William Archer Butler (c. 18145 July 1848) was an Irish historian of philosophy.

Life

He was born at Annerville, near

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

in Ireland. His father was a Protestant, his mother a Roman Catholic, and he was brought up as a Catholic. As a boy he was imaginative and poetical, and some of his early verses were remarkable. While yet at Clonmel school he became a Protestant. Later he entered and was educated at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

.''Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593–1860)'', George Dames Burtchaell/ Thomas Ulick Sadleir p. 124: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935 where he had a brilliant career. He specially devoted himself to literature and metaphysics, and was noted for the beauty of his style. In 1834 he gained the ethical moderatorship, newly instituted by Provost Lloyd, and continued in residence at college. In 1837 he decided to enter the Church, and in the same year he was elected to the professorship of moral philosophy, specially founded for him through Lloyd's exertions. About the same time he was presented to the prebend of Clondahorky,

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

, and resided there when not called by his professorial duties to Dublin. In 1842 he was promoted to the rectory of Raymochy. He died on 5 July 1848.

Works

His ''Sermons'' (2 vols., 1849) were brilliant and forceful. The Lectures on the ''History of Ancient Philosophy'', edited by W. Hepworth Thompson (2 vols., 5856; 2nd ed., 1 vol. 1875) were among the few British works on the history of philosophy. These works include introductory lectures, the early Greek thinkers, and lectures on Plato. Among his other writings were papers in the '' Dublin University Magazine'' (1834–1837); and "Letters on Development" (in the ''Irish Ecclesiastical Journal'', 1845), a reply to

Newman Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people: The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere. A *Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer *Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people *Al Newman (born 1960) ...

's famous ''Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine''.

References

*''Memoir of W. A. Butler'', prefixed by Rev. J Woodward to the first series of ''Sermons''.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, William Archer 1814 births 1848 deaths People from County Tipperary 19th-century Irish historians Irish philosophers Irish historians of philosophy People educated at Clonmel Endowed School Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 19th-century Irish philosophers 19th-century Irish writers