New Zealand, philosophy in

Philosophy as an academic discipline in New Zealand came into its own during the late 1930s under the influence of J.N. Findlay and Karl Popper. Arthur Prior was the first New Zealand philosopher to gain prominence and to inaugurate original research into logic and its application to philosophy. This tradition was continued by local philosophers such as Max Cresswell and Richard Sylvan (formerly Routley) and those from overseas who found the developing analytical ethos congenial, such as George Hughes, Krister Segerberg and Pavel Tichý. New Zealand philosophy found its footing within analytic philosophy, not so much on the side of philosophy of language, but in logic used both as an analytic tool and as a subject in its own right. Philosophers also explored what would have then been regarded by many elsewhere as ‘fringe’ logics, such as modal and tense logics; these however have now become mainstream within both logic and metaphysics. The current philosophical scene is one that allows as much diversity as might be possible in a small country with a small number of academic philosophers. Their preoccupations are very much those that one would find in many universities elsewhere. But whereas earlier philosophical interests were based on philosophical connections with the UK, now these have become quite minor compared with the very strong connections with philosophy in Australia and the USA. Although philosophy has found a firm and energetic place in New Zealand, it remains to consider whether there is a distinctive New Zealand philosophy, and to ask what that might even be. Earlier philosophers were much more willing to take on unconventional and unfashionable points of view and turn them into viable philosophical positions; even though that is still the case, there is much more of a seamless connection with philosophy elsewhere. However, there are applications of philosophy to local matters that often have to do with relations with the indigenous Maori, the nature of the New Zealand state, which sees itself as both a bi-cultural and a multi-cultural society, the nature of New Zealand’s social and cultural identity, and local ethical issues that arise in respect to, for example, medicine, biotechnology and the environment. Most of these, of course, are concerns elsewhere also; but the local context calls for work by local philosophers in a way for which others cannot substitute.