The Origins of George Bernard Shaw's Life Force Philosophy

By Jay W. MacIntosh

This book examines George Bernard Shaw’s Life Force philosophy and its use and development in selected plays. The book notes the background and sources which were major influencing factors in its development. The book points out the philosophical ideas and concepts of seven philosophers and scientists whose ideas later appeared in the Shavian concept of Creative Evolution. George Bernard Shaw selected many ideas from other philosophers in the process of creating his own eclectic philosophy. Because there are varying opinions as to the specific origins of the Life Force philosophy, this study is designed to explore certain specific origins and sources of biologic evolution which led to Shaw’s philosophy. Several philosophical and scientific concepts are examined and analyzed in their relationships to Creative Evolution and the Life Force. The Life Force concept of George Bernard Shaw contains the central idea that Life is a vital force or impulse that strives to attain greater power of contemplation and self-realization. Creative Evolution is the manner in which the Life Force strives to reach this perfect state of contemplation as it continually creates something better and greater beyond the life forms already developed. The Superman is a symbol of the superior race of men that will evolve in the future. Primary sources include selected plays, letters, articles, and essays written by George Bernard Shaw. Shaw’s Life Force concept was never accepted during his life nor is it generally accepted today. Yet his theory of the Life Force is an interesting philosophical idea, particularly in the way Shaw uses it as the main theme for important plays.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jay W. MacIntosh
• Release date: Apr 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476107233

Jay W. MacIntosh

Jay W. MacIntosh (born Janet Tallulah Jewell) is an attorney, actress, and writer from the United States, living in Nice, France. She is a member of the California Bar, selected to 2018 Southern California Super Lawyers list. She holds a Master’s Degree in Drama from the University of Georgia, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Zodiac Scholastic Society. As an actress, she is a member of The Actors Studio, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), SAG-AFTRA, and ASCAP, performing in film and television in the United States and France. Her published works include "Journal of Janet Tallulah, Volume 1", "Journal of Janet Tallulah, Volume 2", "The Origins of George Bernard Shaw’s Life Force Philosophy", "Moments in Time", "Capturing Beauty", "JAYSPEAK on the Côte d’Azur", and "Janet Tallulah".

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THE ORIGINS OF GEORGE BERNARD SHAW’S LIFE FORCE PHILOSOPHY

Jay W. MacIntosh

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Jay W. MacIntosh

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GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW’S LIFE FORCE PHILOSOPHY

a. The Life Force

b. The Life Force in Selected Plays

II. BACKGROUND AND SOURCES OF THE LIFE FORCE PHILOSOPHY

a. The Concept of Circumstantial Selection: Charles Darwin

b. The Doctrine of Acquired Characteristics: Erasmus Darwin

c. The Concept of Biologic Evolution: Jean Baptiste Lamarck

d. The Concept of Unconscious Memory Plus Cunning: Samuel Butler

e. The World as Will and Idea: Arthur Schopenhauer

f. The Concept of Superman: Freiderich Wilhelm Nietzsche

g. The Concept of élan vital: Henri Bergson

III. MAJOR INFLUENCES ON THE LIFE FORCE PHILOSOPHY

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study is to examine George Bernard Shaw’s Life Force philosophy, its use and development in selected plays, and to note the background and sources which were major influencing factors in its development. This study attempts to point out the philosophical ideas and concepts of seven philosophers and scientists whose ideas later appeared in the Shavian concept of Creative Evolution.

George Bernard Shaw selected many ideas from other philosophers in the process of creating his own eclectic philosophy. Because there are varying opinions as to the specific origins of the Life Force philosophy, this study is designed to explore certain specific origins and sources of biologic evolution which led to Shaw’s philosophy. Several philosophical and scientific concepts are examined and analyzed in their relationships to Creative Evolution and the Life Force.

Definitions of terminology used in this study are included below. Philosophy may be defined as the study of the general causes and principles of the universe. Philosophy, in this sense, investigates the facts and principles of reality, of human nature and of conduct. Various categories of philosophy include logic, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and the theory of knowledge. Metaphysics is that division of philosophy which includes the science of being. A theory is an abstract or general principle offered to explain phenomena or a body of facts. The theory of evolution is the concept that living things gradually alter in shape, appearance and character until they become significantly different from their ancestors.

