Alexander Bain (11 June 1818 – 18 September 1903) was a
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
philosopher and educationalist.
He was born in
Aberdeen, ScotlandAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It has an official population estimate of .Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands...
to George Bain and Margaret Paul. At age eleven he left school to work as a
weaverThe Ploceidae, or Weavers, are small passerine birds related to the finches.These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which breed in sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical Asia and also in Australia. The weaver group is divided into the buffalo, sparrow, typical,...
hence the description of him as Weevir,
rex philosophorum. In 1836 he entered
Marischal CollegeMarischal College is a building and former university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland owned by the University of Aberdeen. Marischal College and University of Aberdeen was founded in the late 16th century, merging with King's College in 1860 to form the University of Aberdeen.Marischal College...
, and came under the influence of
John CruickshankJohn Alexander Cruickshank, VC is a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Early life:...
, professor of mathematics, Thomas Clark, professor of
chemistryChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
, and William Knight, professor of natural philosophy.
Alexander Bain (11 June 1818 – 18 September 1903) was a
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
philosopher and educationalist.
Early life
He was born in
Aberdeen, ScotlandAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It has an official population estimate of .Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands...
to George Bain and Margaret Paul. At age eleven he left school to work as a
weaverThe Ploceidae, or Weavers, are small passerine birds related to the finches.These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which breed in sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical Asia and also in Australia. The weaver group is divided into the buffalo, sparrow, typical,...
hence the description of him as Weevir,
rex philosophorum. In 1836 he entered
Marischal CollegeMarischal College is a building and former university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland owned by the University of Aberdeen. Marischal College and University of Aberdeen was founded in the late 16th century, merging with King's College in 1860 to form the University of Aberdeen.Marischal College...
, and came under the influence of
John CruickshankJohn Alexander Cruickshank, VC is a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Early life:...
, professor of mathematics, Thomas Clark, professor of
chemistryChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
, and William Knight, professor of natural philosophy. His college career was distinguished, especially in mental philosophy,
mathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
and
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
. Towards the end of his arts course he became a contributor to the
Westminster Review (first article "Electrotype and Daguerreotype," September 1840). This was the beginning of his connection with
John Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill , English philosopher, political theorist, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century whose works on liberty justified freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control...
, which led to a lifelong friendship. In 1841, Bain substituted for Dr Glennie, the professor of moral philosophy, who, through ill-health, was unable to discharge his academic duties. He continued to do this three successive terms, during which he continued writing for the
Westminster, and also helped Mill with the revision of the manuscript of his
System of Logic (1842). In 1843 he contributed the first review of the book to the
London and Westminster.
Career
In 1845 he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in the Andersonian
University of GlasgowThe University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities...
. A year later, preferring a wider field, he resigned the position and devoted himself to writing. In 1848 he moved to London to fill a post in the Board of Health and became a prominent member of the brilliant circle which included
George GroteGeorge Grote was an English classical historian, best known in the field for a major work, the voluminous History of Greece, still read.-Biography:He was born at Clay Hill near Beckenham in Kent...
and John Stuart Mill. In 1855 he published his first major work,
The Senses and the Intellect, followed in 1859 by
The Emotions and the Will. These treatises won him a position among independent thinkers. He was examiner in logical and moral philosophy (1857-1862 and 1864-1869) to the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
, and in moral science in the Indian Civil Service examinations.
In 1860 he was appointed by the crown to the new chair of
logicLogic, from the Greek λογική is the art and science of reasoning. More specifically, it is defined by the Penguin Encyclopedia to be "The formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning". As a discipline, logic dates back to Aristotle, who established its...
and
English literatureEnglish literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was born in Poland, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, V.S....
at the
University of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen is an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is the fifth oldest university in what is now the United Kingdom, and in the wider English-speaking world....
(created by the amalgamation of the two colleges, King's and Marischal, by the Scottish Universities Commission of 1858). Up to this date neither logic nor English had received adequate attention in Aberdeen, and Bain devoted himself to supplying these deficiencies. He succeeded not only in raising the standard of education generally in the north of Scotland, but also in forming a school of philosophy and in widely influencing the teaching of English
grammarIn linguistics, grammar is the set of logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology,...
and composition. His efforts were first directed to the preparation of textbooks:
Higher English Grammar and
An English Grammar were both published in 1863, followed in 1866 by the
Manual of Rhetoric, in 1872 by
A First English Grammar, and in 1874 by the
Companion to the Higher Grammar. These works were wide-ranging and their original views and methods met with wide acceptance.
His own philosophical writings already published, especially
The Senses and the Intellect (to which was added, in 1861, The
Study of Character, including an
Estimate of Phrenology), were too large for effective use in the classroom. Accordingly in 1868, he published his
Manual of Mental and Moral Science, mainly a condensed form of his treatises, with the doctrines re-stated, and in many instances freshly illustrated, and with many important additions. The year 1870 saw the publication of the
Logic. This, too, was a work designed for the use of students; it was based on JS Mill, but differed from him in many particulars, and was distinctive for its treatment of the doctrine of the conservation of energy in connection with causation and the detailed application of the principles of logic to the various sciences. His services to education in
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
were now recognized by the conferment of the honorary degree of doctor of laws by the university of Edinburgh in 1871. Next came two publications in the "International Scientific Series", namely,
Mind and Body (1872), and
Education as a Science (1879).
