American Psychology Before William James [Reprint 2022 ed.] 9781978811300

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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN PSYCHOLOGY NUMBER ONE

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE WILLIAM JAMES

American Psychology Before William James BY JAY W H A R T O N FAY

1 hold it a noble task to rescue from oblivion those who deserve to be eternally remembered. P L I N Y T H E YOUNGER

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY NEW

BRUNSWICK

- NEW

PRESS

JERSEY

• 1939

COPYRIGHT I 9 3 9 BY T H E TRUSTEES OF RUTGERS COLLEGE I N N E W JERSEY

P R I N T E D IN T H E U N I T E D STATES OF AMERICA

PREFACE THE history of psychology in America has never been written. In cm address delivered in 1898, J. M. Cattell asserted that "the history of psychology here prior to 1880 could be set forth as briefly as the alleged chapter on snakes in a certain natural history of Iceland—(There are no snakes in Iceland.'"1 The neatness of the witticism and the authority of the speaker, combined with the general reticence of the historians of psychology, has contrived to invest some two hundred and fifty years of American thought with the obscurity of the dark ages. J. Mark Baldwin, quoted literally by the German historian Klemm, remarks that "early American psychology was written by theologians or educators or both in the same person "3 and dismisses it with this laconic note. In a half dozen pages of his valuable and scholarly three-volume work, G. S. Brett manages to single out the least important things in early American psychology for supercilious comment, pokes ftm at authors whose works were never referred to by any of their compatriots, and misses all the significant events of the rich and varied American past. W. B. Pillsbury allows three pages to the period, while E. G. Boring intentionally limits his profound study to the history of experimental psychology, and J. C. Flugel restricts his treatment to the last himdred years. In 1929, Gardner Murphy re-echoes the general impression in his statement that "prior to 1880, the only important Ameriv

vi

PREFACE

can contributions were a few articles by James during the decade of the 'seventies'" 4 The neglect of the period by historians of psychology is further aggravated by the absorbing current interest in what is called "scientific fsychology " and by a corresponding antipathy to anything that smacks of philosophy. This •prejudice against speculative philosophy has not operated to prevent genuine historical scholarship in European psychology, and should not be allowed to stifle research into the development of psychology on American soil, where the early attempts at a science of the human mind were no more metaphysical than the contemporary essays in Great Britain and on the continent of Europe. Interesting and significant studies have been made in early American philosophy, but such authorities as M. M. Curtis, A. L. Jones, L. van Becelaere, I. Woodbridge Riley, and H. S. Townsend have failed to lay any particular stress on the evolution of psychological ideas.5 Psychology in the strict etymological sense of the "science of the soul" is defunct. It was moribund in 1886, when John Dewey defined psychology as "the science of the facts or phenomena of self," 6 although in the same year James McCosh, and two years later, David Jayne Hill, made the last desperate efort to maintain the original definition. It was dead and buried in 18go, when William James consecrated a chapter in his epoch-making work to the passing of the soul. The "psyche" lingers on in a single anachronistic work, "Maker's Psychology," the standard text in the Catholic schools, in which Father Maher claims to represent a psychology "that has already survived four and twenty centuries, and has had more influence on human thought and human language than all

PREFACE

vii

other -psychologies together."7 The discipline which has replaced the old psychology is still in its birth throes. It is clearly a biological science with strong leanings towards physiology and neurology. It repudiates its philosophical antecedents, but, like metaphysics and unlike other sciences, it is >marked by a division into warring sects. The present situation is so chaotic that recent surveys of the schools, such as those of R. S. Woodworth, C. E. Ragsdale and Edna Heidbreder, attempt to untangle the maze with obvious strain and with indiferent success The new science is not coterminous with the old. It has put objective and experimental methods to work in a limited portion of the field occupied by the obsolete philosophical psychology. For the rest, it has evaded problems of vital importance that cannot be met by its technique, or has frankly taken over terms, data, and conclusions without realizing it, or at least without acknowledging its obligations. This becomes increasingly clear as one studies the contributions of the early American psychology. The title of the present study indicates its limits. It definitely terminates with the publication of lames' "Principles of Psychology" in 1890. Up to this point the essential facts in the development of American psychology are presented and evaluated in the light of contemporary European psychology, and not according to criteria set up by the science of today with essentially different aims, techniques and objectives. It should be noted that the term "American Psychology" is chosen for its convenience to indicate psychology in America, and especially psychology as developed by American writers. It does not imply that psychology has any national peculiarities. In the same way, "American"

viii

PREFACE

will be understood, to refer to the British colonies in North America, and later to the United States. Grateful acknowledgment is hereby made to the library staff at Rutgers University, and especially to Mr. G. A. Oshorn, as well as to Dr. E. S. Worcester and the staff of the Sage Library, and to Dr. W. W. Rockwell of the Library of Union Seminary. Mr. Robert Bierstedt of Columbia University has read the entire text and made numerous and helfful criticisms. Jay Wharton Fay New. Brunswick, New Jersey Afrit, 1939

T A B L E OF

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE: T H E PSYCHOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF T H E PILGRIM FATHERS Limits of the Period Selected for Study The Mind of the Puritan Fathers .

.

3 .

.

6

ONE. T H E P E R I O D OF T H E O L O G Y A N D MORAL PHILOSOPHY English Scholastic Education, 1640-1714 1. Conditions in the Colonies . 2. American Psychology Samuel Johnson's Notebooks

.

11 11 12

The American Enlightenment, 1714-1776 1. Progress of European Thought . . 2. Conditions in the Colonies . . 3. American Psychology a. William Brattle b. Early Echoes of John Locke . c. Samuel Johnson d. Jonathan Edwards . . . . e. Thomas Clap

. . .

16 16 17 18 19 20 27 43 46

TWO. T H E PERIOD OF PHILOSOPHY

INTELLECTUAL

The Scottish Philosophy, 1776-1827 . . . American Psychology a. J. D. Gros . . . . . . . b. Witherspoon and Smith . ix

.

50 52 53 58

TABLE OF CONTENTS

X

c. Levi Hedge d. Rush and Beasley e. Asa Burton The Era of American Textbooks, 1827-1861 a. Thomas C. Up ham b. Rauch and Schmucker c. Mahan and Hickok d. Wayland and Haven

67 70 75 90 91 .109 117 125

THREE. T H E PERIOD OF BRITISH A N D GERMAN INFLUENCES Progress of European Thought, 1861-1890 .

