This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2013) |
James Bissett Pratt (June 22, 1875 – January 15, 1944) held the Mark Hopkins Chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at Williams College. He was president of the American Theological Society from 1934 to 1935.
Born in Elmira, New York, Pratt was the only child of Daniel Ransom Pratt and Katharine Graham Murdoch. He had an early appreciation of being read to by his mother, and particularly admired the idealism of Ralph Waldo Emerson in his youth. Pratt graduated from Elmira Free Academy in 1893, then attended Williams College, graduating in 1898.[1]
He subsequently studied at the University of Berlin and at Harvard University, earning his doctorate through his mentor William James in 1905. He returned to Williams to teach and write on philosophy thereafter. Pratt began teaching at Williams College in 1905 as Instructor of Philosophy. In 1906, he was promoted to Assistant Professor.[1]
In 1910, Pratt traveled to Chicago, where he met his future wife, Catherine Mariotti. They traveled to Italy in 1911 and were married. In 1917, Pratt was named the Mark Hopkins Chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. He took a sabbatical in 1923, travelling in the Far East and teaching at the Chinese Christian University in Peking. Pratt retired in 1943 and received an honorary L.H.D. from Williams College. He died on January 15, 1944.[1]
Writings
edit- The Psychology of Religious Belief, 1907
- What Is Pragmatism? 1909[2]
- India and Its Faiths, 1915[3]
- Democracy and Peace, 1916
- Essays in Critical Realism, 1920 (collection of essays with one essay Critical Realism and the Possibility of Knowledge by Pratt)
- The Religious Consciousness: A Psychological Study, 1920[4]
- Matter and Spirit, 1922
- Behaviorism and consciousness, 1922
- The Pilgrimage of Buddhism, 1928[5]
- Reason in the Art of Living, 1949[6]
- Eternal Values of Religion, 1950[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c Petersen, Kristen A. "Pratt, James Bissett (1875-1944)". Williams College History Biographies. Williams College Special Collections. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ Schinz, Albert (1909). "Book Review: What is Pragmatism? by James Bisset Pratt". Ethics. 20 (1): 117–120. doi:10.1086/206496. ISSN 0014-1704.
- ^ Jones, John Peter (1916). "Review of India and Its Faiths: A Traveller's Record by James Bissett Pratt". The Journal of Race Development. 6 (3): 339. doi:10.2307/29738149. hdl:2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t3tt5652x. ISSN 1068-3380. JSTOR 29738149.
- ^ Thouless, R. H. (1921). "Book Review: The Religious Consciousness: A Psychological Study". Theology. 2 (11): 261–267. doi:10.1177/0040571x2100201110. ISSN 0040-571X. S2CID 148591692.
- ^ Thomas, Edward J. (2011). "The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage. By J. B. Pratt. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1928". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 61 (3): 613–614. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00151676. ISSN 1474-0591. S2CID 161928352.
- ^ Collins, Phillip (1949). "'Reason in the Art of Living' By Professor Pratt Appears in Posthumous Publication". unbound.williams.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ Aubrey, Edwin E. (1950). "Eternal Values in Religion, by James Bissett Pratt". Theology Today. 7 (2): 259–261. doi:10.1177/004057365000700214. ISSN 0040-5736. S2CID 170536516.
External links
edit- James Bissett Pratt Papers at Williams College Archives and Special Collections