Skip to content
EntityQ6139232· pop 9· linked from 182 articles

James McCosh

Sign in to save

British philosopher (1811–1894)

OverviewAI-generated

James McCosh (1811–1894) was a Scottish philosopher, writer, and university teacher. Born in Ayrshire and educated at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow, he held citizenship in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. A Presbyterian, he wrote in English and contributed to *Popular Science*. His professional career included teaching positions at Princeton University and Queen's University Belfast.

McCosh’s notable works include *Psychology*, *Life of Jesus*, *The Method of the Divine Government*, *Physical and Moral*, *Philosophy of Reality*, and *Our Moral Nature*. He served as a doctoral advisor to James Mark Baldwin. His affiliations included membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He died in Princeton in 1894.

Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
43

Top works

  • Psychology
  • Life of Jesus
  • The Method of the Divine Government, Physical and Moral
  • Philosophy of Reality
  • Our Moral Nature, Being a Brief System of Ethics

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
Canada

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
1
Total plays
3

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/James+McCosh">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · James McCosh

Quotes

  • Newton supposed that all matter attracted other matter inversely according to the square of the distance; and the hypothesis was found to account for the whole movements of the heavenly bodies; which all became verifications of what Newton supposed to be the law of the solar system. Adopt the hypothesis that Jesus was what He is represented, and the whole of the books and the history becomes a verification.
  • Our Lord's miracles were all essential parts of His one consistent life. They were wrought as evidences not only of His power, but of His mercy. They were throughout moral in their character, and spiritual in the ends contemplated by them. They were in fact embodiments of His whole character, exemplars of His whole teaching, emblems of His whole mission.
  • When Christianity is received, it stimulates the faculties, and calls forth new ideas, new motives, and new sentiments. It has been the mother of all modern education.
  • As ages roll on there is doubtless a progression in human nature. The intellectual comes to rule the physical, and the moral claims to subordinate both. It is no longer strength of body that prevails, but strength of mind; while the law of God proclaims itself superior to both.
  • True humility is a Christian grace and one of the fruits of the Spirit, originating in a deep consciousness of sin past and present, and leading us to discover our nothingness in the view of God, our insufficiency for any thing that is good, and prompting us, as we feel our infirmities, to strive after higher and yet higher attainments.
  • It is not the motive, properly speaking, that determines the working of the will; but it is the will that imparts strength to the motive. As Coleridge says: " It is the man that makes the motive, and not the motive the man."

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
James
Gender
male
Place of birth
Ayrshire
Place of death
Princeton
Languages spoken
English language
Doctoral student
James Mark Baldwin
Field of work
philosophy
Image
James McCosh.jpg
Show 8 more facts
date of birth
1811-04-01
date of death
1894-11-16
writing language
English language
Commons category
James McCosh
contributed to creative work
Popular Science
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

Available in 6 languages

via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0