John Watson (22 February 1847 – 27 January 1939) was a Canadian philosopher and academic.
Life
John Watson was born in
Glasgow, Scotland, on 25 February 1847. He attended the Free Church School in
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
, then enrolled at the
University of Edinburgh. Within a month, however, he was drawn to the
University of Glasgow by the reputations of the brothers
John Caird, professor of divinity, and
Edward Caird, professor of moral philosophy. On completion of his studies in 1872, he was appointed on the basis of the recommendation of his mentor Edward Caird to the Chair of Logic, Metaphysics, and Ethics at
Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to:
*Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
*Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
**Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950)
**Queen's University of Belfast ...
in
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
,
Ontario. Caird had written that "Watson is perhaps a man of the 'driest light' that I know. I do not know anyone who sees his way more clearly through any philosophical entanglements." He spent the remainder of his career at Queen's and died in Kingston on 27 January 1939. Among his works are ''Kant and His English Critics'', ''Christianity and Idealism'', and ''The State in Peace and War''. He was the
Gifford Lecturer
The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in o ...
for 1910–1912 at the University of Glasgow after which his lectures were published as ''The Interpretation of Religious Experience''.
He was a charter member of the
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
. Watson Hall at Queen's University is named after him.
Philosophy
Watson's philosophy, which he called speculative or constructive idealism, continued the Hegelian critique of
Immanuel Kant as pursued by
Thomas Hill Green,
Francis Herbert Bradley, and especially by his teacher at the University of Glasgow,
Edward Caird. The main distinction between his position and that of Kant's critical idealism is that while both maintain that the universe is rational and that reason is self-harmonious, critical idealism denies that either of these propositions can be established on the basis of knowledge, while
speculative idealism contends that the opposition of the theoretical and practical reason is fatal to both positions. While critical idealism falls back upon certain "postulates" of the moral consciousness in support of "faith", speculative idealism refuses to accept the antithesis of faith and knowledge, theoretical and practical reason, maintaining that a faith which is not identical with reason, a theoretical reason which is not in harmony with practical reason, is beset by an inherent weakness, which is sure to betray itself under the most searching of all tests, the test of self-criticism.
[Watson, J.: ''Philosophical Basis of Religion''. Glasgow: Maclehose, 1907, p. 100.]
All that exists is rational and in principle knowable. The degree to which it is known reflects both evolution and history. The human being possesses – as a result of evolution – a principle of rationality that makes it possible to comprehend the rationality of the world and to master it. Watson argued that this capacity could not, however, have resulted from natural selection.
[Watson, J.: ''Outline of Philosophy.'' Glasgow: Maclehose, 1908, pp. 143-144.] By contrast, human evolution, especially as continued in history, represents a transcendence of nature, "the gradual realisation of reason in the individual and in society, and the gradual comprehension of the meaning of both when viewed in their relation to the world and God".
[Watson, J.: ''Christianity and Idealism''(New Edition). Glasgow: Maclehose, 1897, p. 240.]
Religion and moral philosophy
God is the absolute. The absolute is inadequately conceptualized as substance, power, person – although Watson found "personality" more fitting, though still inadequate – or super rational. The. absolute is the identity of subject and object, the repository of universal reason itself, the very rationality that is manifest in the world and increasingly revealed to conscious, reflective human beings. Morality is acting rationally; and as reason ultimately governs both, there is no real conflict between individual and societal interests. Evil, or immorality, is the failure to act rationally owing to ignorance or confusion. Watson's
liberal theology had a significant influence on the
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean envir ...
movement and the formation of the
United Church of Canada in 1925.
Political theory
Watson's social thought is pervaded with a
communitarianism
Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based upon the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relati ...
deriving from his doctrine of the in-principle identity in reason of individual and common goods. Thus he summarizes his position on the State as existing "for the purpose of providing the external conditions under which all the citizens may have an opportunity of developing the best that is in them, and the success with which this aim is achieved is a test of the perfection of a community."
[Watson, J.: ''The State in Peace and War''. Glasgow: Maclehose, 1919, p. 285.]
Works
''Kant and his English Critics:a comparison of critical and empirical philosophy''Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1881.
''Schelling's Trascendental Idealism. A critical exposition.''Chicago: S. C. Griggs and Company, 1882.
''Hedonistic Theories from Aristippus to Spencer''Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1895.
''Christianity and Idealism: the Christian ideal of life in its relations to the Greek and Jewish ideals and to modern philosophy''New York: The Macmillan Co., 1897. (Reprinted with additions, August, 1897.)
''The Philosophical Basis of Religion''Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1907.
''The philosophy of Kant as contained in extracts from his own writings''Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1908.
''The philosophy of Kant explained''Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1908.
''An Outline of Philosophy''Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1908.
* ''The Interpretation of Religious Experience'' (2 volumes) Gifford Lecture
''Volume 1''''Volume 2''
Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1912.
''The State in Peace and War''
Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1919.
* ''Selections from Kant'' Glasgow: Jackson Wylie & Co, 1927.
See also
*
Canadian idealism
Canadian idealism is a Canadian philosophical tradition that stemmed from British idealism.
People
The early idealists include George Paxton Young (1818–1889) who began teaching at Knox College in 1851, Samuel Dyde (1862–1947), and J ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
McKillop, A. B. ''A Disciplined Intelligence: Critical Inquiry and Canadian Thought in the Victorian Era''. Montreal:
McGill-Queen's University Press, 1979.
*
McKillop, A. B. ''Matters of Mind: The University in Canada, 1791–1951''. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1994.
*Sibley, Robert C. ''Northern Spirits: John Watson, George Grant, and Charles Taylor: Appropriations of Hegelian Political Thought''. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2008.
*Rabb, J. D. ''Religion and Science in Early Canada''. Kingston: Ronald P. Frye & Co., 1988.
External links
Queen's University The Philosophical Basis of Religion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, John
1847 births
1939 deaths
19th-century Canadian writers
19th-century Canadian male writers
19th-century philosophers
20th-century Canadian male writers
20th-century Canadian philosophers
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Calvinist and Reformed philosophers
Canadian ethicists
Canadian political philosophers
Canadian Presbyterians
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
Idealists
Philosophers of religion
Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston