century, Edward Caird (1835-1908) was one of the key figures of the
idealist movement that dominated British philosophy from 1870 until
the mid 1920s. Best known for his studies of Kant and Hegel, Caird
exercised a strong influence on the "second generation" of idealists,
such as John Watson and Bernard Bosanquet. During his long and
productive life, Caird was active in university and local politics and
in educational and social reform. In his two series of Gifford
lectures, he developed an important 'evolutionary' account of
religion.
Edward Caird was born in Greenock, Scotland, on March 23, 1835. A
younger brother of the theologian John Caird (1820-1898), Edward began
his studies at the University of Glasgow (which he briefly abandoned
due to ill health), later moving to Balliol College, Oxford, from
which he graduated in 1863. Following his graduation, he became Tutor
at Merton College, Oxford (1864-1866), but soon left for the
Professorship of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow (1866-1893). There, in
addition to carrying out his academic duties, Caird was active in
university and local politics, and was responsible for establishing
the study of political sciences at the University. Following the death
of Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893), Caird returned to Oxford, where he
served as Master of Balliol College until 1907. He was a founding
fellow of the British Academy (1902), a corresponding member of the
French Academy, and held honorary doctorates from the Universities of
St Andrews (1883), Oxford (1891), Cambridge (1898) and Wales (1902).
Along with T.H. Green (1836-1882), Caird was one of the first
generation of "British idealists," whose philosophical work was
largely in reaction to the then-dominant empiricist and associationist
views of Alexander Bain (1818-1903) and J.S. Mill. He had, however, an
ability of literary expression which Green did not possess; he was
also more inclined to discuss questions by the method of tracing the
historical development of the ideas involved. But while Green died at
the early age of 47, Caird enjoyed a relatively long and productive
life. It is, in part, for this reason that he exercised such a strong
influence–particularly on the relation of philosophy and religion–on
later idealists such as John Watson (1847-1939) and Bernard Bosanquet
(1848-1923). Though often considered to be Hegelian, Caird was
arguably more profoundly influenced by Kant–though he was far from an
uncritical reader.
Caird's first major work was A Critical Account of the Philosophy of
Kant (1877), focusing on the Critique of Pure Reason and the
Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics. It was superseded in 1889 by
The Critical Philosophy of Immanuel Kant (two volumes) in which Caird
wished to show the relation of the three Critiques and the continuity
in the movement of Kant's thought. In general, Caird was convinced
that, though Kant had inaugurated a new era in philosophy with his
attempt to integrate the a priori and the a posteriori, he failed to
carry out this task fully. It was here that Caird's idealism took
over. In these volumes on Kant, Caird sought "to display in the very
argument of the great metaphysician, who was supposed to have cut the
world in two with a hatchet, an almost involuntary but continuous and
inevitable regression towards objective organic unity." Thus, he
argued that "Kantian philosophy is only a first stage, though of
course a necessary stage, in the transition of philosophy to higher
forms of Idealism." (1877, p. 667)
A sympathetic exposition of Hegel's philosophy is contained in his
monograph on Hegel (1883) and, in 1885, his Social Philosophy and
Religion of Comte (based on a collection of articles that had been
previously published in the magazine, Contemporary Review) appeared.
In these two works, Caird critically interprets these authors on lines
of his own. Concerning Comte, for example, Caird writes that there
cannot be a 'religion of Humanity' that is not, at the same time, a
religion of God. In his treatment of Hegel, as of Kant, Caird's
purpose was to show that there is a center of unity to which the mind
must come back out of all differences, however varied and alien in
appearance. The analysis was preliminary to reconstruction.
Caird's way of philosophizing differed from that of many of his
contemporaries. It was consistently and even obtrusively constructive.
According to Caird, "the true manner of honoring a thinker is to force
oneself to understand him from his own point of view," and only then
"to submit his ideas to as objective an examination as possible."
Thus, he seized on the truths contained in the authors with whom he
dealt, and was only incidentally concerned with their errors. One of
the results of this, however, was that Caird's own views are often to
be found only indirectly–that is, in his exposition and commentary of
the views of others.
Like many other idealists, such as D.G. Ritchie (1853-1903), Caird was
concerned to show the relation of evolutionary theory to the
development of thought and culture. His first set of Gifford lectures,
The Evolution of Religion (2 volumes, 1893), deals less than his other
works with an exposition of the views of other philosophers. These
lectures focussed on the possibility of a science of religion and the
nature of religion from Greek times, but were especially centered on
the development of the Christian faith through to the Reformation.
