James Elliot Cabot (June 18, 1821 – January 16, 1903) was an American philosopher and author, born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Samuel Cabot, Jr. Samuel Cabot Jr. (December 21, 1784 – September 2, 1863) was an American businessman in the early-nineteenth-century China Trade, a member of the wealthy and prominent Cabot family. Early life Cabot was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Decem ...

, and Eliza Cabot. James (known by his family and friends as "Elliot") had six brothers: Thomas Handasyd Cabot (b. 1814),

Samuel Cabot III Samuel Cabot III (September 20, 1815 – April 13, 1885) was an American physician, surgeon, and ornithologist, as well as a member of the wealthy and prominent Cabot family. Early life Samuel Cabot III was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Sept ...

(b. 1815),

Edward Clarke Cabot Edward Clarke Cabot (August 17, 1818 – January 5, 1901) was an American architect and artist. Life and career Edward Clarke Cabot was born April 17, 1818, in Boston, Massachusetts to Samuel Cabot Jr. and Eliza (Perkins) Cabot. He was the ...

(b. 1818), Stephen Cabot (b. 1826), Walter Channing Cabot (b. 1829), and Louis Cabot (b. 1837). Having received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1845, Elliot started a law firm. He taught philosophy at Harvard and was a transcendentalist and edited the ''Massachusetts Quarterly Review'', beginning in 1848. Cabot argued that we do not experience space directly, that space is "a system of relations, it cannot be given in any one sensation. ..Space is a symbol of the general relatedness of objects constructed by thought from data which lie below consciousness." Cabot was of the opinion that the position of something in space was not felt at all, but deduced from perceived relations. Cabot was a correspondent of Henry David Thoreau. His biography of

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...

was criticized for its lack of colour. Cabot and his wife Elizabeth had five sons, the most notable of them being Richard Clarke Cabot"Cabot, Richard C. (Richard Clarke), 1868–1939. Papers of Richard Clarke Cabot : an inventory,"
Harvard University archives. Accessed Jan. 5, 2016. (1868–1939), a physician who advanced clinical

hematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the pro ...

, was an innovator in teaching methods, and a pioneer in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

References

External links

Papers, 1786–1945.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
''Massachusetts Quarterly Review''

, Theodore Parker, James Elliot Cabot {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabot, James Elliot 1821 births 1903 deaths American biographers American male biographers 19th-century American philosophers Harvard Law School alumni Cabot family 19th-century male writers