Prof Robert Mark Wenley

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

DCL LLD (19 July 1861 – 29 March 1929) was a 19th/20th-century Scottish philosopher.

Life

He was born in Edinburgh on 19 July 1861 the son of Jemima Isabella Veitch and her husband, James Adams Wenley

(1841-1902), Treasurer of the Bank of Scotland. The family lived at 4 Buccleuch Place, just south of George Square, Edinburgh. In 1869 his father obtained a senior position as Bank Manager in Glasgow and the family relocated to 8 Lynedoch Place, a then-new, mid-terraced townhouse in the Kelvingrove district. He was educated at Park school and Glasgow High School. He studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the University of Glasgow under Prof John Veitch, his mother's cousin, and under

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

and John Caird. He graduated with an MA in 1884. He was a Fellow at the University until 1888 then went to the University of Edinburgh to gain a doctorate (DSc) in 1891. From 1888 he was also lecturing in logic and moral philosophy at

Queen Margaret College, Glasgow Queen Margaret College was a women-only higher education institution based in North Park House in Glasgow, Scotland. History The idea of a college arose as the result of English literature lectures for women that were suggested by Janet "Jessie ...

. In 1896 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Simon Somerville Laurie, Henry Calderwood, Alexander Crum Brown, and Alexander Buchan. In 1896 he accepted a post as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He died on 29 March 1929 at

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

in Michigan.The Times (obituary) 1 April 1929

Family

He married Catherine Dickson Gibson in Glasgow in 1891, and together they had five children. In America he stated that his marriage was in 1889 to disguise the illegitimate birth of their first child in 1890.

Publications

*'' Socrates and Christ'' (1889) *''Monism and Dualism'' (1895) with Veitch *''Aspects of Pessimism'' (1897) *''Kant's Critique of Pure Reason'' (1897) *''The Preparation of Christianity in the Ancient World'' (1898) *''Kant and His Philosophical Revolution'' (1910) *''The Anarchist Ideal'' *''The Life of Robert Flint'' *''The Life and Work of

George Sylvester Morris George Sylvester Morris (November 15, 1840 – March 23, 1889) was a 19th-century American educator and philosophical writer. Biography Morris was born in Norwich, Vermont. He was the son of a well known abolitionist and temperance man. In 1861, ...

'' *''Stoicism and its Influence'' *''The Poetry of John Davidson'' *''Contemporary Theology and Theism'' *''The University Extension Programme in Scotland'' *''

John Dalton John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He is best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry, and for his research into colour blindness, which he had. Colour b ...

: The Founder of Modern Atomic Theory'' *'' Marian Evans and George Eliot''

References

1861 births 1929 deaths Philosophers from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh University of Michigan faculty {{Scotland-bio-stub