Caird shows the spiritual sense of humanity as at first dominated by
the object, but constrained by its own abstractions to swing around so
as to fall under the sway of the subject.
In 1904 Caird's second set of Gifford lectures, The Evolution of
Theology in the Greek Philosophers,appeared. Here, he provides again
an evolutionary account of religious conceptions (e.g., the idea of
the good, the soul, God, and the relation of God to humanity) toward a
'reflective religion' or theology. The story of Greek philosophy,
which Caird considered mainly (but not exclusively) in its relation to
theology, was carried from Plato through Aristotle, the Stoics, and
Philo, to Plotinus and–in the final lecture–to Christian theology and
St. Augustine.
In general, Caird's views on religion were importantly related to his
understanding of ethics, and Caird borrows from Hegel (and Goethe) the
ethical idea of self sacrifice, or "dying to live," which was to have
an important role in the work of Bosanquet. Caird consistently
emphasized the importance of religion, and that a genuine metaphysics
must be able to provide an account of it.
Like many of the British idealists, Caird had a strong interest in
classical literature. In his two volumes of Essays on Literature and
Philosophy (1892), he brought together critical essays on Goethe,
Rousseau, Carlyle, Dante and Wordsworth, with a discussion (in Volume
II) of Cartesianism (Descartes, Malbranche and Spinoza) and
metaphysics.
Caird's politics were generally liberal and progressive. He supported
the education of women, opposed the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) and,
like Green, was involved in the 'university settlement'
programs–particularly in Glasgow and in London–where recent university
graduates and professionals attempted to narrow the gap between social
classes by living and working among and with the poor.
In 1907, Caird resigned his position as Master of Balliol, and died
the following year on November 1. He is buried in St Sepulchre's
Cemetery, Oxford, alongside Jowett and Green.
References and Further Reading
* The Collected Works of Edward Caird, 12 Volumes, Ed. and Introd.
Colin Tyler, Bristol, UK: Thoemmes Press, 1999.
* A Critical Account of the Philosophy of Kant, with an Historical
Introduction. Glasgow: J. Maclehose, 1877.
* The Problem of Philosophy at the Present Time: an Introductory
Address Delivered to the Philosophical Society of the University of
Edinburgh. Glasgow, James Maclehose & sons, 1881. (43 p.)
* Hegel, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott and co.; Edinburgh: W.
Blackwood and sons, 1883.
* The Social Philosophy and Religion of Comte. Glasgow: J.
Maclehose and sons, 1885. New York, Macmillan, 1885.
* The Moral Aspect of the Economical Problem; Presidential Address
to the Ethical Society. London, Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co., 1888.
(18 p.)
* The Critical Philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Glasgow: J. Maclehose
& sons, 1889; New York: Macmillan, 1889. 2 v.
* Essays on Literature and Philosophy, Glasgow, J. Maclehose and
sons, 1892. 2 v. [v. 1. Dante in his relation to the theology and
ethics of the Middle Ages. Goethe and philosophy. Rousseau.
Wordsworth. The problem of philosophy at the present time. The genius
of Carlyle; v. 2. Cartesianism. Metaphysic.]
* The Evolution of Religion. 2 v., Glasgow: James Maclehose, 1893;
New York: Macmillan, 1893. [Gifford lectures; 1890/1891-1891/1892]
* Address on Plato's Republic as the Earliest Educational
Treatise, Delivered by Edward Caird at the Closing Ceremony of the
Session 1893-94. Bangor: Jarvis & Foster, 1894 (22 p.)
* The Evolution of Theology in the Greek Philosophers. 2 v.,
Glasgow: J. Maclehose and sons, 1904. [Gifford lectures, Glasgow;
1900/1901 and 1901-1902].
* Idealism and the Theory of Knowledge. London: Henry Frowde, 1903 (14 p.)
* Lay Sermons and Addresses : Delivered in the Hall of Balliol
College, Oxford. Glasgow : J. Maclehose; New York: Macmillan, 1907.
The standard assessment of Caird's work is:
* The Life and Philosophy of Edward Caird by Sir Henry Jones and
John Henry Muirhead. Glasgow: Maclehose, Jackson and co., 1921.
The IEP desires a new and more detailed article on Caird.
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