.129

Conditions in America American Psychology a. James Rush b. Noah Porter c. Dewey, McCosh, and Bowne d. David Jayne Hill

130 131 133 145 .163 167

APPENDICES 1. Notes

171

2. Chronological Table of American Works and Foreign Sources

219

3. Bibliography of Primary Sources

227

4. Index of Names

233

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE WILLIAM JAMES

PROLOGUE

T H E PSYCHOLOGICAL HERITAGE THE PURITAN FATHERS

OF

Limits of the Period Selected for Study

P S Y C H O L O G Y in America began in 1640 when Henry Dunster assumed the presidency of Harvard College. Psychology had not yet emerged from philosophy as a distinct discipline, and did not even have a name,1 but its principles in so far as they were formulated or implied in the thought of the time may be recovered from the courses in Philosophy, Ethics and Divinity which Dunster set up in imitation of those with which he was familiar in the English Universities. Between this point and the publication of William James' "Principles of Psychology" in 1890 lies the neglected period of American psychology, the development and significance of which form the subject of this study. From its inception in the curriculum offered to the first class at Harvard to the opening of the modern era, heralded by the appearance of James' "Principles," three periods may be distinguished, marked off by our two great armed conflicts, the Revolution and the Civil War. From the character of psychological thought in the first era, it may be designated the Period of Theology and Moral Philosophy, and the psychology taught under various rubrics may be characterized as traditional English scholasticism. It is dramatically interrupted by the arrival in 1714 3

4

A M E R I C A N PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE W I L L I A M

JAMES

of a copy of Locke's "Essay concerning Human Understanding," which with other contributing factors inaugurated an epoch corresponding closely to the British Enlightenment. As soon as the country had recovered from the disorganization incident to the Revolution and the establishment of the Constitution, the Scottish philosophy of Thomas Reid and Dugald Stewart made its appearance in America, and dominated academic psychology until the time of Ladd, James and Baldwin. It was of the greatest importance to the end of the second period of American psychology, which falls between the Revolution and the Civil War, and which may be called the Period of Intellectual Philosophy. At first Reid and Stewart were studied in imported or reprinted texts, but in 1827, the publication of the first systematic text of psychology in the English language marks the beginning of an era of American textbooks, and divides the period into two parts, the first of which may appropriately bear the name of the parent philosophy, while the second indicates the rise of American scholarship. The third period of some thirty years, extending from the Civil War to the publication of James' "Principles," may be designated the Period of British and German Influence. It is characterized by a growing 433 PP-> PP- 5 9-6o. 6. Eggleston, E., " T h e Transit of Civilization," N . Y., Appleton, 1900, 244 pp., pp. 2 - 3 .

NOTES 7. T y l e r , M . C . , " A

C H A P T E R ONE

173

History o f American L i t e r a t u r e , " N .

Y.,

Putnam, 1 8 7 8 , 2 vols., 292, 330 pp., V o l . 1, p. 98. 8. Smith, Preserved, " A

History o f M o d e r n C u l t u r e , " N .

Y.,

H o l t , 2 vols., Vol. I, 1 9 3 0 , 6 7 2 pp., V o l . I I , 1 9 3 4 , 703 pp., V o l . I, p. 38. 9. Sir W i l l i a m H a m i l t o n , of. cit., pp. 89-90. 10. Ebbinghaus, H . , "Psychology (Abriss der P s y c h o l o g i e ) , " L e i p z i g , Veit, 1 9 0 8 ; M . M e y e r , trans., Boston, H e a t h ,

1908,

2 1 5 pp., p. 3. 1 1 . Schneider, H . W . , and C .

( E d i t o r s ) , "Samuel Johnson, H i s

Career and W r i t i n g s , " N . Y . , Columbia University

Press,

1 9 2 9 , 4 vols., 5 2 6 , 603, 6 4 1 , 397 pp., V o l . I I , v. CHAPTER

ONE

1. " A t first all was wilderness, and had to be subdued. In that process the man with money

f o u n d himself

brought

far

nearer the level o f the laborer than he had ever dreamed o f being in Europe. . . T h e r e probably was not a gentleman o f leisure on the continent, north o f M e x i c o , unless he w e r e a jailbird or a redskin."

Adams, of. cit., pp. 3 7 , 4 6 .

2. See Evans, " A m e r i c a n Bibliography," V o l . I ( 1 6 3 9 - 1 7 2 9 ) . 3. " M u c h used to be made o f this event, but w h e n w e contrast the courses o f study and the scholarship produced in our first 'college' w i t h what the Spaniards had achieved long b e f o r e at such universities as those in M e x i c o or L i m a , perhaps a more modest estimate o f this event in our educational history may be preferable. It tended, moreover, to increase the provincialism o f N e w E n g l a n d by encouraging it to keep students at home f o r an inferior training instead o f sending them, as the other colonists later did, to e n j o y the better opportunities o f E u r o p e . " Adams, J. T . , " H i s t o r y o f U n i t e d States," V o l . I, N .

Y.,

1 9 3 2 , Scribner,

306

the pp.,

p. 4 1 . 4. T y l e r , of. cit., I, p. 88. 5. In 1 7 0 2 the first student presented himself f o r instruction, and by 1 7 1 6 , 56 students had been graduated, and a dozen pupils moved to N e w H a v e n , leaving about a dozen more at W e t h -