The Life Force concept of George Bernard Shaw contains the central idea that Life is a vital force or impulse that strives to attain greater power of contemplation and self-realization. Creative Evolution is the manner in which the Life Force strives to reach this perfect state of contemplation as it continually creates something better and greater beyond the life forms already developed. The Superman is a symbol of the superior race of men that will evolve in the future.

The first chapter presents a definition of George Bernard Shaw’s Life Force philosophy and includes an examination of this philosophy as it appears in Man and Superman and Back to Methuselah. Several illustrations and examples of the Life Force have been included from other plays: You Never Can Tell, The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet, Major Barbara, and Caesar and Cleopatra.

The second chapter outlines the relevant ideas and concepts of seven scientists and philosophers which shaped and formed the basis for the Life Force philosophy of George Bernard Shaw. Included are philosophical concepts and scientific theories of Charles Darwin, Erasmus Darwin, Jean Baptiste Lamarck, Samuel Butler, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, and Henri Bergson.

The third chapter analyzes those ideas and principles that George Bernard Shaw selected from each of these men in the development of his own concept of Creative Evolution and the Life Force.

Primary sources include selected plays, letters, articles, and essays written by George Bernard Shaw. Other primary sources are selected books and articles, including Henri Bergson’s Creative Evolution; Samuel Butler’s Life and Habit, Unconscious Memory, Luck or Cunning, and Evolution Old and New; Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species; and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche’s The Will to Power, Thus Spake Zarathustra, and Beyond Good and Evil.

Secondary sources include selected books, essays, periodicals, and magazines devoted to George Bernard Shaw’s philosophy and other philosophers, and works by scholars and critics that discuss the Life Force philosophy of Shaw.

George Bernard Shaw was essentially an independent thinker, yet, he consistently used the ideas of others. His Life Force philosophy is not a coordinated, developed body of knowledge. It is not as thoroughly developed as the philosophical systems of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, or Bergson; however, it was sufficiently thorough for Shaw. He took ideas and concepts, many that were generally accepted in the nineteenth century, and formulated a philosophy in which he could believe and put his faith. Shaw vividly portrayed these ideas and concepts in his works and showed how his beliefs were closely associated with society and life. He owes a tremendous debt to the ideas, concepts, and beliefs of the philosophers mentioned in this study, along with the essential scientific ideas and theories of the main stream of thought in the nineteenth century.

Although many have asked questions about truth, few have tried to answer them. Fewer still have bothered to express their ideas in writing. When these few do write their opinions and beliefs, their ideas frequently are contrary to popular or general beliefs.

George Bernard Shaw’s Life Force philosophy has been opposed because most men give only science credit for life changes. Most men accept only factual evidence that can be proved, and have little regard for the abstract. Man wants facts instead of abstract concepts and philosophical theories. Shaw’s Life Force concept was never accepted during his life nor is it generally accepted today. Yet his theory of the Life Force is an interesting philosophical idea, particularly in the way Shaw uses it as the main theme for such important plays as Man and Superman and Back to Methuselah.

Before examining the major influencing factors on the molding of George Bernard Shaw’s Life Force philosophy, it is necessary to understand what is meant by the term Life Force philosophy and to observe the concept in the way in which Bernard Shaw used it as the central idea in Man and Superman and Back to Methuselah.

CHAPTER I

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW’S LIFE FORCE PHILOSOPHY

George Bernard Shaw, 1855 - 1950, did not claim to be a novelist, a dramatist, or a critic. However, it is highly significant that Shaw did specifically claim to be a philosopher. His philosophical ideas were regarded by many European and American critics to be derived from undoubted European sources or else as fantastic paradoxes totally unrelated to the major existing philosophies of this time. Shaw remonstrated:

I urge them to remember that this body of thought is the Slowest of Growths and the rarest of blossomings, and that if there is such a thing on the philosophic plane as a matter of course, it is that no individual can make more than a minute contribution to it. [1]

Shaw viewed himself as an independent thinker with a clearly coordinated system of philosophy.[2] It would be inaccurate to accuse him of plagiarism. It should be more worthwhile to discover Shaw’s original minute contribution to the existing major philosophical ideas of his day.

Shaw’s philosophy was an outgrowth of his socialism