James Seth

Background

He was born on May 6, 1860 at Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. Both his father, Smith Kinmont Seth, and his mother, Margaret (Little), came of well-to-do country stock.

Education

James attended schools in Edinburgh, where his father held a position with the Commercial Bank, and in 1876 entered the University. In 1881 he received the degree of master of arts with first-class honors and the following year he won a Ferguson Scholarship, open to all graduates of the four Scottish Universities.

Intending to become a minister, he was for four years a student in the Theological College of the Free Church of Scotland. During his theological course, he spent two semesters at German universities.

Career

He was licensed by the Free Church Presbytery of Edinburgh. His philosophical studies, which he had continued to pursue, determined his career. In 1886 he was called to succeed Dr. Jacob G. Schurman as professor of metaphysics and ethics in Dalhousie College, Halifax, Nova Scotia. After six years there he came to the United States to fill a professorship of philosophy in Brown University, Providence.

In 1891 he had published Freedom As Ethical Postulate, and during four years spent at Brown he completed A Study of Ethical Principles, his most important work, which was published in 1894.

In 1896 Seth accepted a call from his old friend Dr. Schurman, then president of Cornell University, to the Sage Professorship of Moral Philosophy in that institution. In January of the following year he became co-editor of the Philosophical Review, serving in that capacity until November 1902.

After the death of his former teacher, Prof. Henry Calderwood, he became the successful candidate for the chair of moral philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, a position which he held from 1898 till the year of his death. At Edinburgh he held the satisfaction of working side by side with his brother, Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison, who held the chair of logic and metaphysics, once occupied by Sir William Hamilton.

He was also keenly interested in the effort of a minority of the Poor Law Commission to secure the repeal of the Poor Law, and gave active support to Sidney and Beatrice Webb in their campaign against this antiquated measure. The deplorable conditions of poverty and degradation which he found existing in quarters of his native city spurred him to promote the foundation of the Edinburgh School of Social Study and Training in connection with the University. The aim of the new school was, in his own words, "by opening the mind of the student to the inter-connections of the several social problems and the subtle action and reaction of causes and effects, to develop in him a scientific understanding of social facts".

His contributions to periodicals were numerous and in 1912 he published English Philosophers and Schools of Philosophy.

He died in 1924.

Achievements

• His famous works: Freedom As Ethical Postulate, A Study of Ethical Principles, English Philosophers and Schools of Philosophy. James Seth was one of four Scottish citizens invited by the Temperance Legislation Board to visit Norway to study the Samlag system, long tested in that country. The results of his observation were given in his popular article in the Contemporary Review. He founded the Edinburgh School of Social Study and Training in connection with the University.

Works

More photos

• book

  • English Philosophers and Schools of Philosophy

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • A Study Of Ethical Principles

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Views

In his ethical theory he sought to mediate between Utilitarianism and the Kantian and other rationalistic systems, finding in Personality a conception that unites the truth of both. Keenly alive to the moral obligations of citizenship, he devoted increasing thought and effort to social problems.

Quotations: "We cannot doubt that, here as elsewhere, knowledge is power".

Personality

Sensitive and somewhat shy, Seth had a most winning personality, which attracted and held a wide circle of devoted friends. Not the least of his charms was a quaint humor which could, on occasion, assume an ironic edge against all pretense and vulgar self-seeking.

Connections

He never married.

Father:

Smith Kinmont Seth

Mother:

Margaret (Little) Seth

Brother:

Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison

teacher:

Prof. Henry Calderwood

Friend:

Dr. Jacob G. Schurman