James McCosh - Philosophical work, Main works, Sources

College president and philosopher, born in Ayrshire, SW Scotland, UK. He left a professorship at Queen's College, Belfast, Ireland (1852–68) to become president (1868–88) of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), and revitalized the college after its post-Civil War decline. A member of the Scottish school of philosophy, he wrote Intuitions of the Mind (1860) and Examination of... Mill's Philosophy (1866).

James McCosh (April 1, 1811–November 16, 1894) was a prominent philosopher of the Scottish School of Common Sense.

McCosh was born of a Covenanting family in Ayrshire, and studied at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, obtaining his M.A. He became a minister of the Established Church of Scotland in 1834, serving as pastor – first at Arbroath and then at Brechin – until 1850, when he was appointed professor of logic and metaphysics at Queen's College, Belfast (now The Queen's University of Belfast).

In 1868 he travelled to the United States to become president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). McCosh Hall (home of the English department) and a cross-campus walkway are named in his honor. The campus infirmary is named after his wife, Isabella McCosh.

Philosophical work

McCosh's position was mainly in the tradition of Thomas Reid and other Scottish common-sense philosophers. In his moral theory, especially, McCosh differed from many of his contemporaries in being relatively uninfluenced by Kant.

McCosh's most original work concerned the attempt to reconcile evolution and Christian beliefs.

Main works

Method of Divine Government, Physical and Moral (Edinburgh, 1850, 5th ed., 1856, and frequently republished in New York) The Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation (Edinburgh, 1855; new editions, New York, 1871–1880) Intuitions of the Mind inductively investigated (London and New York, 1860; Mill's Philosophy (London and New York, 1866; Religious Aspects of Evolution (New York, 1888, 2nd ed., 1890).

Sources

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Douglas Arner, "James McCosh", in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy", ed. Paul Edwards (Collier Macmillan, 1967)

Preceded by: John Maclean, Jr.

President of Princeton University 1868–1888

Succeeded by: Francis L.