174

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE W I L L I A M

JAMES

ersfield, and three or four at Saybrook. For details, see Dexter, F. B., "Sketch of the History of Yale University," N. Y., Holt, 1887, 108 pp., pp. 7-20. 6. "Autobiography of Samuel Johnson," in Schneider, of cit., I, 5-6 (italics mine). 7. Samuel Johnson, 1696-1772. Born at Guilford, Conn. Entered Yale (then the Collegiate School at Saybrook) at the age of 14. In 1 7 1 6 , the College was moved to New Haven, and Johnson became a tutor. L e f t in 1 7 1 9 , and the next year took a Congregational pastorate at West Haven "to be near the college." In 1 7 2 2 went to England and received holy orders in the Anglican Church. In 1 7 2 4 became the first Connecticut clergyman of that faith. Was the friend and correspondent of Berkeley during the latter's residence in America ( 1 7 2 9 - 3 1 ) , and is probably the Crito of the " M i n ute Philosopher," which was written in Rhode Island. In 1 7 4 3 , received the degree of D.D. from Oxford. Resigned his pastorate to become the first president of King's College (1754-63). Published in 1 7 3 1 a small tract entitled "An Introduction to the Study of Philosophy," in 1746, " A System of Morality," and in 1 7 5 2 , the "Elementa Philosophica" (B. Franklin, Printer). The London edition of 1754 has an Editor's Preface by Will Smith, first Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. "Autobiography" in Schneider, I, pp. 3-49; see also ibid., II, pp. 52-70. "Dictionary of American Biography;" Sprague's "Annals of the American Pulpit"; Chandler, T . B., " L i f e of Samuel Johnson," N. Y., Swords, 1824, 209 pp.; Beardsley, E. E., " L i f e and Correspondence of Samuel Johnson," N. Y., Hurd and Houghton, 1873, 380 pp.; Schneider, of. cit., and discussed in Jones, pp. 22-45; Riley, "American Philosophy," Ch. II, pp. 6 3 - 1 2 5 ; Riley, "American Thought," pp. 19-28; Townsend, pp. 25-32. 8. Schneider, of. cit., II, p. 186. 9. "Physica agit de iis rebus quae nascuntur et producuntur non arte sed natura." These first points are quoted from the

NOTES "Synopsis

175

C H A P T E R ONE

Philosophise

Naturalis,"

a manuscript

probably-

dating f r o m 1 7 1 4 (Schneider, I I , p. 2 4 ) , and given in Latin on the even pages of Schneider, I I , pp. 2 4 - 5 2 . 10. T h i s naive history o f philosophy is abridged f r o m the opening sections o f the " A r s Encyclopaidia,"

1 7 1 4 , given in L a t i n

on the even pages o f pp. 5 8 - 1 8 6 in Schneider, V o l . I I . 1 1 . In the Synopsis the question and answer f o r m is used.

The

f o l l o w i n g w i l l serve as an example: Q(uaestio)

6 7 . " Q u i d est Spiritus?

R(esponsum)

Spiritus est Natura Constans, vivens et intelligens.

Q.

68. Q u o t u p l e x est Spiritus?

R.

Spiritus

duplex

est

viz.

Angelus

A n i m a rationalis. Sed propter

et

unio-

nem cum Corpore A n i m a rationalis in homine demum consideratur." 1 2 . T h e rest o f the analysis o f Johnson's thought is taken

from

the Encyclopaedia, w h i c h consists of numbered propositions, o f w h i c h the f o l l o w i n g are illustrations: 807. Spiritus est natura vivens, intelligens, ac volens. 808. E j u s sunt facultates et species. 809. Facultates sunt vita, intellectus, et voluntas. T h e text paraphrases Propositions 8 0 7 - 8 1 4 ;

897-998.

1 3 . Propositions 9 9 7 - 9 9 8 . 1 4 . Adams, J. T . , "Provincial Society," N . Y . , M a c m i l l a n ,

1927,

3 7 4 PP-, P- 2791 5 . N . M . Butler, in Schneider, I, vi. Princeton, 1 7 4 6 , Pennsylvania, 1 7 5 3 , King's, 1 7 5 4 . 16. W i l l i a m Brattle, 1 6 6 2 - 1 7 1 7 . Born in Boston. Graduated f r o m Harvard

in

1680, and was tutor f o r about ten years

1 6 8 6 - 9 6 ) . W h i l e President Increase M a t h e r was in

(c.

Eng-

land, Brattle was practically at the head o f the C o l l e g e , but was f o r c e d to leave on account of his liberalism. In

1696,

became pastor o f the church in Cambridge, w h e r e he r e mained until his death. H e and his brother T h o m a s

figure

largely in the liberal movement in N e w E n g l a n d T h e o l o g y . " D i c t i o n a r y o f American B i o g r a p h y ; " Sprague,

"Annals

I76

17.

18.

19.

20.

21. 22.

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE W I L L I A M

JAMES

of the American Pulpit." Discussed in Jones, pp. 1 0 - 1 2 ; Townsend, pp. 24-25. Eggleston, of. cit., p. 246. See also Rand, "Philosophical Instruction in Harvard from 1636 to 1906," Harvard Grad. Mag., Vol. 37, 1928-29, pp. 29-47. Ramus, 1 5 1 5 - 1 5 7 2 (killed in the massacre of St. Bartholomew). See Mansel, "Artis Logicae Rudimenta," xliii; Bayne, "Port Royal Logic," xxv if., pp. 376-8. In 1672, John Milton published a little work entitled "Artis Logicae Plenior Institutio ad Petri Rami Methodum Concinnata," in Works, Vol. 1 1 , N. Y., Col. Univ. Press, 1935. " O f the older writers on Logic in Latin, the one I would principally recommend to you is Burgersdyk—Burgersdicius." Sir W. Hamilton, "Logic," Lecture IV, p. 5 1 . Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, p. 1 1 5 . "In the earlier years of the college each student was accustomed to transcribe for himself certain treatises in manuscript on logic and other studies made by Alexander Richardson of Oxford." Letter of Leonard Hoar, Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. VI, in Eggleston, of. cit., p. 248. 1 7 3 5 , several times reprinted, used as a text at Harvard (in printed form) from 1735-65. Evans, "American Bibliography." See also Peirce, B., "History of Harvard University," Cambridge, Brown, Shattuck, 1 8 3 3 , 3 1 6 pp., and Appendix, 159 pp., p. 9 1 . Copy in Harvard Library (Boston, Draper, 1758). About Descartes' "Logic," Mansel, of. cit., xlv, says: " T h e Regulae ad directionem ingenii, a posthumous work of Descartes, is sometimes called his Logic. . . This work, though fuller, is in principle the same as the Discours de la Methode. . . T o call the Discours . . . a treatise on Logic, is simply to assume for the Aristotelian Logic a purpose never contemplated by Aristotle or his followers, and then to classify under the same head works pursuing this supposed end by totally different means." Townsend, of. cit., p. 24. Jones, of. cit., p. 1 1 . A few direct quotations from Brattle will illustrate:

