James Frederick Ferrier

James Frederick Ferrier (1808-1864) was a Scottish metaphysician of singular ability and originality, born at Edinburgh. After graduating at Oxford was called to the Scotch bar in 1832. However, under the influence of Sir W Hamilton, metaphysics became his dominant interest, and he found an outlet for his views in the pages of Blackwood by a paper on "Consciousness," which attracted the attention of Emerson. In 1842, he was appointed professor of History in Edinburgh University, and three years later of Moral Philosophy in St Andrews. He published the "Institutes of Metaphysics," a lucid exposition of the Berkleian philosophy, and "Lectures on Greek Philosophy," and edited the works of his uncle and father-in-law, Christopher North. "He belongs," says Dr. Stirling, "to an era of thought that was inaugurated by Thomas Carlyle".

Nearby pages
James Gairdner, James Gambier, James Gates Percival, James Geikie, James Gilray