Francis Sparshott

Francis Edward Sparshott (19 May 1926 – 24 August 2015) was an English poet, academic and philosopher of the arts.

Biography

Francis Sparshott was born in Chatham, Kent, England, the son of Frank Brownley and Gladwys Winifred Head. He served with the Intelligence Corps during World War II, attended Oxford University, and went to the University of Toronto in 1950. He married Kathleen Elizabeth Vaughan in 1953. The couple had one daughter, Pumpkin Margaret Elizabeth.

In 1955, he joined the faculty of Victoria College, Toronto as Professor of Greek Philosophy, Ethics, and Aesthetics; and was appointed Professor of Philosophy in 1964. In 1982, he was also appointed University Professor at the University of Toronto. He retired in 1991.

Sparshott was was President of the Canadian Philosophical Association (1975–1976), Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1977), President of the League of Canadian Poets (1977–1979), President of the American Society for Aesthetics (1981–1982), and President of the Toronto Semiotic Circle (1985–1986).

Works

Major publications

• An Enquiry into Goodness and Related Concepts (1958)
• The Structure of Aesthetics (1963)
• The Concept of Criticism (1967)
• Looking for Philosophy (1972)
• Aesthetics of Structures (1981)
• The Theory of the Arts (1982)
• Off the Ground (1988)
• Taking Life Seriously (1994)
• A Measured Pace (1995)
• The Future of Aesthetics (1998)

Poetry

• A Divided Voice (1965)
• A Cardboard Garage (1969)
• The Naming of the Beasts (1979)
• The Rainy Hills (1979)
• New Fingers for Old Dikes (1981)
• The Cave of Trophonius (1981)
• The Hanging Gardens at Etobicoke (1983)
• Storms and Screens (1986)
• Sculling to Byzantium (1989)
• Views from the Zucchini Gazebo (1994)
• Home from the Air (1997)
• The City Dwellers (2000)

Fiction

• A Book (1970)

References

• "Francis Sparshott: A Bibliography of His Writings," The Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. XXXI, No. 2 (1997), pp. 71–83.

External links

• Special Collections: Francis Sparshott
• Works by Francis Sparshott at JSTOR