Editing Alexander Bain (philosopher) (section)

==Academic career==
[[File:Bain - James Mill, 1882 - 5825460.tif|thumb|Cover page of Bain's biography of ''James Mill'', 1882]]

In 1845 he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and [[Natural philosophy]] at [[University of Strathclyde|Anderson's University]] in Glasgow. A year later, preferring a wider field, he resigned the position and devoted himself to writing. In 1848 he moved to London to fill a post in the [[Department of Health (United Kingdom)|Board of Health]] under [[Sir Edwin Chadwick]] where he worked for social reform and became a prominent member of the intellectual circle which included [[George Grote]] and [[John Stuart Mill]]. In 1855 he published his first major work, ''[[The Senses and the Intellect]]'', followed in 1859 by ''The Emotions and the Will''. These treatises won him a position among independent thinkers. Bain was also Examiner in [[Logic]] and [[Moral Philosophy]] from 1857 to 1862 and 1864–1869 for the [[University of London]] and also an instructor in [[moral science]] for the [[Indian Civil Service]] examinations.

In 1860 he was appointed by the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British Crown]] to the inaugural [[List of Professorships at the University of Aberdeen#School of Divinity, History and Philosophy|Regius Chair]] of [[Logic]] and the Regius Chair of English Literature at the [[University of Aberdeen]], which was newly formed after the amalgamation of [[King's College, Aberdeen]] and [[Marischal College]] by the [[Ancient universities of Scotland|Scottish Universities Commission]] of 1858.

===Linguistics===

Until 1858, neither logic nor English had received adequate attention in [[Aberdeen]], and Bain devoted himself to supplying these deficiencies. He succeeded not only in raising the Standard of Education generally in the [[Education in Scotland|North of Scotland]], but also in establishing a School of Philosophy at the [[University of Aberdeen]], and in widely influencing the teaching of English [[grammar]] and [[Composition (language)|composition]] in the United Kingdom. His efforts were first directed to the preparation of textbooks: ''Higher English Grammar''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vVLAFrEvSzoC ''Higher English Grammar'' at Google Books]</ref> and ''An English Grammar''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=P3ECAAAAQAAJ ''An English Grammar'' at Google Books]</ref> were both published in 1863, followed in 1866 by the ''Manual of Rhetoric'', in 1872 by ''A First English Grammar'', and in 1874 by the ''Companion to the Higher Grammar''. These works were wide-ranging and their original views and methods met with wide acceptance.

===Philosophy===

Bain's philosophical writings already published, especially ''The Senses and the Intellect'' to which was added in 1861 The ''On the Study of Character'' including an ''Estimate of Phrenology'', were too large for effective use in the classroom. Accordingly, in 1868, he published his ''Manual of Mental and Moral Science'', mainly a condensed form of his treatises, with the doctrines re-stated, and in many instances freshly illustrated, and with many important additions. The year 1870 saw the publication of the ''Logic''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bain |first=Alexander |year=1870 |title= Logic, Part First, Deduction |publisher=Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer |place=London |edition= 1 |volume= I |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DLARAAAAYAAJ&q=editions%3AC-UZdTCoFYUC&pg=PR1 |access-date= 16 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bain |first=Alexander |year=1870 |title= Logic, Part Second, Induction |publisher=Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer |place=London |edition= 1 |volume= II |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NyRHAAAAIAAJ&q=inauthor%3A%22Alexander%20Bain%22&pg=PR1|access-date= 16 June 2014}}</ref> This, too, was a work designed for the use of students; it was based on [[John Stuart Mill]], but differed from him in many particulars, and was distinctive for its treatment of the doctrine of the conservation of energy in connection with causation and the detailed application of the principles of logic to the various sciences with a section on the classification of all the [[sciences]].{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} Next came two publications in the "International Scientific Series", namely, ''Mind and Body'' (1872),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bain |first=Alexander |year=1873 |title= Mind & Body |publisher=D. Aplleton & Company |place=New York |url= https://archive.org/details/mindbodytheories00bain |access-date= 16 June 2014}}</ref> and ''Education as a Science'' (1879).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bain |first=Alexander |year=1879 |title= Education as a Science |publisher=D. Aplleton & Company |place=New York |url= https://archive.org/details/educationasasci02baingoog |access-date= 16 June 2014}}</ref> All these works, from the ''Higher English Grammar'' downwards, were written by Bain during his twenty years as a professor at the University of Aberdeen. He also started the philosophical journal, ''Mind''; the first number appeared in January 1876, under the editorship of a former pupil, [[George Croom Robertson]], of [[University College London]]. To this journal Bain contributed many important articles and discussions; and in fact he bore the whole expenses of it till Robertson, owing to ill-health, resigned the editorship in 1891 and [[George Stout]] took up the baton.