NOTES

CHAPTER ONE

177

Page I. Q . Quid est Logica? R . Logica est Ars Cogitandi; seu Ars Utendi nostra Ratione in comparanda Cognitione. Q . Quid intendit haecce vox COGITANDI? R . Intendit quattuor * Operationes Mentis, scil. Apprensionem, Judicium, Discursum, et Dispositionem. * Cogitationes sive dicuntur oferationes, i.e. actiones mentis, sive modificationes (et ita passiones) mentis, eodem recidit in Logica; etiamsi non in metaphysica. Page 2. Q . Quid est ferceftio, seu Affrehensio? R . Perceptio est nuda et simplex Rerum, quae menti sistuntur, Contemplatio. Page 8. Q . Quando dicitur Mens sentire? R. C u m Objecta sensibilia praesentia sunt et Organa exteriora afficiunt. 23. See Schneider, II, pp. 6-7. For the Encyclopaedia, ibid., pp. 2 0 1 - 2 1 6 , and for the Logic, ibid., pp. 2 1 7 - 2 4 3 . 24. From the "Revised Encyclopaedia," Schneider, II, p. 213 25. T h i s is an early attempt to give a name to psychology and define its field. 26. From the " L o g i c , " Schneider, II, pp. , ff.; italics mine and punctuation somewhat revised. 27. "Works o f President Edwards," S. E . Dwight, ed., Vol. I, pp. 34-40; complete in the Appendix, I, pp. 664-702. 28. O n the controversy as to whether Edwards had read Berkeley or came independently to his conclusions, see A l l e n , A . V . G . , "Jonathan Edwards," Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1889, 401 pp., pp. 1 4 ff.; Lyon, G . , "L'Idéalisme en Angleterre au X V I I I e Siècle," Paris, Alcan, 481 pp., pp. 3 7 1 - 4 0 5 . 29. Note by S. E . Dwight, in " W o r k s , " I, 702. 30. Ibid., I, p. 40. 3 1 . In Schneider, I., pp. 4 9 7 - 5 2 6 , there is a list " o f Books read by me f r o m year to year since I l e f t Yale College, i.e., after I was T u t o r o f the C o l l e g e . " 32. Berkeley was in America from February, 1 7 2 9 , until September, 1 7 3 1 . See Johnson's Autobiography in Schneider, I.,

178

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE W I L L I A M J A M E S pp. 2 4 - 2 7 . Johnson had already read the "Principles o f H u man K n o w l e d g e , " and n o w m e t the Bishop and had considerable correspondence w i t h h i m

(reproduced in f u l l

Schneider,

also R i l e y ,

I I , pp.

261-284).

See

in

"American

T h o u g h t , " pp. 1 9 - 2 8 , especially pp. 1 9 - 2 2 ; Jones, pp. 2 2 4 5 , especially pp. 2 3 - 2 4 ; T o w n s e n d , pp. 2 5 - 3 2 , especially pp. 26, 28. 33. Schneider,

I I , p.

358. T h e

full

title is " E l e m e n t a

Philo-

sophies / Containing chiefly / NOETICA / O r T h i n g s relating to the / M i n d or Understanding: / and / T h i n g s relating to the / Philadelphia

in

1752

by

Moral

ETHICA /

Or

B e h a v i o r . " Published

Benjamin

Franklin.

Copies

in at

Columbia and Y a l e . Reproduced in f u l l in Schneider, V o l . I I , pp. 3 5 9 - 5 1 8 , together with a Section, pp. 3 0 7 - 3 5 6 , entitled " T h e

G r o w t h o f Samuel Johnson's Introduction

to

P h i l o s o p h y , " most useful f o r tracing the genesis o f the work. Discussed in R i l e y , Jones, T o w n s e n d , etc. 34. B a l d w i n , J. M . , editor, " D i c t i o n a r y o f Philosophy and Psyc h o l o g y , " N . Y . , M a c m i l l a n , 1 9 0 1 , N e w Edition, 1 9 1 1 , 4 vols, in 3. 35. From " A n

Outline o f Philosophy,"

1 7 3 0 , in Schneider,

P- 3 1 1 36. Synopsis o f Philosophy, in " A n English and H e b r e w

II,

Gram-

m a r , " 1 7 7 1 , Schneider, I I , pp. 3 5 5 - 6 . See also " E l . P h i l . , " Introduction, Sec. 1 3 , in Schneider, I I , p. 366. 3 7 . " E l . P h i l . , " Noetica, C h . I, Sec. 2, in Schneider, I I , pp. 3 7 2 - 3 . 38. Schneider, I I , pp. 3 7 2 , 364. 39. Ethica, C h . I l l , Sec. 2 1 , in Schneider, I I , pp. 4 8 3 - 4 . 40. Schneider, I I , pp. 3 1 7 - 8 . 4 1 . H a r t l e y was publishing his "Observations on M a n " in

1749.

T h i s Bibliography dates f r o m about 1 7 4 4 . 4 2 . T h i s and the f o l l o w i n g extracts are f r o m Schneider, Vol. II. 4 3 . " E l . P h i l . " in Schneider, I I , p. 4 5 1 . See also pp. 4 6 0 , 4 7 4 , 4 9 3 , 5 0 7 ; also V o l . I l l , •passim, especially pp. 5 7 6 ff. 4 4 . E . g . , moral education, proper use of praise and blame, p. 4 2 5 ; nature study, p. 4 2 6 ; study o f geography and institutions beginning with immediate surroundings, p. 4 2 7 ; music, p. 4 2 8 ; practical problems, p. 4 2 9 ; science teaching, p. 4 3 1 j

