Norman Duncan Kemp Smith, FBA,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(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 university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and was Professor of

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

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

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

's ''

Critique of Pure Reason The ''Critique of Pure Reason'' (; 1781; second edition 1787) is a book by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in which the author seeks to determine the limits and scope of metaphysics. Also referred to as Kant's "First Critique", it was foll ...

'', which for a long time was considered the standard version.

Early life and education

Norman Smith was born on 5 May 1872 in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, 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 The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

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

Career

Smith 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 The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

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 Cor ...

, Thomas James Jehu,

Charles Glover Barkla Charles Glover Barkla (7 June 1877 – 23 October 1944) was an English physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his discovery of characteristic X-rays. Life Barkla was born in Widnes, England, to John Martin Barkla, a sec ...

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. A ...

. 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; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...

and other philosophers. He was president of the

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 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 is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

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) * *'' 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 is known for taking photographs for the National Portrait Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London. Career as a photographe ...

from 10 November 1947 - hosted by the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

{{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 British metaphysicians 19th-century Scottish philosophers 20th-century Scottish philosophers Scottish psychologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presidents of the Aristotelian Society Translators of Immanuel Kant