Woodbridge, Frederick James Eugene

Related Category: Philosophy: Biographies

1867–1940, American philosopher, b. Windsor, Ont., grad. Amherst, 1889, and Union Theological Seminary, 1892, and studied (1892–94) at the Univ. of Berlin. He taught philosophy at the Univ. of Minnesota (1894–1902) and at Columbia (1902–37), where he was dean of the faculties of political science, philosophy, pure science, and fine arts (1912–29). He was editor of Archives of Philosophy and the Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods. Among his many books are The Purpose of History (1916), The Realm of Mind (1926), Nature and Mind (1937), and An Essay on Nature (1940), which sums up his philosophy that “Nature is the domain in which both knowledge and happiness are pursued.” He had great influence as a teacher.

See study by H. S. Pyun (1972).