George Holmes Howison
Encyclopedia
George Holmes Howison was an American philosopher who established the philosophy department at the University of California, Berkeley
and held the position there of Mills Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity. He also founded the Philosophical Union, one of the oldest philosophical organizations in the United States. His main work as a philosopher was the "import" of Hegelian philosophy to the US.
Friends and former students of Howison established the Howison Lectures in Philosophy
in 1919. Over the years, the lecture series has included talks by distinguished philosophers such as Michael Foucault and Noam Chomsky
.
. Howison maintained that both impersonal, monistic idealism and materialism run contrary to the moral freedom experienced by persons. Denying the freedom to pursue the ideals of truth, beauty, and "benignant love" undermines every profound human venture, including science, morality, and philosophy. Thus, even personalistic idealism (e.g., that of Borden Parker Bowne
or that of Edgar S. Brightman
) and realistic personal theism (e.g., that of Thomas Aquinas
) are inadequate, for they make finite persons dependent for their existence upon an infinite Person and support this view by an unintelligible doctrine of creatio ex nihilo.
Howison expounded personal idealism in The Limits of Evolution. Howison created a radically democratic notion of personal idealism that extended all the way to God, whom Howison described not as the creator or ruler of the universe but as the ultimate democrat in eternal relation to other eternal persons. It is no wonder Howison found no disciples among the religious, for whom his thought was heretical, or the non-religious, who thought his proposals too religious; only J. M. E. McTaggart
's idealist atheism or Thomas Davidson
's Apeirionism seem to resemble Howison's personal idealism.
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and held the position there of Mills Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity. He also founded the Philosophical Union, one of the oldest philosophical organizations in the United States. His main work as a philosopher was the "import" of Hegelian philosophy to the US.
Friends and former students of Howison established the Howison Lectures in Philosophy
Howison Lectures in Philosophy
The Howison Lectures in Philosophy are a lecture series established in 1919 by friends and former students of George Howison, who served as the Mills Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity at the University of California, Berkeley....
in 1919. Over the years, the lecture series has included talks by distinguished philosophers such as Michael Foucault and Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
.
Personal Idealism
George Holmes Howison taught a metaphysical theory called Personal Idealism, also called "California Personalism" to distinguish it from the "Boston Personalism" of Borden Parker BowneBorden Parker Bowne
Borden Parker Bowne was an American Christian philosopher and theologian in the Methodist tradition. In 1876 he became a professor of philosophy at Boston University, where he taught for more than thirty years. He later served as dean of the graduate school. Bowne was an acute critic of positivism...
. Howison maintained that both impersonal, monistic idealism and materialism run contrary to the moral freedom experienced by persons. Denying the freedom to pursue the ideals of truth, beauty, and "benignant love" undermines every profound human venture, including science, morality, and philosophy. Thus, even personalistic idealism (e.g., that of Borden Parker Bowne
Borden Parker Bowne
Borden Parker Bowne was an American Christian philosopher and theologian in the Methodist tradition. In 1876 he became a professor of philosophy at Boston University, where he taught for more than thirty years. He later served as dean of the graduate school. Bowne was an acute critic of positivism...
or that of Edgar S. Brightman
Edgar S. Brightman
Edgar Sheffield Brightman was a philosopher and Christian theologian in the Methodist tradition, associated with Boston University and liberal theology, and promulgated the philosophy known as Boston personalism....
) and realistic personal theism (e.g., that of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
) are inadequate, for they make finite persons dependent for their existence upon an infinite Person and support this view by an unintelligible doctrine of creatio ex nihilo.
Howison expounded personal idealism in The Limits of Evolution. Howison created a radically democratic notion of personal idealism that extended all the way to God, whom Howison described not as the creator or ruler of the universe but as the ultimate democrat in eternal relation to other eternal persons. It is no wonder Howison found no disciples among the religious, for whom his thought was heretical, or the non-religious, who thought his proposals too religious; only J. M. E. McTaggart
J. M. E. McTaggart
John McTaggart was an idealist metaphysician. For most of his life McTaggart was a fellow and lecturer in philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was an exponent of the philosophy of Hegel and among the most notable of the British idealists.-Personal life:J. M. E. McTaggart was born in 1866...
's idealist atheism or Thomas Davidson
Thomas Davidson (philosopher)
Thomas Davidson was a Scottish-American philosopher and lecturer.-Biography:Davidson was born of Presbyterian parents at Old Deer, near Aberdeen. After graduating from Aberdeen University as first graduate and Greek prizeman, he held the position of rector of the grammar school of Old Aberdeen...
's Apeirionism seem to resemble Howison's personal idealism.
Research resources
- Guide to the George Holmes Howison Papers at The Bancroft Library
See also
- American philosophyAmerican philosophyAmerican philosophy is the philosophical activity or output of Americans, both within the United States and abroad. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that while American philosophy lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevertheless be seen as both reflecting and...
- List of American philosophers