AMERICAN MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE 19th CENTURY
 
 
Philosophy 3301

E. H. Duncan

Baylor University 

A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY ON ORIGINAL SOURCES

Moral philosophy in America has changed so much during the past 100-150 years that our early works in this area are all but forgotten .Most of the books are long out of print;copies are rare.I can't explain to you just why I care about these old books as much as I do. But they are part of the American tradition, whatever that means (in part,it seems to mean those things in our collective past that made us what we are), and I cannot let them rest in peace. So let me list a few books and papers, but I'll try to be brief, even at the cost of oversimplification.

Where to begin? Well, I had promised to be concerned primarily with original sources, but there are a few secondary sources that are just basic materials for this study:

  • D. H. Meyer, The Instructed Conscience:the Shaping of the American National Ethic, 1972 (has excellent bibliographies).
  • George P. Schmidt, The Old Time College President, 1930.
  • Wilson Smith, Professors and Public Ethics: Studies of Northern Moral Philosophers before the Civil War, 1956.
  • E. Brooks Holifield, The Gentlemen Theologians:American Theology in Southern Culture,1795-1860, 1978.
  • Allen C. Guelzo, "'The Science of Duty': Moral Philosophy and the Epistemology of Science in Nineteenth-Century America.," chapter 12 of Evangelicals and Science in Historical Perspective, edited by David N. Livingstone, D.G. Hart, and Mark A. Noll, 1999.
  • Elmer H.Duncan, "To Preach Christ": the Education of William Carey Crane, 1987. Not a great book, but Crane, who was President of Baylor University from 1863-1885, was an excellent example of the "Old Time College President," and was a "Gentleman Theologian." Actually, I am trying to continue my work on Crane in an on-line version; check out "The William Carey Crane Project."

Many of the moral philosophy texts used in 19th century American colleges were written in opposition to the skepticism of David Hume (You may wish to check out the on-line syllabus for my seminar on "Hume and his Critics"). Since the major critic of Hume was Thomas Reid, it might be well to begin with his philosophy (there is a lot of material about him in the Hume syllabus, too). He was the founder of the Scottish philosophy of "Common Sense." In 1764, he moved from King's College, Aberdeen, down to the University of Glasgow. That same year, he published his Inquiry Into the Human Mind,on the Principles of Common Sense. He taught in Glasgow from 1764 to 1780. He then retired to put his thoughts (and lecture notes) in order, to be published in two books, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, in1785, and Essays on the Active Powers of the Human Mind, in 1788 (Reid's works are back in vogue today, and are readily available). This way of dividing up the territory became fashionable. On the one hand, there was intellectual, or mental, philosophy, or "mental science." On the other side, there was ethics, the study of the "active powers," or "moral science."

After about 1820, American philosophers tended to divide philosophy into these two parts. Many American philosophers, often college presidents, published a pair of books in accordance with this division. Actually, the earlier American colleges usually relied on foreign (British, often Scottish) imports for their textbooks, such as William Paley's Moral and Political Philosophy, of 1786, or the two simplifications of Reid, for student use, by John Abercrombie, his Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers and the Investigation of Truth, of 1830, and The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings, of 1833. In 1849, James Walker of Harvard published an abridgement of Dugald Stewart's Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man (Stewart had published his book in 1828). I think I need to learn more, and say more, about the earlier use of David Fordyce's The Elements of Moral Philosophy (1754), which was a popular text, at Harvard and elsewhere, in late 18th century America. A somewhat less popular British import was George Payne's Elements of Mental and Moral Science, 1828, based largely on the philosophy of Thomas Brown. Since so many of the preferred authors were Scottish, it might be helpful to examine their biographies and studies of their work, to be found in James McCosh's very useful work, The Scottish Philosophy, written in 1875.

Now we should pause for a bit of good news and some bad news. The bad news is that most of the books I shall list in what follows are out of print. But there are two bits of good news. First, it is now possible to find copies of many of these books through an on-line service called Bibliofind.You just type in the title and author of the book you want and, if it's available, they will find it for you, tell you who has it, and what it will cost. Rare books are often expensive, but Baylor students are affluent, so that should present no problem. The other good news is that a number of the important books from the 19th century, and some journals, are available in an on-line collection, the Making of America. Actually, there are two M.O.A.s. The M.O.A. Collection at Michigan has a large, and growing, number of significant books available on-line, plus a number of journals, including the Princeton Review, from about 1830-1882. Another M.O.A. collection,at Cornell, has fewer books of interest, but has a number of journals, including the North American Review, from 1815-1900.

