Talk:Aldous Huxley

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Humanist?

In what sense was Huxley a humanist? He did not sign the first Humanist manifesto. His views expressed in the Perennial Philosophy would be too supernaturalist (or at least ambiguous) for secular humanists today. I guess he would have not been opposed to humanism - probably, but calling him a humanist seems a stretch to me. And I note there is no citation. Slimy asparagus (talk) 15:27, 9 July 2019 (UTC) I wonder if there is an element of confusion with Julian Huxley who was definitely a humanist: https://humanism.org.uk/humanism/the-humanist-tradition/20th-century-humanism/sir-julian-huxley/. Slimy asparagus (talk) 15:39, 9 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Have to agree. More a mystic than a humanist. Xxanthippe (talk) 22:26, 9 July 2019 (UTC).[reply]
Why limit the definition of humanism by contemporary secular humanism? At best, it would be a sub-category, and it doesn't seem to engage in dialogue with the historical and classic development of humanism. Huxley was definitely a humanist in its purest, historical and traditional sense. Secularism is not and has not been fundamental to humanism. 2806:2F0:93A0:B063:916C:825E:A21B:7C9F (talk) 16:25, 15 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Missing information

Could someone update the article to include the quotes from his work - "Confessions of a Professed Atheist"

Does he wrote this work? (Also quotes are more appropriate to wikiquote than wikipedia) AnyFile (talk) 05:51, 4 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Pronunciation

Can someone with the knowledge of it add the pronunciation of the name -- AnyFile (talk) 05:50, 4 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Maria Nys

The Maria Nys link takes one back to the Huxley page. She is described very briefly as a Belgian refugee, although we know she was at Garsington in 1910 [1]https://huxleyandthebloomsberries.wordpress.com/important-relationships-are-born-at-garsington/. I think a separate page for Nys would help resolve these concerns. Everybody got to be somewhere! (talk) 18:01, 7 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Place of Huxley's Death

I dispute the recent (Nov 24, 2023) article change, re Huxley's place of death, by 202.142.67.236. This person has changed the place from Los Angeles to London, England. Huxley died on November 23, 1963. Nicholas Murray's exhaustive biography Aldous Huxley (listed among the article's references) presents what seems reliable information concerning where, on pages 452-455. Murray says that Huxley died in the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, which in 1963 was located at 4833 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

No service for Aldous Huxley was held in California, but his ashes were sent to England and a memorial gathering was held on December 17, 1963 at Friends House (in London).

I'd give this issue some time. Maybe someone has better information, contradicting what Murray presented. If not, I will undo the recent change and put in Murray's information.Joel Russ (talk) 02:05, 25 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. And sorry, I've reverted before I read your message here. The death certificate of Huxley is on familysearch.org (free registration required) and specifies the address of death at 6233 Mulholland Highway (same address than his "last usual residence") but no hospital is cited. Other source with same address here. Regards, Xavier 90.6.144.196 (talk) 14:32, 25 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for reverting that, I applaud your good research. It could be that Murray was unaware (or uncertain) that Huxley was brought home from the hospital before he actually passed.Joel Russ (talk) 19:03, 25 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
He died at the home of friends, according to NYT. Regards, Xavier 90.6.144.196 (talk) 20:32, 25 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Huxley's Personal Religious Views

I added a section about Huxley's Personal Religious Views, as they were not covered, for the most part, in the article. Saying that Huxley was religious is controversial, but a fact, none the less. He felt the quest to "know your real self" in the Vedantic sense was the whole purpose of life. He was explicit about this in his essay The Minimum Working Hypothesis, "to achieve this unitive knowledge of the Godhead is the final end and purpose of human existence." I welcome corrections or additions, but maintain that this section is needed to let the readers know Huxley's views on religion. Ellis408 (talk) 03:27, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Ellis408: Frankly, this falls more under spirituality than religion. I will change the heading to reflect this. Skyerise (talk) 15:15, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Also, you appear to be making assumptions and arguing from primary sources, such as Huxley's Introduction. That's considered original research. If you want to call something a "religious view", you must cite a reliable secondary source that explicitly uses the term with respect to Huxley. You can't derive conclusions, only report the conclusions of others. See also our prohibition against synthesis: "Do not combine material from multiple sources to reach or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by any source." Skyerise (talk) 15:38, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Skyerise - Thank you for the editing and comments. I will go through all the notes you made and dig out more sources and references. I really do appreciate your help to make this article better and complete. I have almost everything written about Huxley and will find the relevant source material - and make corrections or deletions, if needed. Ellis408 (talk) 16:49, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Can the note about Original research come down now? I think I addressed your concerns. Thanks, Ellis408 (talk) 17:39, 23 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]