>Brown, Stuart "Lewis, H(ywel) D(avid)" (1996) in: ''Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Philosophers''. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-06043-5}} "Lewis is best known for his defense of a dualist view of mind and body in opposition to the more prevalent behaviorist views advocated by Ryle and others. He defended with some success a belief in personal survival against the belief common amongst analytical philosophers that immortality was inconceivable. He acquired a high international reputation, particularly in India and America, where he received and took many invitations to lecture and accept other honors." pp.458–459</ref>
==Life== Lewis was born in Llandudno, Wales, and educated at Caernarfon grammar school, the University College of North Wales, Bangor (graduating with a first-class degree in philosophy in 1932 and an M.A. in 1934), and Jesus College, Oxford (graduating with a BLitt in 1935).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=Meirion Lloyd |date=2009-08-26 |title=LEWIS, HYWEL DAVID (1910-1992), university professor and philosopher |url=https://biography.wales/article/s6-LEWI-DAV-1910 |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=Dictionary of Welsh Biography}}</ref>
He was then a lecturer in philosophy at Bangor, becoming professor in 1947. In 1955, he was appointed Professor of the History and Philosophy of Religion at the University of London, retiring in 1977.<ref name=":0" />
His works included ''Morals and the New Theology'' (1947), ''Morals and Revelation'' (1951), ''Our Experience of God'' (1959), ''The Elusive Mind'' (1969), ''The Self and Immortality'' (1973), ''Persons and Life after Death'' (1978) and ''The Elusive Self'' (1982). He also published in Welsh. His interest in comparative religion led to his becoming founding editor of the journal ''Religious Studies'', holding the post from 1964 to 1979. He edited the Muirhead Library of Philosophy from 1947 to 1978. He also served as president of the Aristotelian Society from 1962 to 1963, and as chairman of the council of the Royal Institute of Philosophy from 1965 to 1968.
He died on 6 April 1992 and was buried at St Tudno's church on the Great Orme.<ref name=":0">{{cite ODNB| url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/51184| title=Lewis, Hywel David (1910–1992)| last= Helm |first =Paul | year= 2004| doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/51184|accessdate=5 October 2008}}</ref>
==Philosophical writings== Lewis wrote there is no incoherence in the notion of personal survival in his book ''The Self and Immortality'' (1973).<ref>Sutherland, Stewart. (1976). "The Self and Immortality. by H. D. Lewis" ''Mind''. New Series, Vol. 85, No. 337. pp. 141–143. {{JSTOR|2253273}}</ref> Michael Marsh in a review wrote the book offered a "substantial defense" for interactionist dualism.<ref>Marsh, Michael. (1977). ''Beyond Death: The Rebirth of Immortality''. The Hastings Center Report. Vol. 7, No. 5. pp. 40–42.</ref> In his book ''Persons and Life after Death'' (1978) Lewis argued that the ultimate basis for a belief in life after death is from religion. He claimed this belief could mean for some, the resurrection of the body, survival in an astral body or survival in a disembodied form. Lewis wrote that disembodied survival is most plausible from a religious point of view.<ref>Daher, Adel. (1981). "Persons and Life after Death by Hywel D. Lewis" ''The Journal of Religion''. Vol. 61, No. 1. pp. 106–107. {{JSTOR|1202169}}</ref>
Lewis was a Christian who sought common ground between the world's religions and argued there is a sense of transcendental reality in all of them. However, he argued against Buddhist and monistic views in which the self is considered to be an illusion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Long |first=Eugene T. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uL3UAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA563 |title=Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Philosophers |publisher=A&C Black |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84371-096-7 |pages=563–567 |language=en |chapter=LEWIS, Hywel David (1910-92) |author-link=Eugene Thomas Long}}</ref>