Actually, in the case of the North American Review, we might be able to do better; this periodical is also available to Baylor students through PCI Full Text....which I find more convenient. PCI Full Text also has the Edinburgh Review, from 1802 through 1929!!

Back to work...in America, our first major local product in moral philosophy texts was the Elements of Moral Science, by the President of Brown University, Francis Wayland--and there is now a more user-friendly edition. The book was first published in 1835, and is still available today. As might have been expected, American moral philosophers did some things better than others. Thus Wayland did publish the mandatory volume on mental philosophy, The Elements of Intellectual Philosophy, in 1854, but this book was never as influential as his work on ethics. In fact, Wayland's book on economics, his Elements of Political Economy, first published in1837, was much more popular among his contemporaries.

In contrast with Wayland, Asa Mahan, of Oberlin College in Ohio, published many books on ethics, but none of them became as influential as his System of Intellectual Philosophy, which was first published in 1845, and was a textbook at Ouachita Baptist University (founded 1886), the point being that Mahan's book was still in use across the country near the end of the nineteenth century. Mahan was perhaps best known for his Scripture Doctrine of Christian Perfection (1839)... his Autobiography may be of interest, too. Mahan's colleague at Oberlin, the evangelist Charles G. Finney, did not publish on "mental" or "intellectual" philosophy, but he did a work on ethics, mis-titled Lectures on Systematic Theology, and first published in England in 1846-1847. Finney was not trained in philosophy, and, evangelist that he was, it is not strange that he is better known for his Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835). The prominent Baptist leader John Leadley Dagg was not trained in philosophy, either, but he also produced a work on ethics, his Elements of Moral Science , in 1859, but nothing on "mental science."

Again, there were many such books, or pairs of books, published shortly before, or soon after, the American Civil War by some pretty good American scholars, usually relying on Scottish models. To cite one more such example, Joseph Haven, who taught first at Amherst (as Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy), and later in a seminary in Chicago, was much indebted to the Scots in his Mental Philosophy, (1858), and his Moral Philosophy, Including Theoretical and Practical Ethics (1859).

I have not yet mentioned the "big three" schools in the East: Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. I have my preferences, but will not guess which of these was really best during this period. Harvard was fortunate to have had Francis Bowen. Bowen wrote for the Christian Examiner, and later edited the North American Review, from 1843-1854. He was a great admirer of the Scottish scholar Sir William Hamilton, and published an abridgment of Hamilton's work on metaphysics, The Metaphysics of Sir William Hamilton (1861). He also did a book on Logic in the Hamiltonean manner, A Treatise on Logic, or the Laws of Pure Thought (1864). But his major work was the publication of his Lowell lectures, The Principles of Metaphysical and Ethical Science Applied to the Evidences of Religion. Bowen was a good philosopher. If you want to read more about him, see Chapter 2 of The Rise of American Philosophy: Cambridge, Massachusetts,1860-1930, 1977, by Bruce Kuklick.

We Presbyterians tend to be prejudiced, but Princeton-the university and the seminary- certainly had a number of good scholars during this period. So, as this means you need to come prepared, permit a highly selective list of really good secondary sources:

  • Mark A. Noll, Princeton and the Republic:1768-1822, 1989.
  • J. David Hoeveler, James McCosh and the Scottish Intellectual Tradition : from Glasgow to Princeton, 1981.
  • David B. Calhoun, Princeton Seminary,1812-1929, two volumes,1994,1996.
  • Mark A. Noll, ed., The Princeton Theology,1812-1921 , 1983
  • Elizabeth Flower and Murray G. Murphey, A History of Philosophy in America, Volume I, Chapter Four, "Philosophy in Academia Revisited-Mainly Princeton," pages 203-273.

