John Daniel Morell (18 June 1816 – 1 April 1891) was a British

educationalist Education sciences, also known as education studies or education theory, and traditionally called ''pedagogy'', seek to describe, understand, and prescribe education including education policy. Subfields include comparative education, educationa ...

and Congregational minister.

Life

Morell was born at

Little Baddow Little Baddow is a village to the east of Chelmsford, Essex. The name ''Baddow'' is believed to have been derived from the River Beadwan, now known as the River Chelmer, which marks the northern boundary of the village. ''Beadwan'' is thought ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, where his father was minister of the Congregational church (1799–1852). He went to

Homerton College Homerton College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of English Dissenters, Protestant dissente ...

in 1833, where he studied theology under John Pye Smith. He then entered the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, where he took the M.A. degree in 1841. Subsequently he studied philosophy and theology under

Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kan ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, and returned to England to undertake the pastorate of the Congregational church at

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

in 1842. In 1845, Morell gave up the ministry in favour of philosophy. In 1848 he made his name by his ''Historical and Critical View of the Speculative Philosophy of Europe in the Nineteenth Century''. It brought him to the notice of Lord Lansdowne, who made him an inspector of schools. From 1848 till 1876 he was active in that career.

Works

Morell's ''Historical and Critical View of the Speculative Philosophy of Europe in the Nineteenth Century'' was his major work. He showed a partiality for the "eclectic philosophy" of

Victor Cousin Victor Cousin (; ; 28 November 179214 January 1867) was a French philosopher. He was the founder of " eclecticism", a briefly influential school of French philosophy that combined elements of German idealism and Scottish Common Sense Realism. ...

, and pointed out the

Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment (, ) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century, Scotland had a network of parish schools in the Sco ...

as a precursor. Rudolf Metz argued that Morell's thought itself was based on Scottish philosophy. He published educational works, including: *''The Philosophy of Religion'' (1849) *''The Analysis of Sentences'' (1852) *''Elements of Psychology'' (1853) *''The Essentials of English Grammar and Analysis'' (1855) *''Handbook of Logic'' (1855) *''Grammar of the English Language'' (1857) *''The Philosophical Tendencies of the Age'' (1848), four lectures *''Fichte's Contributions to Moral Philosophy'' (1860) *''Philosophical Fragments'' (1878) *''An Introduction to Mental Philosophy on the Inductive Method'' (1862) *''Manual of History of Philosophy with numerous examination papers in mental science which have been set in the London University'' (1884).

References

;Attribution *

External links

James Martineau James Martineau (; 21 April 1805 – 11 January 1900) was a British Christian philosophy, religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism. He was the brother of the atheist social theory, social theorist, abolitionist Harriet M ...

''History of Modern Philosophy''
– A review of Morell's ''An historical and critical review of the speculative philosophy of Europe in the nineteenth century'', 1883
Texts on Hathi Trust by or about MorellBy or about Morell from Online Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morell, John Daniel 1816 births 1891 deaths University of Bonn alumni Alumni of Homerton College, Cambridge