George Frederick Stout (; 1860–1944), usually cited as G. F. Stout, was a leading English philosopher and psychologist.
Biography
Born in
South Shields
South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...
on 6 January 1860, Stout studied psychology at the
University of Cambridge under
James Ward James Ward may refer to:
Military
*James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1864) (1833–?), American Civil War sailor
* James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1890) (1854–1901), American Indian Wars soldier
*James Allen Ward (1919–1941), New Zealand pilot and Vi ...
. Like Ward, Stout employed a philosophical approach to psychology and opposed the theory of associationism.
It was as a fellow of
St. John's College, Cambridge (1884–1896), that Stout published his first work in 1896: the two-volume ''Analytic Psychology'', whose view of the role of activity in intellectual processes was later verified experimentally by the Swiss psychologist
Jean Piaget.
The work contains numerous references to
Franz Brentano,
Kazimierz Twardowski,
Carl Stumpf,
Christian von Ehrenfels, and
Alexius Meinong. The term analytic psychology is a translation of Brentano's term ''
descriptive psychology
Descriptive psychology is primarily a conceptual framework for the science of psychology. Created in its original form by Peter G. Ossorio at the University of Colorado at Boulder in the mid-1960s,Ossorio, P.G. (1995). ''Persons''. Ann Arbor, ...
''
[Maria van der Schaar, ''G. F. Stout and the Psychological Origins of Analytic Philosophy'', Springer, 2013, p. 2.] (cf. also ''
Analytic psychology (Dilthey)'').
Stout was appointed to a new lectureship in comparative psychology at the
University of Aberdeen in 1896, before becoming reader in mental philosophy at the
University of Oxford (1898–1902), where he published his ''Manual of Psychology'' in 1899. This work formulated many principles later developed experimentally by the
Gestalt school of psychology.
Leaving Oxford, from 1903 to 1936, Stout served as professor of logic and metaphysics at
St. Andrews
St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...
,
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, where he published another major work, ''Mind and Matter'' in 1931. He remained at St. Andrews until his retirement thirty years later, in 1936.
Upon his retirement, Stout left for
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
to be with his son. He died in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
on 18 August 1944.
Over the course of his career, Stout taught a number of notable students, including
G. E. Moore and
Bertrand Russell at Cambridge University. In addition, from 1891 to 1920, he served as editor of ''
Mind
The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...
'', a leading philosophical journal, and was president of
Aristotelian Society
The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, more generally known as the Aristotelian Society, is a philosophical society in London.
History
Aristotelian Society was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Squar ...
from 1899 to 1904. In metaphysics, Stout is well known for his contribution to
trope theory, specifically in the form of a 1923 paper for the
Aristotelian Society
The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, more generally known as the Aristotelian Society, is a philosophical society in London.
History
Aristotelian Society was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Squar ...
.
Significant publications
* ''Analytic Psychology'' (1896)
* ''Manual of Psychology'' (2 volumes, 1898–1899)
* ''Studies in Philosophy and Psychology'' (1930)
See also
*
Gifford Lectures
References
Further reading
* Maria van der Schaar
"From Analytic Psychology to Analytic Philosophy: The Reception of Twardowski's Ideas in Cambridge" ''Axiomathes'' 7: 295–324.
External links
*
George F. Stoutat The Information Philosopher
George Frederick Stout - The Gifford Lectures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stout, George Frederick
1860 births
1944 deaths
English philosophers
English psychologists
People from South Shields
Academics of the University of Cambridge
Academics of the University of Aberdeen
Academics of the University of Oxford
Academics of the University of St Andrews
Presidents of the Aristotelian Society
Fellows of the British Academy