The Scottish connection at Princeton began with John Witherspoon, in the 1760's. Archibald Alexander was the founder and first professor of the Princeton Theological Seminary (in about 1812), where he taught until 1851. He did a book on natural theology, Evidences of the Authenticity,Inspiration and Canonical Authority of the Holy Scriptures, (1836), and a brief textbook on ethics, Outlines of Moral Science (1852). Then there were purely theological works, such as his The Canon of the Old and New Testaments Ascertained (1851). He also wrote a number of articles and reviews for the Princeton Review. From 1822, the Princeton Review was edited by Alexander's younger colleague, Charles Hodge--for forty years. More than any other man, Hodge shaped what came to be known as the "Princeton Theology". He is also well remembered for his System of Theology, published in three volumes from 1871-1873. A forgotten figure is Lyman H. Atwater, Professor of Philosophy and later Professor of Logic and Political Economy at Princeton. Atwater wrote little in the form of books (though his Manual of Elementary Logic, 1867, was also used at Ouachita), but he published many articles and reviews in the Princeton Review (I have a list of 37!), and elsewhere. And we should recall that the president of Princeton University during much of this period was James McCosh. McCosh made his reputation with the publication of his The Method of Divine Government, Physical and Moral, first published 1850, with many later editions. He also wrote a number of defenses of Scottish realism; possibly the best was his The Intuitions of the Mind Inductively Investigated (1860).

As I have already argued at excessive length, the Scottish philosophy was dominant in schools across America during this period, but another school that deserves special mention is Bethany College in West Virginia. Bethany is a Disciples of Christ school. The school thus owes much to Thomas Campbell, whose son, Alexander Campbell, was a member of the school's first faculty, serving as President and Professor of "Mental Philosoph.". His "Introductory Lecture", delivered Nov.2,1841, is filled with references to the Scottish philosophers, e.g. Reid, Dugald Stewart, Thomas Brown... Also of interest is his work on The Evidences of Christianity...the full title is The Evidences if Christianity, a Debate between Robert Owen of New Lanark, Scotland, and Alexander Campbell, President of Bethany College, Va., containing an Examination of the "Social System" and all the Systems of Skepticism of Ancient and Modern Times, held in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 1829. It should already be clear that there is a great deal of material available on the Web concerning the Campbells and their teachings; one more source that it might be good to cite is A. S. Hayden's Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio; with Biographical Sketches of the Principal Agents in their Religious Movement (1875). Some years ago, Lester G. McAllister transcribed and provided an Introduction for a collection of "Juvenile Essays" that Alexander Campbell had written during a brief stay at the University of Glasgow, Alexander Campbell at Glasgow University, 1808-1809 (Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Nashville,1971). In his Introduction, McAllister says that Thomas Reid .."probably taught Thomas Campbell, the father of Alexander" (p.4). He then adds that Alexander was probably taught by another excellent Philosophy teacher, George Jardine, or someone who used the same methods, because "The essays in Alexander's note-book follow Jardine's methods precisely" (also p. 4). For more on these methods, see:

Jardine,George, Outlines of Philosophical Education, Illustrated by the Method of Teaching the Logic Class in the University of Glasgow, Glasgow: at the University Press,1825.

Davie, George Elder, The Democratic Intellect: Scotland and Her Universities in the Nineteenth Century, Second Edition, Edinburgh: at the University Press (this valuable book has much high praise for the teaching of Prof. Jardine).

At Yale (to return to the large Eastern schools), the leading figure at mid-nineteenth century was Nathaniel Taylor. He must have been a charismatic figure, and he and his close friend Lyman Beecher (father of Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe) had wide influence. The Quarterly Christian Spectator was published by Yale theologians as a vehicle for their "Taylorism." Taylor's major work, his Lectures on the Moral Government of God, was published in 1859, a year after the author's death. This two-volume work can be had in a reprint edition from the Garland Publishing Company, for $158.00. The Lectures were edited by Taylor's son-in-law, Noah Porter. Porter later became president at Yale and may have been the last, and the best, of the "textbook" philosophers. His major work was The Human Intellect (1868), widely considered the best work on psychology published in America before William James. He did a simpler version, The Elements of Intellectual Science (1871), and, finally, his own book on moral philosophy, Elements of Moral Science, Theoretical and Practical (1884).You can find a rather sympathetic account of the Yale philosopher/theologians in Bruce Kuklick's "other" book on this period, Churchmen and Philosophers:from Jonathan Edwards to John Dewey (1985), esp.chapter 7.

And there were more:

Many philosophers, many books.

