Edwin Arthur Burtt (October 11, 1892 – September 6, 1989), usually cited as E. A. Burtt, was an

American philosopher This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States. {, border="0" style="margin:auto;" class="toccolours" , - ! {{MediaWiki:Toc , - , style="text-ali ...

who wrote extensively on the

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known Text (literary theo ...

. His doctoral thesis published as a book under the title ''The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science'' has had a significant influence upon the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

that is not generally recognized, according to

H. Floris Cohen Hendrik Floris Cohen (born Haarlem, Netherlands, 1 July 1946) is a historian of science. Life Cohen studied history at the University of Leiden, receiving a Ph.D. in 1974. He is a professor in the Comparative History of Science at the Universi ...

Biography

He was born on October 11, 1892 in Groton,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. His missionary parents took Burtt to China for several of his teenage years. He was educated at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. He graduated from Yale in 1915, where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

. He attended Union Theological Seminary and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. He became the Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

in 1941. He died on September 6, 1989 in Ithaca,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Work

Though he maintained throughout his life a sympathy towards religious values and beliefs, he acknowledged that his philosophy had been marked by a reaction towards what he saw as his own father's too narrow outlook. Although Burtt participated in drafting the

Humanist Manifesto I ''A Humanist Manifesto'', also known as ''Humanist Manifesto I'' to distinguish it from later ''Humanist Manifestos'' in the series, was written in 1933 primarily by Raymond Bragg and published with 34 signers. Unlike the later manifestos, this fir ...

, he did not work on the project further, because he lost interest after his ideas that spiritual experience is the identification with categories of space, time, causality, and other fundamental physical principles were never included in the final publications. However, in 1973 he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.

Legacy

Based on his own statements,

Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American philosopher of science whose 1962 book ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' was influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term '' paradig ...

may very well have been unaware that in building on the philosophy of

Alexandre Koyré Alexandre Koyré (, ; born Alexandr Vladimirovich (or Volfovich) Koyra (russian: Александр Владимирович (Вольфович) Койра); 29 August 1892 – 28 April 1964), also anglicized as Alexander Koyre, was a Fren ...

, he was in turn building on the philosophy of Burtt whose influence upon Koyré has been demonstrated as substantial.Diane Davis Villemaire, 2002, pp. 3–4

Publications

*''The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science. A Historical and Critical Essay'' (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner; 1924, 1925) *''The Metaphysics of

Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the gre ...

'' (1925) *''Principles and Problems of Right Thinking'' (1928) *''Religion in an Age of Science'' (1930) *''The English Philosophers, from Bacon to Mill'' (1939) *''Types of Religious Philosophy'' (1939) *''The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha'' (1955) *''Man Seeks the Divine: A Study in the History and Comparison of Religions'' (1957) *''In Search of Philosophic Understanding'' (1965) *''Light, Love and Life'' (1986)

Notes

Sources

* Diane Davis Villemaire
''E.A. Burtt, Historian and Philosopher: A Study of the author of The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science''
(Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science), Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002, .

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burtt, Edwin Arthur 1892 births 1989 deaths Philosophers of science Yale University alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Cornell University faculty 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American philosophers