Isaac Woodbridge Riley (May 20, 1869 – September 2, 1933) was an American academic scholar who worked in and across the areas of

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 ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. His published work often combined two of these disciplines in considering the historical development of a social movement or entity (such as a church), particularly examining the influence of the founders' psychological character. His books concerning the foundation and moral standing of

Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of t ...

and

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

made him a focus of controversy. Most of his career was spent as a professor of philosophy at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

Biography

Riley was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1892, and took the degrees of A.M. and

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 a ...

there in 1898 and 1902 respectively."Woodbridge Riley"
Retrieved 10 November 2017. He cited the noted and decorated Philosopher, Psychologist, and Congregational minister

George Trumbull Ladd George Trumbull Ladd (; January 19, 1842 – August 8, 1921) was an American philosopher, educator and psychologist. Biography Early life and ancestors Ladd was born in Painesville, Ohio, on January 19, 1842, the son of Silas Trumbull Ladd and ...

(Clarke Professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy at Yale University) as his first Philosophy teacher. From 1903, Riley was associate editor of the ''

Psychological Bulletin The ''Psychological Bulletin'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes evaluative and integrative research reviews and interpretations of issues in psychology, including both qualitative (narrative) and/or quantitative (meta-anal ...

''. He was Johnston research scholar at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

from 1904 to 1907, during which period he was already "for some time" a professor at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

. In 1908, Riley became professor of philosophy at Vassar, and by 1920 was simultaneously a lecturer at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. Riley's Ph.D. thesis at Yale was ''The Founder of Mormonism: A Psychological Study of Joseph Smith'', published in 1902. It was positively reviewed in psychology journals. Riley suspected that

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

acquired his

visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

from epileptic seizures. He wrote that the "psychiatric definition of the epileptic fits the prophet to a dot." He associated Smith's dictation of the ''

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

'' with the phenomenon of

automatic writing Automatic writing, also called psychography, is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Practitioners engage in automatic writing by holding a writing instrument and allowing alleged spiri ...

. He is also known for his book ''The Faith, the Falsity and the Failure of Christian Science'' (1925), co-authored with physician

Charles Edward Humiston Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

and lawyer

Frederick William Peabody Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

. The book argues that

has no scientific legitimacy, it also records many cases of death which he claims were caused by its practitioners due to lack of medical treatment. Riley argued that

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author who founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, in New England in 1879. She also founded ''The Christian Science Monitor'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning s ...

plagiarized her ideas from

Franz Mesmer Franz Anton Mesmer (; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called " ani ...

Phineas Quimby Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (February 16, 1802 – January 16, 1866) was an American clockmaker, mentalist and mesmerist. His work is widely recognized as foundational to the New Thought spiritual movement. Biography Born in the small town of Leba ...

and the

Shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

Publications

Books
''The Founder of Mormonism''
(1902) [with an introduction and preface by

]
''American Philosophy: The Early Schools''
(1907)
''American Thought from Puritanism to Pragmatism and Beyond''
(1915) Alexander, H. B
''Reviewed Work: American Thought by Woodbridge Riley''
''

The Philosophical Review ''The Philosophical Review'' is a quarterly journal of philosophy edited by the faculty of the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University and published by Duke University Press (since September 2006). Overview The journal publishes original ...

'' 24 (4): 450–453.
''Bismarck and His Policies''
(1917)
''The Faith, the Falsity and the Failure of Christian Science''
(1925) [with

and

] * ''From Myth to Reason: The Story of the March of Mind in the Interpretation of Nature'' (1926)
''Men and Morals: The Story of Ethics''
(1929) * ''The Meaning of Mysticism'' (1930) Papers *Woodbridge, Riley. (1905)
''Recent Theories of Genius''
''The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods'' 2 (13): 345–352. *Woodbridge, Riley. (1909)
''Transcendentalism and Pragmatism: A Comparative Study''
''The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods'' 6 (10): 263–266. *Woodbridge, Riley. (1910)
''Reviewed Work: The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science by Georgine Milmine''
''

The American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal and the official publication of the American Historical Association. It targets readers interested in all periods and facets of history and has often been described as the ...

'' 15 (4): 898–900. * Reviews *Woodbridge, Riley. (1910). ''The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science''. ''

''. pp. 898–899. *Woodbridge, Riley. (1924). ''Man and His Ideas''. '' The Outlook''. pp. 334–338. *Woodbridge, Riley. (1925). ''The Blavatskian Puzzle''. '' The Saturday Review''. pp. 822–823. *Woodbridge, Riley. (1928). ''Esoteric Cults''. '' The Saturday Review''. p. 455. *Woodbridge, Riley. (1929). ''Mrs. Eddy: The Biography of a Virginal Mind''. '' The Saturday Review''. pp. 103–104. *Woodbridge, Riley. (1932). ''A New Life of Mrs. Eddy''. '' The Saturday Review''. pp. 192–193.

References

Attribution *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Woodbridge 1869 births 1933 deaths American editors American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American philosophers 19th-century American philosophers American skeptics Critics of Christian Science Critics of Mormonism Historians of philosophy Writers from New York City Vassar College faculty Yale University alumni