George Frederick Stout (; 1860–1944), usually cited as G. F. Stout, was a leading English philosopher and psychologist. He was the father of the philosopher Alan Stout.

Biography

Born in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

on 6 January 1860, Stout studied psychology at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

under James Ward. Like Ward, Stout employed a philosophical approach to psychology and opposed the theory of associationism. It was as a fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge (1884–1896), that Stout published his first work in 1896: the two-volume ''Analytic Psychology'', whose view of the role of activity in intellectual processes was later verified experimentally by the Swiss psychologist

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, ; ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. ...

. The work contains numerous references to

Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was a German philosopher and psychologist. His 1874 '' Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint'', considered his magnum opus, is credited with having reintrod ...

Kazimierz Twardowski Kazimierz Jerzy Skrzypna-Twardowski (; 20 October 1866 – 11 February 1938) was a Polish philosopher, psychologist, logician, and rector of the Lwów University. He was initially affiliated with Alexius Meinong's Graz School of object theory. ...

Carl Stumpf Carl Stumpf (; 21 April 1848 – 25 December 1936) was a German philosopher, psychologist and musicologist. He is noted for founding the Berlin School of experimental psychology. He studied with Franz Brentano at the University of Würzburg be ...

, Christian von Ehrenfels, and

Alexius Meinong Alexius Meinong von Handschuchsheim (; 17 July 1853 – 27 November 1920) was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology and theory of objects. He also made contributions to philosophy of mind and theory of value. Lif ...

. The term analytic psychology is a Stout's translation of Brentano's term ''deskriptive Psychologie'' '' (descriptive psychology)''Maria van der Schaar, ''G. F. Stout and the Psychological Origins of Analytic Philosophy'', Springer, 2013, p. 2. (cf. '' Analytic psychology (Dilthey)''). Stout was appointed to a new lectureship in comparative psychology at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

in 1896, before becoming reader in mental philosophy at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

(1898–1902), where he published his ''Manual of Psychology'' in 1899. This work formulated many principles later developed experimentally by the

Gestalt Gestalt may refer to: Psychology * Gestalt psychology, a school of psychology * Gestalt therapy Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes Responsibility assumption, personal responsibility and focuses on the individual's exp ...

school of psychology. Leaving Oxford, from 1903 to 1936, Stout served as professor of logic and metaphysics at St. Andrews,

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, where he remained until his retirement in 1936. Upon his retirement, Stout left for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to be with his son. He died in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 18 August 1944. Over the course of his career, Stout taught a number of notable students, including G. E. Moore and

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

at Cambridge University. In addition, from 1891 to 1920, he served as editor of ''

Mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

'', a leading philosophical journal, and was president of

Aristotelian Society The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, more generally known as the Aristotelian Society, is a philosophical society in London. History Aristotelian Society was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Squar ...

from 1899 to 1904. In metaphysics, Stout is well known for his contribution to

trope theory Trope denotes figurative language, figurative and metaphorical language and one which has been used in various technical senses. The term ''trope'' derives from the Greek language, Greek τρόπος (''tropos''), "a turn, a change", related to th ...

, specifically in the form of a 1923 paper for the

. He delivered the

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford at the four ancient universities of Scotland: St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Their purpose is to "pro ...

in Edinburgh over 1919–1921, a first volume based on the same, was published as ''Mind and Matter'' in 1931. A second volume was published posthumously under the editorship of his son as ''God & Nature'' in 1952.

Significant publications

* '' Analytic Psychology'' (1896) * '' Manual of Psychology'' (1899, 3rd revised edition 1924) * '' Studies in Philosophy and Psychology'' (1930) * '' Mind & Matter'' (1931) * '' God & Nature'' (1952)

References

External links

*
George F. Stout
at The Information Philosopher
George Frederick Stout - The Gifford Lectures
(Archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stout, George Frederick 1860 births 1944 deaths 19th-century English philosophers 20th-century English philosophers English psychologists People from South Shields Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Oxford Academics of the University of St Andrews Presidents of the Aristotelian Society Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge

Biography

Significant publications

See also

References

Further reading

External links