-
John Venn, James Ward, and the Chair of Mental Philosophy and Logic at the University of Cambridge
- Journal of the History of Ideas
- University of Pennsylvania Press
- Volume 68, Number 1, January 2007
- pp. 131-155
- 10.1353/jhi.2007.0008
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
In 1897, Cambridge University created a professorship in Mental Philosophy and Logic; despite the double name it was filled by a “mental philosopher,” James Ward, who did no work in logic. The chief logician candidate, John Venn, then turned his attention elsewhere, leaving Cambridge without senior leadership in logic. Ward himself turned to other philosophical issues, doing little further original work in mental philosophy. Cambridge became a center for a fresh interpretation of logic in the early 20th century, but with no help from Venn. Psychology split off from mental philosophy, and what remained, the “philosophy of mind,” was developed elsewhere until after Ward’s tenure.