===Psychology===

Although his influence as a [[logician]] and [[linguist]] in grammar and rhetoric was considerable, his reputation rests on his works in [[psychology]]. At one with the German [[physiologist]] and comparative anatomist [[Johannes Peter Müller]] in the conviction ''psychologus nemo nisi physiologus'' (one is not a psychologist who is not also a physiologist), he was the first in Great Britain during the 19th century to apply physiology in a thoroughgoing fashion to the elucidation of mental states. In discussing the will, he favoured physiological over metaphysical explanations, pointing to reflexes as evidence that a form of will, independent of consciousness, inheres in a person's limbs. He sought to chart physiological correlates of mental states but refused to make any materialistic assumptions.<ref>Columbia Encyclopedia</ref> His idea of applying the [[scientific method]] of classification to psychical phenomena gave scientific character to his work, the value of which was enhanced by his methodical exposition and his command of illustration. In line with this, too, is his demand that [[psychology]] should be cleared of [[metaphysics]]; and to his lead is no doubt due in great measure the position that psychology has now acquired as a distinct positive science. Bain established psychology, as influenced by [[David Hume]] and [[Auguste Comte]], as a more distinct discipline of science through application of the [[scientific method]]. Bain proposed that physiological and psychological processes were linked, and that traditional psychology could be explained in terms of this association. Moreover, he proposed that all knowledge and all mental processes had to be based on actual physical sensations, and not on spontaneous thoughts and ideas, and attempted to identify the link between the mind and the body and to discover the correlations between mental and behavioural phenomena.

[[William James]] calls his work the "last word" of the earlier stage of psychology, but he was in reality the pioneer of the new. Subsequent [[Psychophysics|psycho-physical]] investigations "have all been in" the spirit of his work; and although he consistently advocated the introspective method in psychological investigation, he was among the first to appreciate the help that may be given to it by [[social psychology]], [[comparative psychology]] and [[developmental psychology]]. He may justly claim the merit of having guided the awakened psychological interest of British thinkers of the second half of the 19th century into fruitful channels. Bain emphasised the importance of our active experiences of movement and effort, and though his theory of a central innervation sense is no longer held as he propounded it, its value as a suggestion to later psychologists is great. His thought that a belief is but a preparation for action is respected by both [[pragmatism]] and [[Functionalism (philosophy of mind)|functionalism]].<ref>Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy</ref>

===Other works===

Bain's autobiography, published in 1904, contains a full list of his works, and also the history of the last thirteen years of his life by Professor W. L. Davidson of the University of Aberdeen, who further contributed to ''Mind'' (April 1904) a review of Bain's services to philosophy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bain |first=Alexander |year=1870 |title= Autobiography |publisher=Logmnans, Green & Co.  |place=London |edition= 1 |url= https://archive.org/details/autobiography00baingoog|access-date= 16 June 2014}}</ref> Further works include editions with notes of [[William Paley|Paley]]'s ''Moral Philosophy'' (1852); ''Education as a Science'' (1879); ''Dissertations'' on leading philosophical topics (1903, mainly reprints of papers in ''Mind''); he collaborated with JS Mill and Grote in editing James Mill's ''Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind'' (1869), and assisted in editing Grote's ''Aristotle and Minor Works''; he also wrote a memoir prefixed to G Croom Robertson's ''Philosophical Remains'' (1894).