John Cook Wilson (6 June 1849 – 11 August 1915) was an English philosopher,

Wykeham Professor of Logic The University of Oxford has three statutory professorships named after William of Wykeham, who founded New College. Logic The Wykeham Professorship in Logic was established in 1859, although it was not known as the Wykeham chair until later. I ...

and Fellow of New College.

Early life and career

John Cook Wilson was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England, in 1849. He was the son of James Wilson, a Methodist minister. After studying at

Derby Grammar School Derby Grammar School is a selective independent day school in Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded in 1995 as a continuation of Derby School, founded in 1160, it educates girls and boys between the ages of 4 and 18. The school c ...

, 1862–67, Cook Wilson went up with a scholarship to

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

in 1868, where he read both Classics under H. W. Chandler and Mathematics under H. J. S. Smith. He graduated with a double 'double-first', gaining both firsts in Mathematical (1869) and Classical Moderations (1870), and then firsts in Mathematics (1871) and Literae Humaniores or 'Greats' (1872). He received the Conington Prize in 1882. He studied logic under

Hermann Lotze Rudolf Hermann Lotze (; ; 21 May 1817 – 1 July 1881) was a German philosopher and logician. He also had a medical degree and was well versed in biology. He argued that if the physical world is governed by mechanical laws and relations, then de ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. Cook Wilson became a Fellow of

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

in 1873, and he was elected Wykeham Professor of Logic in 1889, eventually becoming a Fellow of New College in 1901 and remaining there until his death. The bulk of Cook Wilson's publications were in Classics and Mathematics.

Classics and mathematics

In Classics Cook Wilson published over 50 papers and book-length studies on Aristotle's ''

Nicomachean Ethics The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; , ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics: the science of the good for human life, that which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. () It consists of ten sections, referred to as books, and is closely ...

'' and on Plato's '' Timaeus''.

Philosophy

Cook Wilson believed that "the (printed) letter killeth, and it is extraordinary how it will prevent the acutest from exercising their wonted clearness of vision" (SI, p. 872), and so naturally refrained from publishing his philosophical views, printing instead for private circulation pamphlets known as ''Dictata'', from which his student

A. S. L. Farquharson Arthur Spencer Loat Farquharson (1871–1942), who published as A. S. L. Farquharson, was a British classicist, translator, and Dean (college), Dean of University College, Oxford. His best-known work is the translation of Marcus Aurelius' book, ...

assembled, along with some letters, the volumes of ''Statement and Inference'' after his death. Belonging to a generation brought up in the atmosphere of

British idealism A subset of absolute idealism, British idealism was a philosophical movement that was influential in Britain from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. The leading figures in the movement were T. H. Green (1836–1882), F. ...

, he espoused the cause of

direct realism Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), ...

. His posthumous collected papers, ''Statement and Inference'' (a defence of direct realism), were influential on a generation of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

philosophers, including

H. H. Price Henry Habberley Price (17 May 1899 – 26 November 1984), usually cited as H. H. Price, was a Welsh philosopher, known for his work on the philosophy of perception. He also wrote on parapsychology. Biography Born in Neath, Glamorganshire, Wa ...

and

Gilbert Ryle Gilbert Ryle (19 August 1900 – 6 October 1976) was a British philosopher, principally known for his critique of Cartesian dualism, for which he coined the phrase " ghost in the machine". Some of Ryle's ideas in philosophy of mind have been ca ...

. He also features prominently in the work of

J. L. Austin John Langshaw Austin (26 March 1911 – 8 February 1960) was an English philosopher of language and leading proponent of ordinary language philosophy, best known for developing the theory of speech acts. Austin pointed out that we use lan ...

John McDowell John Henry McDowell (born 7 March 1942) is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, anci ...

, and

Timothy Williamson Timothy Williamson (born 6 August 1955) is a British philosopher whose main research interests are in philosophical logic, philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics. He is the former Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of O ...

P. F. Strawson Sir Peter Frederick Strawson (; 23 November 1919 – 13 February 2006) was an English philosopher who spent most of his career at the University of Oxford. He was the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Magdalen College, O ...

's expression, "the attributive tie", in ''Individuals'' (1959, 168) is named "in memory of Cook Wilson". Cook Wilson often argued for the existence of God as an experiential reality. He is quoted saying 'We don't want merely inferred friends, could we be satisfied with an inferred God?' He also had a long running dispute with

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

over the barbershop paradox.

Personal life

Cook Wilson's most important extra-curricular activity was the development of tactics for military bicycle units to which he also devoted some publications and the

Army Cyclist Corps The Army Cyclist Corps was a corps of the British Army active during the First World War, and controlling the Army's bicycle infantry. History Formation Volunteer cyclist units had been formed as early as the 1880s, with the first complete bicy ...

which was formed at his suggestion. He married Charlotte Schneider, whom he had met in Germany, in 1876, but she had predeceased him in January 1914. They had a son, Ralph Woempener Wilson, also a scholar at Balliol (1898-1902) who later moved to South Africa. Cook Wilson died at his home in

North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian architecture, Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the co ...

on 11 August 1915, from

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a disease where not enough red blood cells are produced due to a deficiency of Vitamin B12, vitamin B12. Those affected often have a gradual onset. The most common initial symptoms are Fatigue, feeling tired and weak. Other ...

Writings

*''Aristotelian Studies I. On the Structure of the Seventh Book of the Nicomachean Ethics, ch. i–x'', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871, second edition, 1912. *''On the Interpretation of Plato's Timaeus. Critical Studies with Reference to a Recent Edition'', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889. *''On an Evolutionist Theory of the Axioms, An Inaugural Lecture'', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889. *'Inverse or "a posteriori" Probability', ''Nature'', 13 December 1900, pp. 154–6. *'Probability—James Bernoulli's Theorem', ''Nature'', 14 March 1901, pp. 465–6. *'On the Geometrical Problem in Plato's ''Meno'', 86e sqq.: With a Note on a Passage in the Treatise De Lineis Insecabilibus', ''The Journal of Philology'', 1 January 1903, pp. 222–240 *'On the Platonist Doctrine of the ἀσύμβλητοι ἀριθμοί', ''The Classical Review'', vol. 18 (1904), pp. 247–60. *'Lewis Carroll's Logical Paradox', ''Mind'', vol.14 (1905), pp. 292–293. With correction, ''Mind'', vol. 14 (1905), p. 439. *''Statement and Inference and other Philosophical Papers'', ed. A. S. L. Farquharson, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1926 ; new edition, Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum, 2002. A full list of Cook Wilson's publications can be found in ''Statement and Inference'', ed. A.S.L. Farquharson, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1926, pp. lxvi–lxxii.

Early life and career

Classics and mathematics

Philosophy

Personal life

Writings

References

Further reading