In his book ''The Elusive Self'' (1982) Lewis argued that mental states are "distinct in nature from physical states but constantly interacting with them" and there is a "subject, or a self or soul, which remains constant and is uniquely involved in all the flow of our mental states or experiences."<ref name="Matthews1985">Matthews, Gareth. (1985). ''The Elusive Self by Hywel D. Lewis; Selfless Persons by Steven Collins''. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. Vol. 45, No. 3. pp. 461–465. {{JSTOR|2107281}}</ref> The philosopher Gareth Matthews gave the book a negative review claiming Lewis had offered no evidence for dualism. On the subject of dreamless sleep, Lewis wrote the self ceases to be. According to Matthews the belief that the self can pop in and out of existence would be alarming to some readers but Lewis had no problem with accepting this view. Matthews concluded that Lewis's controversial claims were deliberately left with no direct argumentative support.<ref name="Matthews1985"/> Eugene T. Long gave the book a positive review stating Lewis had given an adequate defence for the dualistic position and the existence of the self.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Long |first=Eugene Thomas |author-link=Eugene Thomas Long |date=1985 |title=Review of The Elusive Self |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20128210 |journal=The Review of Metaphysics |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=655–657 |issn=0034-6632 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Long has written that Lewis was a philosophical realist, similar to John Baillie and John Cook Wilson.<ref>Long, Eugene. (2003). ''Twentieth-Century Western Philosophy of Religion 1900–2000''. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 128. {{ISBN|0-7923-6285-3}} {{Doi|10.1007/978-94-011-4064-5}}</ref>
==Publications==
=== Authored books === *''Morals and the New Theology'' (1947)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hartland-Swann |first=J. |date=April 1948 |title=Morals and the New Theology. By H. D. Lewis. (Gollancz. London. 1947. Pp. 160. Price 7s. 6d.) |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.136714/page/n164/mode/1up |journal=Philosophy |language=en |volume=23 |issue=85 |pages=166–168 |doi=10.1017/S003181910000615X |issn=0031-8191}}</ref> *''Morals and Revelation'' (1951)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Browne |first=S. S. S. |date=1952 |title=Review of Morals and Revelation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1201177 |journal=The Journal of Religion |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=216–216 |issn=0022-4189 |url-access=registration}}</ref> *''Gwybod am Dduw'' [''Our Knowledge of God''] (1952) *''Our Experience of God'' (1959) *''Freedom and History'' (1962) *''Philosophy of Religion'' (1965). *''World Religions: Meeting Points and Major Issues'' [with Robert Lawson Slater] (1966) *''Dreaming and Experience'': ''delivered on 11 May 1967 at the London School of Economics and Political Science, London'' (1968) *''The Elusive Mind: Based on the First Series of the Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of Edinburgh, 1966-68'' (1969)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=W. |first=A. B. |date=1971 |title=Review of The Elusive Mind |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20126016 |journal=The Review of Metaphysics |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=357–358 |issn=0034-6632 |url-access=registration}}</ref> *''The Self and Immortality'' (1973)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Price |first=H. H. |author-link=Henry Habberley Price |date=1974 |title=Review of The Self and Immortality |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3749989 |journal=Philosophy |volume=49 |issue=187 |pages=102–106 |issn=0031-8191 |url-access=registration}}</ref> *''Persons and Life after Death :Essays by Hywel D. Lewis and Some of His Critics'' (1978) *''Logic, Ontology, and Action'' (1979) *''Pwy yw Iesu Grist?'' [''Who is Jesus Christ?''] (1979) *''Jesus in the Faith of Christians'' (1981)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cairns |first=David |date=1982 |title=Review of Jesus in the Faith of Christians |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20005813 |journal=Religious Studies |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=102–105 |issn=0034-4125 |url-access=registration}}</ref> *''The Elusive Self: Based on The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of Edinburgh, 1966-68'' (1982)<ref name=":1" /> *''Freedom and Alienation: the Third Volume Based on The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of Edinburgh 1966-68'' (1985)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Long |first=Eugene Thomas |date=1986 |title=Review of Freedom and Alienation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20128361 |journal=The Review of Metaphysics |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=571–572 |issn=0034-6632 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
=== Books edited ===
* ''Contemporary British Philosophy: Personal Statements'' 3rd ser. (1956) (2nd ed. 1961) ** includes "Introduction" and "Worship and Idolatry" by Lewis. * ''Clarity is Not Enough'' (1963) ** includes "Mind and Body. Some Observations on Mr. Strawson’s Views" by Lewis * ''Philosophy East and West, Essays in Honour of Dr. T.M.P. Mahadevan'' (1976). * ''Contemporary British Philosophy'', 4th ser. (1976).
