Frank Sargent Hoffman (February 9, 1852 - 1928) was an American

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

who wrote on

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

. Hoffman was born in

Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin Sheboygan Falls is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 8,210 at the 2020 census. The city's downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the first Main Street Community in Wisconsin ...

. In 1876 he graduated from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

and obtained his PhD in 1896. He received a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

degree from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Raymond, Andrew Van Vranken. (1907)
''Union University, Its History, Influence, Characteristics and Equipment''
Volume 2. pp. 5-7 He was Professor of Philosophy at

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

. He contributed to ''

The North American Review The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived a ...

'' and was a member of the

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly ...

, American Psychology Society and the

Phi Beta Kappa Society The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ar ...

. Hoffman's ''Psychology and Common Life'' (1903) received mixed reviews, a criticism was its overemphasise on

psychical research Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near- ...

Publications

Articles *Hoffman, Frank Sargent. (1900). ''The Scientific Method in Theology''. ''

'' 170 (521): 575-584. *Hoffman, Frank Sargent. (1908). ''What Is Religion?'' ''

'' 187 (627): 231-239. Books
''The Sphere of the State: Or, the People as a Body-Politic''
(1894)
''The Sphere of Science: A Study of the Nature and Method of Scientific Investigation''
(1898) Woodbridge, F. J. E. (1900)
''Reviewed Work: The Sphere of Science by Frank Sargent Hoffman''
''

The Philosophical Review ''The Philosophical Review'' is a quarterly journal of philosophy edited by the faculty of the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University and published by Duke University Press (since September 2006). Overview The journal publishes original ...

'' 9 (5): 550-553.
''Psychology and Common Life''
(1903) *''The Tales of Hoffman'' (1926)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Frank Sargent 1852 births 1928 deaths Amherst College alumni 20th-century American philosophers 19th-century American philosophers American parapsychologists People from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin Yale University alumni Union College (New York) faculty Philosophers from Wisconsin