James Seth (1860-1925)

James Seth was born in Edinburgh, the son of a Scottish banker and the third of seven children, one of whom also became a professor of philosophy. He attended George Watson’s, College, one of Edinburgh’s Merchant Company schools, and from there went to Edinburgh University in the autumn of 1876. The classical education he received at Watson’s stood him in good stead, but he soon excelled at philosophy as a student of Alexander Campbell Fraser and Henry Calderwood, winning medals for moral philosophy, the study of Kant, and metaphysics, before completing his degree with First Class Honours in 1881.

James Seth won two philosophical scholarships, but like many of his contemporaries, he had studied philosophy as a preliminary to Divinity and ordination, and so proceeded to a theology degree at New College. But during this time he spent two summers on philosophical study in Germany, and then gave classes in philosophy as an assistant to Campbell Fraser. This determined that his future would be teacher of philosophy rather than minister of religion and in 1886 he went to Canada as Professor of Metaphysics at Dalhousie College in Halifax. His classes included Ethics, and in teaching this he used the textbook written by his own teacher Henry Calderwood, thereby extending and continuing the Scottish philosophical tradition abroad. Subsequently he wrote his own, highly successful text, a Study of Ethical Principles which, like Calderwood’s, was widely adopted.

In 1892 Seth moved to Brown University, one of the oldest and most distinguished American universities, located in Providence, Rhode Island, famous in the world of philosophy for the fact that Bishop George Berkeley had spent three years there. Seth was both happy and successful at Brown, but in 1896 the opportunity arose to become Sage Professor at Cornell University, and at the same time, Editor of the Philosophical Review, a prestigious academic journal. This appointment secured his position in America as a philosopher of considerable status, but he was hardly in post before his teacher Henry Calderwood died, thereby leaving vacant the Chair of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh. It is an indication of the continuing prestige of the Edinburgh Chair even into the late 19th century, that Seth relinquished an established Chair in one of the largest and best equipped American universities in order to succeed Calderwood. He took up his duties there in October 1898, and marked his accession to the Chair with an inaugural lecture on ‘The Scottish Contribution to Moral Philosophy’, subsequently published by the Philosophical Review, the journal he had edited.

James Seth occupied the Edinburgh Chair of Moral Philosophy for twenty six years. During most of this time, the corresponding Chair of Logic and Metaphysics was occupied by his brother Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattisson. Like his teacher Calderwood, James Seth was active in social campaigning on behalf of both temperance and education, and on the strength of this became a notable figure in Edinburgh city life. He died quite suddenly in July 1925. A collection of essays on ethics and religion was published posthumously, together with a memoir written by his brother Andrew.

James Seth was born in Edinburgh, the son of a Scottish banker and the third of seven children, one of whom also became a professor of philosophy. He attended George Watson’s, College, one of Edinburgh’s Merchant Company schools, and from there went to Edinburgh University in the autumn of 1876. The classical education he received at Watson’s stood him in good stead, but he soon excelled at philosophy as a student of Alexander Campbell Fraser and Henry Calderwood, winning medals for moral philosophy, the study of Kant, and metaphysics, before completing his degree with First Class Honours in 1881.

James Seth won two philosophical scholarships, but like many of his contemporaries, he had studied philosophy as a preliminary to Divinity and ordination, and so proceeded to a theology degree at New College. But during this time he spent two summers on philosophical study in Germany, and then gave classes in philosophy as an assistant to Campbell Fraser. This determined that his future would be teacher of philosophy rather than minister of religion and in 1886 he went to Canada as Professor of Metaphysics at Dalhousie College in Halifax. His classes included Ethics, and in teaching this he used the textbook written by his own teacher Henry Calderwood, thereby extending and continuing the Scottish philosophical tradition abroad. Subsequently he wrote his own, highly successful text, a Study of Ethical Principles which, like Calderwood’s, was widely adopted.

In 1892 Seth moved to Brown University, one of the oldest and most distinguished American universities, located in Providence, Rhode Island, famous in the world of philosophy for the fact that Bishop George Berkeley had spent three years there. Seth was both happy and successful at Brown, but in 1896 the opportunity arose to become Sage Professor at Cornell University, and at the same time, Editor of the Philosophical Review, a prestigious academic journal. This appointment secured his position in America as a philosopher of considerable status, but he was hardly in post before his teacher Henry Calderwood died, thereby leaving vacant the Chair of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh. It is an indication of the continuing prestige of the Edinburgh Chair even into the late 19th century, that Seth relinquished an established Chair in one of the largest and best equipped American universities in order to succeed Calderwood. He took up his duties there in October 1898, and marked his accession to the Chair with an inaugural lecture on ‘The Scottish Contribution to Moral Philosophy’, subsequently published by the Philosophical Review, the journal he had edited.

James Seth occupied the Edinburgh Chair of Moral Philosophy for twenty six years. During most of this time, the corresponding Chair of Logic and Metaphysics was occupied by his brother Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattisson. Like his teacher Calderwood, James Seth was active in social campaigning on behalf of both temperance and education, and on the strength of this became a notable figure in Edinburgh city life. He died quite suddenly in July 1925. A collection of essays on ethics and religion was published posthumously, together with a memoir written by his brother Andrew.