Born Apr. 18, 1817, in London; died there Nov. 28, 1878. English journalist, literary critic, and positivist philosopher, follower of A. Comte.
Lewes founded the journal Fortnightly Review. In his influential History of Philosophy (vols. 1-4, 1845-46; Russian translation, 1865), Lewes viewed the history of philosophy as a history of errors and attempted to show that positivism was the only path to knowledge. He expounded the principle of the “functional indifference of nerves” arid criticized the doctrine of “physiological idealism” concerning the specific energy of the sense organs. Lewes’ ideas contributed to the spread of naturalism in 19th-century English literature.
WORKS
Aristotle. London, 1864.
The Problems of Life and Mind, vols. 1-5. London, 1874-79.
The Physical Basis of Mind. London, 1877.
Life and Works of Goethe. London, 1855.
In Russian translation:
“Filosofiia nauk O. Konta.” In G. H. Lewes and J. S. Mill, O. Kont i polozhiteVnaia filosofiia. St. Petersburg, 1867.
Serdtse i mozg [2nd ed.]. St. Petersburg, 1875.
Voprosy o zhizni i dukhe, vols. 1-2. St. Petersburg, 1875-76.
Izuchenie psikhologii, ee predmet, oblast’ i metod. Moscow, 1880.REFERENCES
Stadlin A. “Filosofskoe uchenie D. G. Luisa.” Russkii vestnik, 1876, vols. 124, 125, 126.
Volkov, N. P. D. G. L’iuis. Vladikavkaz, 1904.
Ivashcheva, V. V. “Ot Dzhordzh Eliot k angliiskomu romanu 60-kh gg.” Voprosy literatury, 1971, no. 7.