NOTES

CHAPTER ONE

I79

social science, p. 4 3 3 ; gradation of studies, p. 3 6 2 ; history, p. 3 6 2 ; use o f maps, globes and other apparatus, p. 362 et passim, etc., etc. 4 5 . Jones, of. cit., p. 45. 46. " E l . P h i l . , " in Schneider, II, p. 458. See also p. 4 9 7 . 4 7 . Jonathan Edwards, 1 7 0 3 - 1 7 5 8 . Born in East Windsor, Conn. Entered Yale in 1 7 1 6 , coming into contact with Locke the following year. Graduated in 1720, remaining for two years as resident graduate. A f t e r a brief experience in the pulpit, returned to Yale in 1 7 2 4 as Tutor. In 1 7 2 7 , became assistant to his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, pastor o f the church at Northampton, being chosen sole pastor at the death of the latter in 1729. In 1 7 3 4 and 1735 there was a great religious revival in the church, returning again in 1 7 4 0 as the " G r e a t Awakening," during which Edwards preached the famous sermon, "Sinners ¡1» me Hands o f an Angry G o d . " In 1 7 5 0 he was dismissed, going the following year to Stockbridge as missionary to the Indians. In 1 7 5 8 he was called to the Presidency o f the College of N e w Jersey, where he took up his duties in February, and died in March o f an inoculation against the smallpox. His writings include a "Treatise on the Religious Affections," 1 7 4 6 , " E n q u i r y into the Freedom o f the W i l l , " 1 7 5 4 , "Treatise on the Nature of T r u e Virtue," 1 7 5 5 , and " G o d ' s End in the Creation o f the W o r l d , " 1758 (the last two published posthumously in 1788). " W o r k s " in ten volumes, edited by S. E . D w i g h t , the first volume including the most extensive biographical study we have, together with the Notes on M i n d , on Natural Science, etc. See also Sprague, "Annals o f the American P u l p i t " ; A l l e n , "Jonathan Edwards," with bibliography, especially pp. 3 8 1 - 4 0 1 ; Parks, "Jonathan Edwards, the Fiery Puritan"; "Dictionary of American Biography." Discussed by Jones, pp. 46-78, especially pp. 4 9 - 5 5 ; Townsend, pp. 35-62, especially pp. 4 0 - 4 5 ; R i l e y , " A m e r i can T h o u g h t , " pp. 28-36; Riley, "American Philosophy," pp. 1 2 6 - 1 8 7 ; Parrington, " T h e Colonial M i n d , " Vol. I, pp. 1 4 8 - 1 6 4 ; Blakey, "History o f the Philosophy o f M i n d , "

l80

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE W I L L I A M JAMES V o l . I V , pp. 4 9 2 - 5 1 9 ; T a p p a n , " R e v i e w o f E d w a r d s , " pp. 1 5 - 8 6 ; summary in pp. 7 2 - 8 5 , comparison w i t h Locke, pp. 8 5 - 8 6 ; Foster, F . H . , " A Genetic History o f the N e w E n g land T h e o l o g y , " Chicago, U . of C h i . Press, 1 9 0 7 , 586 pp., pp. 4 7 - 1 0 3 , especially pp. 6 2 - 8 1 .

48. Parrington, " T h e Colonial M i n d , " pp. 1 4 9 , 1 5 1 . 49. T h e problem o f f r e e - w i l l is raised by Plato in the Republic, Book X , and by Aristotle in Book III o f the Ethics et •passim. T h e Stoics were determinists, but Chrysippus attempted to reconcile determinism w i t h moral responsibility;

the

Epi-

curians inclined to a b e l i e f in f r e e - w i l l . " C h r i s t i a n i t y , f r o m the beginning, was faced w i t h the problem o f

reconciling

human f r e e d o m w i t h divine g o v e r n m e n t — t h e old Stoic probl e m in f a c t "

( A . W o l f , in the Encyclopaedia

1 4 t h E d . , Article, Free W i l l ) .

St. Augustine

Britannica, inclined

to

f r e e - w i l l , f o l l o w e d in the main by T h o m a s Aquinas. Hobbes was a thoroughgoing determinist, Descartes however allowed to the w i l l the power o f self-determination. Locke ridiculed the idea o f the " f r e e d o m o f the w i l l , " and substituted the expression " f r e e d o m o f the m a n " to w i l l or not to w i l l , supporting f r e e d o m in this corrected f o r m

(Book I I ,

Ch.

2 1 ) . T h i s brings the controversy down to Edwards, w h o was familiar w i t h Locke. See the article in the Britannica, nth

Encyclopaedia

14th E d . , and a more elaborate article in the

E d . See also Stewart, " A c t i v e and M o r a l Powers o f

M a n , " Walker's E d . , Boston, 1 8 5 5 , pp. 2 6 8 - 3 2 4 (originally an a p p e n d i x ) . T h e controversy in America a f t e r Edwards was carried on by a number o f writers, including D a y , Dana, W h e d o n , T a p pan, Hazard, and Bledsoe (vide

infra).

It has never been

settled. W h i l e modern science rests upon a conception

of

cause and effect that makes every action grow out o f antecedent causes in such a way that man is absolutely

deter-

mined, biology and psychology assume a certain spontaneity in the l i v i n g organism that inclines to f r e e d o m w i t h i n limits. See D a m p i e r - W h e t h a m , W . C . D . , " A History o f S c i e n c e , " N . Y . , M a c m i l l a n , 1 9 3 0 , 5 1 4 pp., pp. 4 7 1 - 4 7 7 .

NOTES

CHAPTER ONE

181

50. T h e metaphysical arguments may be summed up thus: " E v e r y thing must have a cause, acts o f the will included; to say that man has free w i l l is to say that he is free to choose what he chooses, which is absurd. T h e argument is irrefutable, but as Edwards expressly identifies the w i l l with the emotions, it remains rather a tour de f o r c e " (Park, p. 2 4 1 ) . A l l e n says (p. 2 8 9 ) : "Edwards' argument against the freedom of the human will, in the sense o f a power to choose between good and evil, gains its force from the assumption of the thing to be proved. T h e r e is no movement in his thought beyond this assumption that every event must have some external cause." T h u s the metaphysical argument rests upon the concept o f causality. T h e theological argument is based upon the omniscience o f G o d , supported by elaborate quotation of Bible passages (weak philosophically, the divine inspiration o f the Scriptures being taken for granted). For a man to be able to do anything that G o d does not foresee would be to weaken the concept o f the Deity. I f G o d foresees every action, it is necessarily determined. Edwards' argumentation was so cogent that even Hazard admitted that "almost by common consent, his positions are deemed impregnable, and the hope o f subverting them by direct attack abandoned" (p. 1 7 3 , Ed. of 1 8 6 5 ) . Another writer says (quoted by A l l e n , p. 2 8 6 ) : " N i b b l i n g about the points o f his arguments there certainly has been, but for the most part it has been extremely chary; and we suspect that the f e w who have taken hold in earnest have in the end found pretty good reason to repent of their temerity." T h e psychological argument was refuted by H . P. Tappan in 1839. Vide infra. 5 1 . " W e see that the living creature is moved by intellect, imagination, purpose, wish and appetite. A n d all o f these are reducible to Mind- and Desire." Aristotle, " D e M o t u Animalium," Sec. 6. " T h e vulgar division of the faculties, adopted by Reid, into those o f the Understanding and those o f the Will, is to be traced to the classification, taken in the Aristotelian school,

