Norman Duncan Kemp Smith, FBA, FRSE (5 May 1872 – 3 September 1958) was a Scottish philosopher who was Professor of Psychology (1906–1914) and Philosophy (1914–1919) at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and was Professor of

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

and

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

(1919–1945). He is noted for his 1929 English translation of

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

's '' Critique of Pure Reason'', which is often considered the standard version.

Early life and education

He was born Norman Smith on 5 May 1872 in Dundee, Scotland, the son of a cabinet-maker on the Nethergate. He was educated in Dundee and then studied mental philosophy at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, graduating with an MA with first-class honours in 1893. He received his doctorate (PhD) in 1902.

Career

He lectured in philosophy and psychology at

from 1906 to 1916, and at the

from 1919 until his retirement in 1945. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1921. His proposers were

Ralph Allan Sampson Ralph Allan (or Allen) Sampson FRS FRSE LLD (25 June 1866 – 7 November 1939) was a British astronomer. Life Sampson was born in Schull, County Cork in Ireland, then part of the UK. He was the fourth of five children to James Sampson, a Corn ...

, Thomas James Jehu,

Charles Glover Barkla Charles Glover Barkla FRS FRSE (7 June 1877 – 23 October 1944) was a British physicist, and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays). Life ...

and Charles Sarolea. In 1932 he delivered the Adamson Lecture of the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

. In 1938 he moved to 14 Kilgraston Road in south Edinburgh, a house designed by Sir Robert Matthew. His translation of Immanuel Kant's ''Critique of Pure Reason'' is often used as the standard English version of the text. His commentaries on the ''Critique'' are also well regarded, as are his works on

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment phil ...

and other philosophers. He was president of the Aristotelian Society from 1947 to 1948. A portrait by the Edinburgh artist Adam Bruce Thomson is held by the University of Edinburgh's Fine Art Collection. Kemp Smith died on 3 September 1958 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Family

In 1910 he married Amy Kemp (d.1936), and thereafter became known as Norman Kemp Smith.

Legacy

The Kemp Smith Room in the University of Edinburgh's Philosophy Department is named in his honour.

Books and articles

*''Studies in the Cartesian Philosophy'' (New York: Macmillan, 1902) *"The Naturalism of Hume (I)" and "The Naturalism of Hume (II)", ''Mind,'' 14 (1905) Nos. 54 and 55: 149–73 and 335–47 *"Subjectivism and Realism in Modern Philosophy", ''The Philosophical Review,'' 17 (1908) No. 2: 138–48 *"How Far Is Agreement Possible in Philosophy?", ''The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods,'' 9 (1912) No. 26: 701–11 *"Kant’s Relation to Hume and Leibniz", ''The Philosophical Review,'' 24 (1915) No. 3: 288–96 *''A Commentary to Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason (London: Macmillan, 1918)
''Prolegomena to an Idealist Theory of Knowledge''
(London: Macmillan, 1924) *''The Philosophy of David Hume: A Critical Study of Its Origins and Central Doctrines'' (London: Macmillan, 1941) *''New Studies in the Philosophy of Descartes'' (1951) * ''The Credibility of Divine Existence. The Collected Papers of Norman Kemp Smith'', edited by A. J. D. Porteous, R. D. MacLennan, and G. E. Davie (1967)

References

External links

Profile of Kemp Smith on the Edinburgh University Philosophy Department site
* *

* ttp://www.humesociety.org/scholarship/scholars/kempsmith.asp Norman Kemp Smith (1872-1958)hosted by ''The Hume Society'', selected from Geoffrey Gorham, ''Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy'' (2006), ed. A.C. Grayling, Naomi Goulder, and Andrew Pyle
Norman Kemp Smith (1872–1958)
portrait painting by Adam Bruce Thomson - hosted at Art.uk
Norman Kemp Smith
bromide print by

Walter Stoneman Walter Ernest Stoneman (6 April 1876 – 14 May 1958) was an English portrait photographer who took many photographs for the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London. Career as a photographer Stoneman was born in Plymouth, Devon, on 6 ...

from 10 November 1947 - hosted by the National Portrait Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp Smith, Norman 1872 births 1958 deaths People from Dundee People educated at the High School of Dundee People educated at Harris Academy Alumni of the University of St Andrews Princeton University faculty Academics of the University of Edinburgh German–English translators Scottish logicians Metaphysicians Scottish philosophers Scottish psychologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presidents of the Aristotelian Society Translators of Immanuel Kant