Alexander Bain - Biography

Empirical philosopher and psychologist, born in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, NE Scotland, UK. He became professor of logic at Aberdeen University (1860–81), and founded the journal Mind in 1876. His psychology was firmly based on physiology, and he sought to explain mind through a physical theory of the association of ideas.

Alexander Bain

Born:	June 11, 1818 Aberdeen, Scotland
Died:	September 18, 1903
Occupation:	philosopher and educationalist

Alexander Bain (June 11, 1818 – September 18, 1903) was a Scottish philosopher and educationalist.

Biography

He was born in Aberdeen, and went to school there, but took up the profession of a weaver, hence the punning description of him as Weevir, rex philosophorum. In 1836 he entered Marischal College, and came under the influence of John Cruickshank, professor of mathematics, Thomas Clark, professor of chemistry, and William Knight, professor of natural philosophy.

This was the beginning of his connection with John Stuart Mill, which led to a lifelong friendship. In 1841, Bain substituted for Dr Glennie, the professor of moral philosophy, who, through ill-health, was unable to discharge his academic duties.

In 1845 he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in the Andersonian University of Glasgow. In 1855 he published his first major work, The Senses and the Intellect, followed in 1859 by The Emotions and the Will. He was examiner in logical and moral philosophy (1857-1862 and 1864-1869) to the University of London, and in moral science in the Indian Civil Service examinations.

In 1860 he was appointed by the crown to the new chair of logic and English literature at the University of Aberdeen (created by the amalgamation of the two colleges, King's and Marischal, by the Scottish Universities Commission of 1858). Up to this date neither logic nor English had received adequate attention in Aberdeen, and Bain devoted himself to supplying these deficiencies. He succeeded not only in raising the standard of education generally in the north of Scotland, but also in forming a school of philosophy and in widely influencing the teaching of English grammar and composition. His efforts were first directed to the preparation of textbooks: Higher English Grammar (1863), followed in 1866 by the Manual of Rhetoric, in 1872 by A First English Grammar, and in 1874 by the Companion to the Higher Grammar. These works were wide-ranging and their original views and methods met with wide acceptance.

His own philosophical writings already published, especially The Senses and the Intellect (to which was added, in 1861, The Study of Character, including an Estimate of Phrenology), were too large for effective use in the classroom.

All these works, from the Higher English Grammar downwards, were written by Bain during his twenty years as a professor at Aberdeen. the first number appeared in January 1876, under the editorship of a former pupil, George Croom Robertson, of University College, London.

He was succeeded by William Minto, one of his most brilliant pupils. Nevertheless his interest in thought, and his desire to complete the scheme of work mapped out in earlier years, remained as keen as ever. This was succeeded (1887, 1888) by a new edition of the Rhetoric, and along with it, a book On Teaching English, being an exhaustive application of the principles of rhetoric to the criticism of style, for the use of teachers; and in 1894 he published a revised edition of The Senses and the Intellect, which contain his last word on psychology.

Bain took a keen interest and frequently an active part in the political and social movements of the day; after his retirement from the chair of logic, he was twice elected lord rector of the university (1881, ?), each term of office extending over three years. He was the originator of the theory of psycho-physical parallelism, which is used so widely as a working basis by modern psychologists. His idea of applying the natural history method of classification to psychical phenomena gave scientific character to his work, the value of which was enhanced by his methodical exposition and his command of illustration.

William James calls his work the "last word" of the earlier stage of psychology, but he was in reality the pioneer of the new. Subsequent psycho-physical investigations "have all been in" the spirit of his work; and although he consistently advocated the introspective method in psychological investigation, he was among the first to appreciate the help that may be given to it by animal and social and infant psychology. His autobiography, published in 1904, contains a full list of his works, and also the history of the last thirteen years of his life by WL Davidson of Aberdeen University, who further contributed to Mind (April 1904) a review of Bain's services to philosophy.

Works (beside the above) Edition with notes of Paley's Moral Philosophy (1852); he collaborated with JS Mill and Grote in editing James Mill's Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind (1869), and assisted in editing Grote's Aristotle and Minor Works;

A school in Mexico City is named after him, which consists of kindergarten, primary school, junior high and highschool.