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 , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

under James Ward. 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 Jean William Fritz Piaget (, , ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemolo ...

. The work contains numerous references to

Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was an influential German philosopher, psychologist, and former Catholic priest (withdrawn in 1873 due to the definition of papal infallibility in matters o ...

Kazimierz Twardowski Kazimierz Jerzy Skrzypna-Twardowski (20 October 1866 – 11 February 1938) was a Polish philosopher, psychologist, logician, and rector of the Lwów University. He was initially affiliated with Alexius Meinong's Graz School of object theory. ...

Carl Stumpf Carl Stumpf (; 21 April 1848 – 25 December 1936) was a German philosopher, psychologist and musicologist. He is noted for founding the Berlin School of Experimental Psychology. He studied with Franz Brentano at the University of Würzburg ...

Christian von Ehrenfels Christian von Ehrenfels (also ''Maria Christian Julius Leopold Freiherr von Ehrenfels''; 20 June 1859 – 8 September 1932) was an Austrian philosopher, and is known as one of the founders and precursors of Gestalt psychology. Christian von Ehre ...

, and

Alexius Meinong Alexius Meinong Ritter von Handschuchsheim (17 July 1853 – 27 November 1920) was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology. He also made contributions to philosophy of mind and theory of value. Life Alexius Meinong ...

. The term analytic psychology is a translation of Brentano's term '' descriptive psychology''Maria van der Schaar, ''G. F. Stout and the Psychological Origins of Analytic Philosophy'', Springer, 2013, p. 2. (cf. also ''

Analytic psychology (Dilthey) Analytical psychology ( de , Analytische Psychologie, sometimes translated as analytic psychology and referred to as Jungian analysis) is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" ...

''). Stout was appointed to a new lectureship in comparative psychology at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

in 1896, before becoming reader in mental philosophy at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(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 four ...

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 ...

, 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 country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

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 Mounta ...

on 18 August 1944. Over the course of his career, Stout taught a number of notable students, including G. E. Moore and

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, a ...

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 Squa ...

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

Significant publications

* ''Analytic Psychology'' (1896) * ''Manual of Psychology'' (2 volumes, 1898–1899) * ''Studies in Philosophy and Psychology'' (1930)

References

External links

*
George F. Stout
at 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

Biography

Significant publications

See also

References

Further reading

External links