Re: James McCosh
-
In reply to:
James McCosh
William G. Wright 12/14/05
Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
"James McCosh 1811-94, Scottish-American philosopher and educator, b. Ayrshire, Scotland, grad. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1833. He was called to the United States in 1868 to become president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton Univ.), and he retained the position until 1888. His successful career as administrator and teacher laid an enduring foundation for the liberal development of the college. His philosophical position was that of the Scottish school of Thomas Reid and Sir William Hamilton; he is philosophically important as the expounder of the Scottish tradition to America. Chief among his works are Method of Divine Government (1850), The Intuitions of the Mind Inductively Investigated (1860), Christianity and Positivism (1871), Scottish Philosophy from Hutchinson to Hamilton (1875), and Psychology (1886-87)." - end --
----
Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James McCosh (April 1, 1811–November 16, 1894) was a prominent philosopher of the Scottish School of Common Sense.McCosh was born of a Covenanting family in Ayrshire, and studied at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, obtaining his M.A. at the latter, at the suggestion of Sir William Hamilton, for an essay on stoicism. He became a minister of the Established Church of Scotland in 1834, serving as pastor first at Arbroath and then at Brechin. He sided with the Free Church of Scotland in the Disruption of 1843, becoming minister at Brechin's new East Free Church. In 1850 or 1851 he was appointed Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Queen's College, Belfast (now Queen's University Belfast).
In 1868 he travelled to the United States to become president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He resigned the presidency in 1888, but continued to teach philosophy until his death. McCosh Hall (home of the English department) and a cross-campus walkway are named in his honor. The campus infirmary is named after his wife, Isabella McCosh. A school on the South Side of Chicago was named after him, but has since been renamed the Emmett Louis Till Math & Science Academy.[1]