Aims of this Site: A George Santayana Home Page was introduced in 1996 to honor the work of philosopher and critic, George Santayana. The editor of this site wished in particular to demonstrate the clarity and consistency of definition and doctrine found in Santayana's
philosophical writings. As the quotations gathered here tend to show, this level of consistency is remarkable, especially in light of the facts that Santayana published technical philosophical essays and books over a period of almost sixty years, and that his point of vantage varied over time between a frank humanism, a foundational naturalism, and an all-enveloping ontological vision. In the year of his death, Santayana remarked that ". . . I have . . . been surprised to find 'The Life of Reason' so much like my later views." Letters '55 at 429 ("To John Hall Wheelock, February 23, 1952").
A handful of pages here posted are organized by subject and make no attempt to show consistency of theme between early and later writings. The six pages of this sort are Terminology, Isms, Reason and Spirit, British Philosophy, False Steps in Philosophy, and Law & Government.
The nineteen pages of A George Santayana Home Page offer quotations falling under five broad categories:
- definitions
- nature of philosophy
- mind / body
- moral philosophy
- criticism.
Scholarship: Each quotation is followed by a citation which consists of an abbreviation, date, page number, and chapter. The abbreviation is explained in the bibliography of editions used, which is accessible from the main page of the web site, or by clicking on any citation. The date in each citation is that of the edition used. While the indicated page number also ties to the edition used, the parenthetically indicated chapter should allow holders of other editions to locate the quotations.
Recent Developments: In 2009, the site was moved to www.awardspace.com where a live database can be accessed by visitors instead of static web pages. Pages on "human nature" and "mind as index" were posted for the first time. More than 70 quotations were added to the database since 17 April 2007. The editor for the first time distinguished at the bottom of each page of quotations the number originally published before 1925 from the number of quotations originally published after 1924. As is done each year, the list of external links was updated in 2009.
Thank You: The editor of A George Santayana Home Page extends his thanks to the viewers who have accessed this site, to those who have submitted comments to the now-defunct guestbook, and to those who have offered constructive criticism and shared so many interesting questions and thoughts by email.
A special thanks to Matt for pointing out in 2007 the letter to Horace Meyer Kallen containing the good quotation on epi-phenomenalism.