In 1885, Friedrich Ueberweg's monumental History of Philosophy was translated into English; Noah Porter added a "Supplementary Sketch" on "Philosophy in Great Britain and America". On p.453, Porter begins one paragraph with the sentence, "At this fermenting period of interest in speculative questions, other elements were introduced which did not diminish the excitement"...and the next paragraph begins with.."To add to the excitement..." But alas, fashions change, the excitement has faded, and the books listed above are largely forgotten.

It is sometimes interesting to see how a moral philosopher's work was evaluated by his peers, during his own lifetime. Such evaluations will often be found in the form of book reviews or discussion articles in the learned journals of their day. In the nineteenth century, many such reviews were unsigned. I really don't know why; one journal I read claimed this was a way of assuring that the writer's work would be evaluated on its own merits, rather than on the reputation of the writer. At any rate, there was a longish unsigned review of Dugald Stewart's work on moral philosophy in the North American Review in 1830 (vol. 31, pp. 213-267). George Payne's book, Elements of Mental and Moral Science, was reviewed in the Quarterly Christian Spectator (vol.12,1830, pp.1-15), and was also reviewed by Joseph Alden that same year in the Princeton Review (vol. 2, pp 183-200). As indicated earlier, Francis Wayland's work was very popular, so it was the subject of a review by Archibald Alexander in the Princeton Review (vol 7,1835, pp.377-400), as well as a review-said to have been "chiefly" the work of Nathaniel Taylor-in the Quarterly Christian Spectator (vol.17,1835,pp.597-629), and an unsigned review in the North American Review (vol.42,1836,pp.340-369), and...a review by Francis Bowen in the Christian Examiner (vol.7,1835, pp.364-382). In the essay on "Moral Philosophy" in the North American Review (cited above), Wayland's book was compared to Ralph Wardlaw's Christian Ethics; or, Moral Philosophy on the Principles of Divine Revelation. Charles G. Finney's Systematic Theology was given a very critical examination by the editor, Charles Hodge, in the Princeton Review (vol.19,1847, pp.237-277). Nathaniel Taylor's Lectures on the Moral Government of God was given the same treatment by Lyman H. Atwater, also in the Princeton Review (vol.31,1859, pp.489-538). Perhaps of more importance philosophically was the unsigned review of "Bowen's Lectures" in the Christian Review (vol.15,1850, pp.78-94). Bowen's major work was also reviewed by George E. Ellis in the Christian Examiner (vol.48,1850, pp. 88-110).

As we enter a new century, and a new millenium, and are thus more removed from the 19th century, this seems to have the perhaps paradoxical effect of making it a more appealing period of study. And a lot of new things are popping up on the web, of interest to scholars researching this period. One good example is the PCA Historical Center's Digitalization Project, posting articles, and a complete Author/Title Index, for The Southern Presbyterian Review. The Review was published from June, 1847 through October, 1885. Those interested in 19th century moral philosophy will want to read such papers as the essay written on "Paley's Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy," by the Rev. J. H. Thornwell (vol. 7, 1853, pp. 1-52). Thornwell was a first-rate mind, whose work was praised by, among others, Sir William Hamilton.

I close with a final bit of Duncanian trivia in the form of a bibliographical note only tangentially related to the subject at hand. Early in any historical survey of moral philosophy, it is likely to be noted that the center of culture shifted from Greece to Rome. In the nineteenth century, there was another major shift. Early in the century...and until about 1867...the major philosophers were Scots. In the latter part of the century (and of course,there were holdouts), the major philosophers were German. I cite only one clear example of this shift. Levi Hedge was professor of "Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity" at Harvard. His Elements of Logick (first published in 1816) helped introduce the Scottish way of doing logic to American readers. Levi Hedge also published an abridgement of the work of the Scottish philosopher Thomas Brown. Hedge's Logick was reviewed in the North American Review in 1816 (vol.4,pp.78-92). But Levi Hedge's son, Frederick Henry Hedge, devoted his life to calling the attention of American scholars to German thought. One good example of his work is the early essay on "Coleridge's Literary Character" (Christian Examiner,vol.XIV,1833, pp.108-129), in which he discussed the German,especially the Kantian, influence on Coleridge. Another example of F. H. Hedge's work is his book, Reason in Religion. F. H. Hedge published at least one work that is still in use today. In 1853, he did a translation of a hymn by Martin Luther, "Ein Feste Burg..."...."A Mighty Fortress is Our God."