In 1962, he published an article "A paradox in the theory of democracy",[3] in which Wollheim argued that a supporter of democracy faces a contradiction when he votes. On the one hand he wants a particular party or candidate to win, but on the other hand he wants whoever wins the most votes to win. This has become known as
Wollheim's paradox.
His Art and its Objects was one of the twentieth century's most influential texts on philosophical
aesthetics in English. In a 1965 essay, '
Minimal Art', he seems to have coined the phrase, although its meaning eventually drifted from his. As well as for his work on the philosophy of art, Wollheim was known for his philosophical treatments of
depth psychology, especially
Sigmund Freud's.[4] His posthumously-published autobiography of youth, Germs: A Memoir of Childhood,[5] with complementary essays, discloses a good deal about his family background and his life up to early manhood, providing valuable material for understanding his interests and sensibility.
Personal life
Wollheim married Anne Barbara Denise (1920-2004), daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel
George Powell, of the
Grenadier Guards, after her divorce from her first husband, the literary critic
Philip Toynbee.[6][7] They had twin sons, Bruno and Rupert. Their marriage was dissolved in 1967. Wollheim married Mary Day Lanier in 1969; their daughter is Emilia.[8]
Publications
For an extensive bibliography of Richard Wollheim's publications by a professional bibliographer, see Eddie Yeghiayan's UC-Irvine site.[9] See also the 'Philweb' listing.[10]
Note: given his unique mind, personality, and distinctive writing styles, along with his curiosity and sociability, many of Richard Wollheim's publications are outside academic categories. Besides books, he published many articles, in journals and edited collections, book reviews, and gallery catalogues for shows. He also left writings in manuscript, letters and recordings of his talks.
Books and separately published works (selected)
F. H. Bradley. Harmondsworth; Baltimore: Penguin, 1959. 2d edition, 1969.
A Family Romance. London: Jonathan Cape, 1969. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1969 (novel).
Freud. (
Fontana Modern Masters.) London: Collins, 1971. Paperback, 1973. American and later Cambridge University Press (1981) eds. titled Sigmund Freud.
On Art and the Mind: essays and lectures. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press,1972.
'The Good Self and the Bad Self: the Moral Psychology of British Idealism and the English School of Psychoanalysis Compared' (1975)—repr. in The Mind and Its Depths, 1993.
'The Sheep and the Ceremony' (1976)—repr. in The Mind and Its Depths, 1983.
The Thread of Life. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1984.
Painting as an Art. Andrew M. Mellon Lectures in Fine Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1987.
The Mind and Its Depths. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993 (essays).
On the Emotions. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999.
Germs: a memoir of childhood. London: Waywiser Press, 2004.
Edited books
The Image in Form: Selected Writings of Adrian Stokes (1974)