182

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE W I L L I A M J A M E S o f the powers into gnostic,

or cognitive, and orectic,

or ap-

p e t e n t . " H a m i l t o n , " R e i d ' s W o r k s , " I, p. 242. " H i s [Aristotle's] is a f a c u l t y psychology, but not in the sense that he evades the task o f the genuine explanation o f facts by r e f e r r i n g it to a mystical f a c u l t y of doing this or doing that. H e is simply taking account o f the f a c t that the soul does exhibit a variety o f operations, and that behind each o f

these

intermittent

operations w e

must suppose a

power o f operating. But these faculties do not coexist like stones

in

a

heap."

Ross,

W.

D.,

"Aristotle,"

London,

M e t h u e n , 1 9 2 3 , 300 pp., p. 1 3 3 . " B y a f a c u l t y is meant the mind's capability o f

under-

g o i n g a particular kind o f activity. . . T h e s e activities assume either o f two generically different forms. E v e r y mental act or energy constitutes a relation between the m i n d or subj e c t and the object or terminus o f that act. N o w this relation w e find always to consist either in (a) the assumption by the soul o f (imagine

the

object

into itself

intentionali),

or

(b)

after

a psychical

the tendency o f

manner the

soul

towards or f r o m the o b j e c t as the latter is in itself. In the previous case the object o f the state is presented in the m i n d by a cognitive

act, in the latter the m i n d is inclined towards

or f r o m the object by an appetitive

act. . . U n d e r the f a c -

ulty o f cognition or knowledge are aggregated such operations

as those

of

sense-perception,

memory,

imagination,

j u d g m e n t , and reasoning; under the affective or appetitive f a c u l t y are included desires, aversions, emotions, volitions, and the l i k e . " M a h e r , of.

cit.,

pp. 29-30. T h i s is a clear

statement in modern terms o f the Aristotelian and T h o m i s t i c position. Father M a h e r argues that the tri-partite

division

sins by excess and d e f e c t , asserting without sufficient grounds the existence o f a separate third f a c u l t y (p. 3 5 ) . " F e e l i n g s understood as emotional states are, we believe, not the o f f spring o f a third ultimately distinct energy, but products

arising' f r o m

the

combination

of

complex

cognitive

and

appetitive activities" (p. 4 1 ) . 52. Edwards, " N a t u r e o f the A f f e c t i o n s , " Part I. . . " R e v i v a l o f R e l i g i o n in N e w E n g l a n d , " Part I.

NOTES

CHAPTER ONE

183

53. " R e v i e w of Edwards," pp. 72-73. 54. "Freedom of the W i l l , " Part I, Sec. I. 55. Ibid. 56. Ibid., Sec. 2 ; Part III, Sec. 7 ; Part I, Sec. 2. 57. " T h i s division of the phenomena o f mind into the three great classes o f the Cognitive faculties,—the Feelings, or capacities o f Pleasure and Pain,—and the Exertive or Conative Powers, — I do not propose as original. It was first promulgated by Kant (footnote by the Ed. " K r i t i k der Urtheilskraft," Einleitung. T h e same division is also adopted as the basis o f his " A n t h r o p o l o g i c " ) ; and the felicity o f the distribution was so apparent, that it has now been all but universally adopted in Germany by the philosophers of every school. . . T o the psychologists of this country, it is apparently unknown. T h e y still adhere to the old scholastic division into powers o f the Understanding and powers o f the W i l l ; or, as it is otherwise expressed, into Intellectual and Active Powers." Hamilton, "Metaphysics," p. 129. 58. Jones, pp. 49-54. 59. E.g., "Notes on M i n d , " Dwight, Vol. I, p. 693, Note 70 et -passim. 60. Ibid., p. 6 6 9 et fassim. Note 34 is a remarkable statement o f Idealism. His statements about the Association o f Ideas (Notes on M i n d ) are close to Hume's position, in fact, Jones says (p. 53) that Edwards' doctrine "so far as it is developed is equal to Hume's doctrine." 6 1 . " I n consequence o f an earlier revival in his parish o f Northampton, his attention had been drawn to the little-understood psychology o f the awakening soul, and with the detachment o f the scientist he set himself to study the problem. T h e terrors aroused by his minatory sermons provided his clinical laboratory with numberous cases o f abnormal emotionalism. Day after day he probed and analyzed and compared . . . like a modern psychologist he was at enormous pains to chart the successive steps in the miraculous transformation." Parrington, I, p. 160. See also Allen, pp. 1 3 3 - 1 6 0 ; Edwards, "Narrative of Surprising Conversations," "Treatise on the Religious Affections," etc.

