Aldous Huxley
Also known as Aldous Leonard Huxley
English writer and philosopher (1894 to 1963); wrote Brave New World.
At a glance
Main ideas
Control by pleasure, The perennial philosophy, Mystical experience …
See all 4Books to start with
Brave New World, The Perennial Philosophy, The Doors of Perception …
See all 5Connections
Brave New World Revisited and Brave New World
See all 2
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- Huxley was a novelist and essayist from the prominent Huxley family who wrote nearly 50 books.
- His satirical early novels were followed by Brave New World (1932), a dystopia of conditioning and pleasure.
- He was a pacifist, and moved to Los Angeles in 1937.
- His later work turned to mysticism, in The Perennial Philosophy, and psychedelics, in The Doors of Perception.
Why it matters
- Brave New World's picture of control through pleasure rather than pain remains one of the defining warnings about technology and society.
Key facts
- Born
- 26 Jul 1894, Godalming, Surrey, England1
- Died
- 22 Nov 1963, at his home in Los Angeles, aged 691
- Family
- Grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley; brother of Julian Huxley1
- Education
- Eton College; Balliol College, Oxford, English literature1
- Taught
- French at Eton for a year; Eric Blair (George Orwell) was among his pupils1
- United States
- Lived in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death1
- Honours
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1939) for After Many a Summer; Companion of Literature (1962); nominated nine times for the Nobel Prize in Literature; declined a knighthood in 19591
Main ideas
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Control by pleasure1
In 1949 he predicted leaders would find infant conditioning and narcohypnosis more efficient than clubs and prisons.
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The perennial philosophy1
Mystical traditions of East and West share a common core.
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Mystical experience1
It helps a person understand themselves and live a less self-centred life.
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Pacifism1
He was an active member of the Peace Pledge Union and wrote on pacifism in Ends and Means.
Books to start with
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Connections
Links
Sources
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