James Bissett Pratt (June 22, 1875 – January 15, 1944) held the Mark Hopkins Chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
. He was president of the
American Theological Society The American Theological Society, founded in 1912, is the oldest professional theological society in North America. It has met at least once each year in various locations on the East Coast of the United States, lately at Princeton Theological Semin ...
from 1934 to 1935.
Born in
Elmira, New York
Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...
, Pratt was the only child of Daniel Ransom Pratt and Katharine Graham Murdoch. He had an early appreciation of being read to by his mother, and particularly admired the idealism of Ralph Waldo Emerson in his youth. Pratt graduated from
Elmira Free Academy
Ernie Davis Academy, formerly Elmira Free Academy, is the junior high school in Elmira, New York, United States. In September 2014 it merged with Southside High School (now Elmira High School). It has 855 students in grades 7–8 with a student- ...
in 1893, then attended Williams College, graduating in 1898.
He subsequently studied at the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
and at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, earning his doctorate through his mentor
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.
James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...
in 1905. He returned to Williams to teach and write on philosophy thereafter. Pratt began teaching at Williams College in 1905 as Instructor of Philosophy. In 1906, he was promoted to Assistant Professor.
In 1910, Pratt traveled to Chicago, where he met his future wife, Catherine Mariotti. They traveled to Italy in 1911 and were married. In 1917, Pratt was named the Mark Hopkins Chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. He took a sabbatical in 1923, travelling in the Far East and teaching at the Chinese Christian University in Peking. Pratt retired in 1943 and received an honorary L.H.D. from Williams College. He died on January 15, 1944.
Writings
The Psychology of Religious Belief 1907
What Is Pragmatism?1909
1915
1916
Essays in Critical Realism 1920 (collection of essays with one essa
''Critical Realism and the Possibility of Knowledge''by Pratt)
The Religious Consciousness: A Psychological Study 1920
Matter and Spirit 1922
*Behaviorism and consciousness, 1922
The Pilgrimage of Buddhism 1928
Reason in the Art of Living 1949
Eternal Values of Religion, 1950ref>
References
External links
James Bissett Pratt Papersat Williams College Archives and Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, James Bissett
1875 births
1944 deaths
Williams College faculty
Harvard University alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Williams College alumni
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