184

A M E R I C A N PSYCHOLOGY B E F O R E W I L L I A M J A M E S

6 2 . Thomas Clap, 1 7 0 3 - 1 7 6 7 . Born at Scituate, Mass., about three months before Jonathan Edwards. Entered Harvard at the age of 1 5 , and was graduated in 1 7 2 2 . Pastor at Windham until 1 7 3 9 . T h e following year he followed Elisha W i l liams as Rector of Yale, where he stimulated the study of science, drew up a new Code of Laws, made improvements in the library, and added to the college buildings. Vigorous and assertive, he became unpopular, and resigned in 1 7 6 5 , " i n consequence of his age and infirmities, and strong desire of private l i f e . " H e lived but a short time in his retirement, and died the following year at the age of 64. His writings include an "Introduction to the Study of Philosop h y , " 1 7 4 3 , and an "Essay on the Nature and Foundation of Moral Virtue and Obligation," 1 7 6 5 . In his Literary Diary (quoted in Sprague) Stiles gives a vivid picture of President Clap, his learning and his "happy and advantageous method of reading." Park paints a different picture ( " J . Edwards, T h e Fiery Puritan," p. 1 1 0 ) . Sprague, "Annals of the American P u l p i t " ; "Dictionary of American Biography." Discussed by Jones, pp. 1 8 - 2 1 , and Townsend, p. 2 5 . 6 3 . A rare book. Copies at Y a l e and at Union Theological Seminary. Clap cites or refers to Norris, "Ideal W o r l d " (of which he professes to follow the sentiments and expressions), Cotton Mather, Wollebius, Campbell, Gastrell, Cumberland, Hutcheson, Locke, S. Clarke, Wollaston (whom Stiles gives as the source of Clap's Moral Philosophy), Grove, Jenkins, Williots, Leland, Patten, T a y l o r , Pool, van Maastricht, Grotius, P u f f e n d o r f , Ames, Socrates, Plato, several Church Fathers, and the Bible, all in a book of 66 pages. 64. Self-Interest (Campbell), pp. 1 3 ff.; Universal Benevolence (Cumberland), pp. 1 7 ff.; Moral Sense (Hutcheson), pp. 2 2 ff.; Reason, pp. 25 ff.; Moral Fitness of Things (Clarke), pp. 3 0 ff.; Conformity to Truth (Wollaston), pp. 3 3 ff.; Intuitive Ideas of Right and Wrong, pp. 3 5 ff.; Obedience to the W i l l and Commands of G o d with a view to obtaining Favor and promoting individual Happiness, pp. 38 ff.; and

NOTES

C H A P T E R TWO

185

Eclective Systems (Grove), mixing various of these standards, p. 40. 65. Riley, "American Thought," pp. 26-28. 66. Schneider, II, p. 328. 67. Allen, p. 299. CHAPTER TWO 1. McCosh, J . , " T h e Scottish Philosophy," N. Y., Carter, 1874, 481 pp., pp. 2-10 (condensed). 2. Morais, H. M., "Deism in 18th Century America," N. Y., Col. Univ. Press, 1934, 203 pp., p. 120. 3. Adams, J . T . , "History of the United States," II, p. 208. 4. Cubberley, E. P., "Public Education in the U. S.," Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1934, Rev. Ed., 782 pp., p. 82. 5. Beard, C. A. and M . R., " T h e Rise of American Civilization," N. Y., Macmillan, 1933, 824, 865 pp., I, p. 8 1 5 . 6. Cubberley, of. cit., p. 249. 7. Schmidt, G. P., " T h e Old Time College President," N. Y., Col. Univ. Press, 1930, 251 pp., pp. 39-41. Snow, L . F., " T h e College Curriculum in the U. S.," N. Y., Teachers College, Col. Univ., 1907, 186 pp., pp. 1 4 1 ff. 8. Published 1828, Vol. XV of the American Journal of Science; see Snow, of. cit., pp. 1 4 5 - 1 5 4 , for a summary. 9. Snow, pp. 1 4 0 - 1 4 1 , Schmidt, of. cit., has an excellent chapter entitled The Bearer of the Old Tradition, pp. 108-145, which describes minutely the content of the old undifferentiated course in Moral Philosophy. 10. Snow, fassim. 1 1 . Foster, of. cit., p. 243. 12. 1 7 3 8 - 1 8 1 2 . Bom in the Bavarian Palatinate. Educated at Marburg and Heidelberg. Landed at Philadelphia in 1764, preached in Pennsylvania and New York until 1784, when in the organization of King's College as Columbia he became Professor of German and Geography, continuing meanwhile to preach in New York and vicinity. Became Professor of Moral Philosophy in 1789, and resigned in 1795. "His course in this department was a marvel of thorough-

I 86

13. 14.

15.

16. 17.

18. 19.

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BEFORE WILLIAM J A M E S

ness." Mathews, B., et al., editors, "A History of Columbia University," 1754-1904, N. Y., Col. Univ. Press, 1904, 493 PP-j PP- 64, 69-73, 80. Obituary in N. Y. Columbian, June 5, 1812. "Dictionary of Am. Biog." Discussed by Schmidt, Ch. IV, passim. From the title page of the "Natural Principles of Rectitude." New York, printed by T . and J . Swords, Printers to the Faculty of Physics of Columbia College, 1795. Copy at Columbia. Sources: The author "has consulted, but not in a servile manner followed authors of fame and great authority—he has even taken the liberty to differ from them in many points of no small importance" (p. ix). The only definite authorities cited are Paley, Hutcheson, Blackstone, and Vatel. Gros probably followed the scholastic tradition in psychology as handed down by the German theologians with whom he was familiar. Chapter I, Of the actions of man, and their morality or immorality. The rest of the section is an analysis of Gros' psychology, documented by citations from pages 11-19. See Maher, "Psychology," pp. 28-41. Mailer's "Psychology," revised in 1900, reprinted in 1933 from the Ninth Edition of 1918, is an elaboration in modern terms of the positions taken by Gros in 1795 (both resting on Aquinas' formulations of Aristotle). Schmidt, p. 142. 1722-1794. Born in Scotland. Studied for seven years at the University of Edinburgh, being graduated at the age of 21. Preached in Scotland until called in 1768 to be President of the College of New Jersey, where he remained until his death. As Sprague says: "He introduced at once, many important improvements in the system of education, and gave to the institution a more vigorous intellectual tone, and greatly improved its reputation abroad." He taught composition, taste and criticism, chronology and history, moral philosophy, and divinity. James Madison was one of his pupils, and testified to the value of the course in Moral Philosophy ("Life and Times of Madison," by W . C. Rives, quoted by McCosh, "Scottish Philosophy," p. 187). He was a mem-

