The Philosopher

John Foster

The face

The background

Nationality:
British
Schools:
Analytic philosophy, Idealism, Phenomenalism, Cartesian dualism
Branchs:
Metaphysics, Philosophy of mind, Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy of religion
Period:
Contemporary philosophy

The synopsis

John Andrew Foster (5 May 1941 – 1 January 2009) was a British philosopher and tutorial Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1966 to 2005 (and then an Emeritus Fellow until his death in 2009). He authored several books, including *The Case for Idealism* (1982) and *A World for Us: The Case for Phenomenalistic Idealism* (2008). His *A. J. Ayer* (1985) was described by Anthony Quinton as "the only serious monograph" about Ayer's philosophy. Foster was born in North London on 5 May 1941 and grew up in Southgate, London. He studied at Lincoln College, Oxford, but transferred to psychology, philosophy and physiology after discovering a distaste for studying ancient history. He obtained a First in 1964 and began a D.Phil. His doctoral supervisor, A. J. Ayer, ensured Foster’s election to a Junior Research Fellowship at New College in 1965 and, a year later, to his tutorial Fellowship at Brasenose. He retained this position until ill health forced his early retirement in 2005. Foster was a devoted Christian and an outspoken pro-life campaigner. In 1989 he converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism. Foster died on 1 January 2009.

The works

The quotes

And, of course, supernatural elements just make a story more interesting.
John Foster
Since my Japanese isn't very good, I had to have an interpreter to communicate with most of the crew.
John Foster
As you can probably tell, I like films and directors that bring a totally unique style to filming action.
John Foster
To me, Shakespeare uses the supernatural elements to reveal his character's inner desires and fears.
John Foster
I didn't really discover yakuza films until about five or six years ago.
John Foster
The awesomeness of God is that even in the works of the Beach Boys, Beatles, etc., the beauty of the music is a mere reflection of what God does everyday. He creates music of all kinds and moods.
John Foster
There aren't many American directors here trying to direct a Japanese yakuza film. When you combine that with the fact that I don't speak much Japanese and this was an independent film I was financing myself - people were curious about what I was doing.
John Foster
I had lived in Fukuoka during the mid 1990s, and I was a volunteer with the Fukuoka Asian Film Festival.
John Foster