Ralph Barton Perry (July 3, 1876 in

Poultney, Vermont Poultney is a town in Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. New York state is on its western border. Castleton, Vermont, is on its northern border. Poultney was home to Green Mountain College, a private libera ...

– January 22, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) 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 ...

. He was a strident

moral idealist An ideal is a principle or value that one actively pursues as a goal, usually in the context of ethics, and one's prioritization of ideals can serve to indicate the extent of one's dedication to each. The belief in ideals is called ethical ideali ...

who stated in 1909 that, to him, idealism meant "to interpret life consistently with

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

, scientific, and

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

truth." Perry's viewpoints on religion stressed the notion that religious thinking possessed legitimacy should it exist within a framework accepting of

human reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, langu ...

and

social progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension ...

Career

He was educated at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

(

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

, 1896) and at

Harvard 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 ...

(

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

, 1897;

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

, 1899), where, after teaching philosophy for three years at Williams and

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

colleges, he was instructor (1902–05), assistant professor (1905–13), full

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

(1913–30) and Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy (1930–46). He was president 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 scholarl ...

's eastern division in 1920–21. A pupil of

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 ...

, whose '' Essays in Radical Empiricism'' he edited (1912), Perry became one of the leaders of the

New Realism New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

movement. Perry argued for a naturalistic theory of value and a New Realist theory of

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

and knowledge. He wrote a celebrated biography of

, which won the 1936

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

, and proceeded to a revision of his critical approach to natural knowledge. An active member among a group of American New Realist philosophers, he elaborated around 1910 the program of new realism. However, he soon dissented from moral and spiritual

ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophy, philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, Becoming (philosophy), becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into Category ...

, and turned to a philosophy of disillusionment. Perry was an advocate of a militant democracy: in his words "total but not

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

". ''Puritanism and Democracy'' (1944) is a famous wartime attempt to reconcile two fundamental concepts in the origins of modern America. Between 1946 and 1948, he delivered in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

his

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in o ...

, titled ''Realms of Value''. He married Rachel Berenson, and they lived in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. Their son was Edward Barton Perry born at their home 5 Avon Street in Cambridge, 27 September 1906. In 1932, Edward married Harriet Armington Seelye (born

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...

, 28 May 1909), daughter of physician and surgeon Dr. Walker Clarke Seelye of Worcester and Annie Ide Barrows Seelye, formerly of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

. In 1919, he gave the commencement address for the first graduating class of

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn College or Conn) is a private liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. It is a residential, four-year undergraduate institution with nearly all of its approximately 1,815 students living on campus. The college w ...

, which had opened its doors in 1915.

Bibliography

* ''The Approach to Philosophy'', (1905), New York, Chicago and Boston: Charles Scribner's Sons
''The Moral Economy''
(1909), New York: Charles Scribner's Son * ''Present Philosophical Tendencies: A Critical Survey of Naturalism, Idealism, Pragmatism, and Realism, together with a Synopsis of the Philosophy of William James'', (1912), New York:Longmans, Green & Co. * Holt, EB; Marvin, WT; Montague, WP; Perry, RB; Pitkin, WB; Spaulding, EG, ''The New Realism: Cooperative Studies in Philosophy'', (1912), New York: The Macmillan Company * ''The Free Man and the Soldier'', (1916), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
''The Present Conflict of Ideals: A Study of the Philosophical Background of the World War''
(1918), New York: Longmans, Green & Co. * ''Annotated Bibliography of the Writings of William James'', (1920), Longmans, Green & Co. * ''The Plattsburg movement: A Chapter of America's Participation in the World War'' (1921), New York: E.P. Dutton & company * ''A Modernist View of National Ideals'' (1926) Berkeley: University of California Press,

Howison Lectures in Philosophy The Howison Lectures in Philosophy are a lecture series established in 1919 by friends and former students of George Howison, who served as the Mills Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity at the University of California, ...

, 1925 * ''General Theory of Value'' (1926) * ''Philosophy of the Recent Past: An Outline of European and American Philosophy Since 1860'', (1926), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons * ''The Hope for Immortality'' (1935) * ''The Thought and Character of William James'', 2 vols. (1935) * ''Plea for an Age Movement'' (1942) New York: The

Vanguard Press The Vanguard Press (1926–1988) was a United States publishing house established with a $100,000 grant from the left wing American Fund for Public Service, better known as the Garland Fund. Throughout the 1920s, Vanguard Press issued an array of ...

alk at 1941 Princeton and Harvard Reunions* ''Puritanism and Democracy'', (1944) * ''Characteristically American: Five Lectures Delivered on the William W. Cook Foundation at the University of Michigan, November–December 1948'', (1949), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949 * ''Realms of Value'', (1954), Harvard University Press ased on Gifford Lectures* ''The Humanity of Man'', (1956), New York: George Braziller * "A Definition of morality". In P. W. Taylor (Ed.), Problems of moral philosophy: an introduction to ethics (pp. 13–24). Belmont, CA: Dickenson, 1967

References

External links

Biography
at the

site * * *
Some works by and about Perry
in the Mead Project website

The Monist 12 (1901-2): 446–458.
Review: The Refutation of Idealism
Reviews, The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. I, No. 3 (Feb. 4, 1904), 76–77.

Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods 7 (1910): 5-14
Editor’s Preface
'' Essays in Radical Empiricism'' (1912) by William James * ''Lectures on the Harvard Classics''. The

Harvard Classics ''The Harvard Classics'', originally marketed as Dr. Eliot's Five-Foot Shelf of Books, is a 50-volume series of classic works of world literature, important speeches, and historical documents compiled and edited by Harvard University President Ch ...

, Volume LI (1914): *
Philosophy: I. General Introduction
*

*

*

Non-Resistance and the Present War--A Reply to Mr. Russell
International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 25 No. 3 (April, 1915). 307–316. {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Ralph Barton 1876 births 1957 deaths 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American economists 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century educational theorists American bibliographers American bibliophiles American book and manuscript collectors American educational theorists American educators American ethicists American historians of philosophy American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American philosophy academics American political philosophers Analytic philosophers Epistemologists Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Literacy and society theorists Metaphysicians Metaphysics writers Moral philosophers Ontologists People from Poultney (town), Vermont Philosophers of culture Philosophers of economics Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of history Philosophers of mind Philosophers of pessimism Philosophers of religion Philosophers of science Philosophers of social science Philosophers of war Philosophy teachers Philosophy writers Presidents of the American Philosophical Association Princeton University alumni Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Rationality theorists Scholars of American education Social critics Social philosophers Theorists on Western civilization Writers about activism and social change Writers about religion and science Writers from Massachusetts Writers from Vermont Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

Career

Bibliography

See also

References

External links