Article

Rupert Clendon Lodge

Published Online February 5, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Rupert Clendon Lodge, philosopher (b at Manchester, Eng 1886; d at St Petersburg, Fla 1 Mar 1961). He went to the US in 1914, then to the University of Alberta and finally to the University of Manitoba, where he spent most of his career.

Lodge, Rupert Clendon

Rupert Clendon Lodge, philosopher (b at Manchester, Eng 1886; d at St Petersburg, Fla 1 Mar 1961). He went to the US in 1914, then to the University of Alberta and finally to the University of Manitoba, where he spent most of his career. Lodge was the most widely read of all philosophers in Canada and his books were popular in the US. An Introduction to Logic (1920) portrays his commitment to idealism, though his later philosophy of pluralism was his public trademark.

Throughout a series of books, he developed his tripartite theory: there will always be 3 kinds of responses to every philosophical question - that of a realist, a pragmatist and an idealist. His publications include several works on Plato. Lodge's theory of philosophical pluralism is applied rigorously in his books The Questioning Mind and The Philosophy of Education (1937), The Philosophy of Business (1945) and Applying Philosophy (1951). The Great Thinkers (1949, 1964) continues to be consulted.