NOTES

CHAPTER TWO

187

ber o f the Continental Congress, a signer o f the Constitution, and an ardent patriot. L i f e in Sprague, "Annals o f the A m . Pulpit," with extensive quotations from a " M e m o i r " by Ashbel Green, a later President o f Princeton. Discussed by M c C o s h , "Scottish P h i l . , " pp. 1 8 4 - 1 9 0 ; Riley, " A m . T h o u g h t , " pp. 1 2 5 - 1 3 3 ; Riley, " A m . P h i l . , " pp. 4 8 3 - 4 9 6 ; Townsend, pp. 73-74, 1 0 3 ; and T y l e r , M . C . , " T h e L i t erary History of the American Revolution," N . Y . , Putnam, 1 8 9 7 , 2 vols., 5 2 1 , 527 pp., Vol. II, pp. 319-330. 20. Riley, of. cit., p. 129. 2 1 . Schmidt, p. 122. See also M i l l e r , S., " B r i e f Retrospect of the 18th C e n t u r y , " N . Y . , Swords, 1803, 2 vols., 544, 5 1 0 pp., Vol. II, p. 3 7 7 . 22. Vol. I, pp. 2 6 7 - 3 7 4 . Reprinted, edited by V . L . Collins, Princeton U n i v . Press, 1 9 1 2 . 23. Editor's Preface, "Witherspoon's Works," Edition o f 1800. Sources: H e cites or refers to Hobbes, Locke, Reid, Hutcheson, Clarke, Wollaston, Campbell, A . Smith, H u m e , Butler, Wilson, Ricalton, Baxter, Mandeville, Collins, Nettleton, Kames, Balfour, Beattie, Leibniz, Jonathan Edwards. In the recapitulation he adds references to Balguy, Leland, and writers on government and politics. 24. A term employed by Thomas Reid, and subjected to a searching historical critique by Hamilton, " R e : d ' s Works," Note A , pp. 742-803. 25. Principally Hutcheson, x'eid, and P.attie. See M c C o s h , "Scottish Philosophy," and Liurie, H . , "Scottish Philosophy," Glasgow, Maclehose, 1902, ¿ 9°> 128, 187, 188, 191, 222, 230 Smith, Will, 174 Snow, L. F., 185, 208 Socrates, 14, 184 Spencer, H., 4, 112, 129, 147, i49> 193» 224 Spinoza, B., 17, 53, 220 Sprague, W. B. (Annals of the American Pulpit), 174» 175,

INDEX O F NAMES 179, 1S4, 186, 187, 188, 192, 193

191,

de Stael, Madame, 196 Steffens, H., 202 Stewart, D., 4, 5, 18, 50, 52, 69, 90, 159, 199, 222,

9 j , 109, 1 1 5 , 140, 148, 180, 188, 189, 193, 196, 200, 2 0 i , 2 0 2 , 204, 2 0 7 , 223

Stiedenroth, E., 202 Stiles, Ezra, 184 Stoddard, S., 179 Strong, A. H., 146 Strong, C. A., 202 Suabedissen, D. T . A., 202 Sully, J., 91, 108, 128, 129, 167, 1 9 3 , 2 2 5 , 226

Sydenham, T . , 70 Taine, H., 129, 149, 225 Tappan, Henry P., 4 4 , 45, 48, 53> 193,

" O - I I I , i i j , 180, 1 8 1 , 194, 2 0 1 , 223, 224, 230

Tatham, E., 189 Taylor, 222, 223, 224 Taylor, J., 184 Taylor, Nathaniel W., 75, 230 Tetens, J . N., 193 Thery, 1 9 J , 197 Thompson, W., 223 Thorndike, E. L., 106, 128, 216 Thurston, D., 192 Thurstone, L. L., 138, 209 Ticknor, G., 1 1 7 Titchener, E. B., 168 Tooke, Home, 196 Townsend, H. S., vi, 148, I7 1 »

239

1 1 5 , 1 1 8 , 120, 128, 136, 1 6 1 , 1 9 1 , 1 9 3 , I 9 4 - I 9 S > I 9 6 j J 97> 1 9 8 , 1 9 9 , 200, 2 0 3 , 2 0 7 , 2 0 8 , 2 1 7 , 222, 223, 230

van Becelaere, L., vi, 125, 148, 149, 150, 159, 1 7 1 , 2 1 2 , 216

Vatel (Vattel, E. de), 186 Vaughan, R., 90, 94, 96,

213,

108,

1 1 0 , 1 9 7 , 203

Volney, C. F., 188 Voltaire, 197 Walker, J., 198 Ward, J., 225 Wardlaw, 223 Watson, J . B., 128, 142, 145 Watts, Isaac, 20, 30, 38, 48, 66, 188, 220

189,

193,

196,

216,

Wayland, Francis, 91, 109, 1 1 4 , 125-126, 128, 160, 199» 207, 2 2 3 , 2 2 4 , 2 3 0 Weber, E. H., 129, 223, 224 Welstead (Robert?), 30 West, Samuel, 75, 192, 222, 230

174, 176, 178, 184, 186, 189, 2 0 2 , 2 0 3 , 204, 209, 2 1 2 , 2 1 7

Whateley, R., 202, 222, 224 Whedon, D. D., 1 3 1 , 135-138, 1 8 0 , 209, 2 2 5 , 2 3 0 Whewell, W., 223 White, A. D., 130 Wickham, H., 145, 210 Williams, E., 184 Williots, 184 Wilson (Andrew?), 187 Wilson, W . D., 1 5 1 , 213, 225,

Upham, Thomas C., 39, 45, 76,

Winslow, Hubbard, 125, 201, 206, 2 2 4 , 2 3 0 Wirth, J. U., 202 Witherspoon, John, 18, 49, 52, 58-61, 75, 89, 186-187, 188,

de Tracy, D., 196 Tucker, A., 221 Turnball, G., 38, 220 Tyler, M. C., 12, 173. 187

7 7 , 8 1 , 90, 9 1 - i o g ,

112,

230

114,

2 1 6 , 222, 230

240

A M E R I C A N PSYCHOLOGY B E F O R E W I L L I A M J A M E S

Wolf, A., 180 Wolff, C., 1 7 , 4.3, 172, 220 Wollaston, W., 30, 184, 187, 189, 196, 220 Wollebius (Wolleb, J . ) , 184, 219 Woodbridge, F. J . E., 206 Woodworth, R. S., vii, x 72> 206

Worcester, E. S., viii Wundt, W., 129, 149, 225 Young, 223 Young, T . , 190 Zimmerman, R., 190