For a more complete list of publications see ''Religion, reason and the self: essays in honour of Hywel D. Lewis'' (1989).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/religionreasonse0000unse |title=Religion, reason, and the self: essays in honour of Hywel D. Lewis |date=1989 |publisher=University of Wales Press |isbn=978-0-7083-1042-7 |editor-last=Roberts |editor-first=T. A. |location=Cardiff |chapter=A Bibliography of the Writings of Hywel Lewis |editor-last2=Sutherland |editor-first2=Stewart R. |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wynn |first=Mark |date=1990 |title=Review of RELIGION, REASON AND THE SELF. ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF HYWEL D. LEWIS |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/A032130342BED57C21BDE789830E0D14/S0028428900027748a.pdf/religion-reason-and-the-self-essays-in-honour-of-hywel-d-lewis-ed-by-stewart-r-sutherland-and-ta-roberts-university-of-wales-press-1989-pp-xvi-173-pound20.pdf |journal=New Blackfriars |volume=71 |issue=842 |pages=466–467 |issn=0028-4289 |jstor=43248605}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *Russell Aldwinckle. (1979). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20005549?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104312511777 ''Persons and Life after Death by Hywel D. Lewis'']. Religious Studies. Vol. 15, No. 1. pp. 122–124. *Scott Dunbar. (1980). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20005629?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104312511777 ''The Concept of Self: Some Reflections on H. D. Lewis' "The Self and Immortality"'']. Religious Studies. Vol. 16, No. 1. pp. 37–48. *David Cairns. (1982). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20005813?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104313626747 ''Jesus in the Faith of Christians by Hywel D. Lewis'']. Religious Studies. Vol. 18, No. 1. pp. 102–105. *Galen Johnson. (1984). ''The Elusive Self by Hywel D. Lewis''. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. Vol. 15, No. 1/2. pp. 102–103. {{JSTOR|40024842}} *John Knox. (1974). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20005129?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2134&uid=2481541037&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=2481541027&uid=60&sid=21104312606707 ''The Self and Immortality'']. Religious Studies. Vol. 10, No. 1. pp. 89–100. *Hywel Lewis, Charles Whiteley. (1955). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4106636?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104320447607 ''The Cognitive Factor in Religious Experience'']. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes. Vol. 29, Problems in Psychotherapy and Jurisprudence. pp. 59–92. *Hywel Lewis, Antony Flew. (1975). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4106874?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104313626747 ''Survival'']. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes Vol. 49. pp. 211–247. *Eric Matthews. (1984). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2254226?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104312915897 ''The Elusive Self by Hywel D. Lewis'']. Mind. New Series, Vol. 93, No. 369. pp. 152–154. *Louis Pojman. (1981). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40012575?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104313626747 ''Persons and Life after Death by H. D. Lewis'']. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. Vol. 12, No. 3. pp. 189–191. *H. H. Price. (1974). [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3749989?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2134&uid=2481541037&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=2481541027&uid=60&sid=21104312606707 ''The Self and Immortality by H. D. Lewis'']. Philosophy. Vol. 49, No. 187. pp. 102–106. *Stewart Sutherland. (1989). ''Religion, Reason and the Self: Essays in Honour of Hywel D. Lewis''. University of Wales Press.
==External links== *[http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s6-LEWI-DAV-1910.html "Hywel Lewis"]. Welsh Biography Online. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20140714171646/http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?coll_id=270 "Hywel Lewis Papers"]. National Library of Wales. (Archived) *Open University (1973) [https://www.open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/exhibition/330/theme/1/page/14 video of a conversation featuring Hywel Lewis] and Sydney Shoemaker discussing the problem of personal identity, hosted by Godfrey Vesey,
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Hywel David}} Category:1910 births Category:1992 deaths Category:People from Llandudno Category:Alumni of Bangor University Category:Academics of Bangor University Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Category:Welsh philosophers Category:Presidents of the Aristotelian Society Category:20th-century British philosophers Category:20th-century Welsh writers Category:20th-century Welsh male writers Category:20th-century Welsh educators Category:20th-century Welsh theologians