All these works, from the
Higher English Grammar downwards, were written by Bain during his twenty years as a professor at Aberdeen. He also started the philosophical journal,
Mind; the first number appeared in January 1876, under the editorship of a former pupil,
George Croom RobertsonGeorge Croom Robertson was a Scottish philosopher.He was born at Aberdeen. In 1857 he gained a bursary at Marischal College, and graduated M.A. in 1861, with the highest honours in classics and philosophy. In the same year he won a Fergusson scholarship of £100 a year for two years, which enabled...
, of University College, London. To this journal Bain contributed many important articles and discussions; and in fact he bore the whole expenses of it till Robertson, owing to ill-health, resigned the editorship in 1891.
He was succeeded by
William MintoWilliam Minto , Scottish man of letters, was born at Auchintoul, Aberdeenshire.He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, and spent a year at Merton College, Oxford...
, one of his most brilliant pupils. Nevertheless his interest in thought, and his desire to complete the scheme of work mapped out in earlier years, remained as keen as ever. Accordingly, in 1882 appeared the
Biography of James MillJames Mill was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He was the father of influential philosopher of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill.-Life:...
, and accompanying it
John Stuart Mill: a Criticism, with Personal Recollections. Next came (1884) a collection of articles and papers, most of which had appeared in magazines, under the title of
Practical Essays. This was succeeded (1887, 1888) by a new edition of the
Rhetoric, and along with it, a book
On Teaching English, being an exhaustive application of the principles of rhetoric to the criticism of style, for the use of teachers; and in 1894 he published a revised edition of
The Senses and the Intellect, which contain his last word on psychology. In 1894 also appeared his last contribution to
Mind. His last years were spent in privacy at Aberdeen, where he died. He married twice but left no children.
Bain took a keen interest and frequently an active part in the political and social movements of the day; after his retirement from the chair of logic, he was twice elected lord rector of the university each term of office extending over three years. He was a strenuous advocate of reform, especially in the teaching of sciences, and supported the claims of modern languages to a place in the curriculum. A marble bust of him stands in the public library and his portrait hangs in the Marischal College. Although his influence as a logician, a grammarian and a writer on rhetoric was considerable, his reputation rests on his psychology. At one with
Johannes MüllerJohannes Peter Müller , was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, and ichthyologist not only known for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge.-Life:Müller was born in Koblenz....
in the conviction
psychologus nemo nisi physiologus, he was the first in Great Britain during the 19th century to apply physiology in a thoroughgoing fashion to the elucidation of mental states. He was the originator of the theory of psycho-physical parallelism, which is used so widely as a working basis by modern psychologists. His idea of applying the natural history method of classification to psychical phenomena gave scientific character to his work, the value of which was enhanced by his methodical exposition and his command of illustration. In line with this, too, is his demand that
psychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
should be cleared of
metaphysicsMetaphysics investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. It is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world...
; and to his lead is no doubt due in great measure the position that psychology has now acquired as a distinct positive science.
William JamesWilliam James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher trained as a medical doctor. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and the philosophy of pragmatism...
calls his work the "last word" of the earlier stage of psychology, but he was in reality the pioneer of the new. Subsequent psycho-physical investigations "have all been in" the spirit of his work; and although he consistently advocated the introspective method in psychological investigation, he was among the first to appreciate the help that may be given to it by animal and social and infant psychology. He may justly claim the merit of having guided the awakened psychological interest of British thinkers of the second half of the 19th century into fruitful channels. He emphasized the importance of our active experiences of movement and effort, and though his theory of a central innervation sense is no longer held as he propounded it, its value as a suggestion to later psychologists is great. His autobiography, published in 1904, contains a full list of his works, and also the history of the last thirteen years of his life by WL Davidson of Aberdeen University, who further contributed to
Mind (April 1904) a review of Bain's services to philosophy.
Works (beside the above) Edition with notes of
PaleyWilliam Paley was a British Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian. He is best known for his exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God in his work Natural Theology, which made use of the watchmaker analogy .-Life:Born in Peterborough, England, Paley was educated...
's
Moral Philosophy (1852);
Education as a Science (1879);
Dissertations on leading philosophical topics (1903, mainly reprints of papers in
Mind); he collaborated with JS Mill and Grote in editing James Mill's
Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind (1869), and assisted in editing Grote's
Aristotle and Minor Works; he also wrote a memoir prefixed to G Croom Robertson's
Philosophical Remains (1894).
Works Online
- "Early Life of James Mill", from Mind
Mind is a British journal, currently published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Mind Association, which deals with philosophy in the analytic tradition. It was founded by Alexander Bain in 1876 with George Croom Robertson as editor at University College London. With the death of...
, Vol. 1, No. 1 (January 1876).
- Review of Herbert Spencer's Principles of Sociology, from Mind
Mind is a British journal, currently published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Mind Association, which deals with philosophy in the analytic tradition. It was founded by Alexander Bain in 1876 with George Croom Robertson as editor at University College London. With the death of...
, Vol. 1, No. 1 (January 1876).
- "Mr. G. H. Lewes and the Postulates of Experience", from Mind
Mind is a British journal, currently published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Mind Association, which deals with philosophy in the analytic tradition. It was founded by Alexander Bain in 1876 with George Croom Robertson as editor at University College London. With the death of...
, Vol. 1, No. 1 (January 1876).
External links
Further reading