william ernest hocking (august 10, 1873, cleveland, ohio â june 12, 1966 madison, new hampshire) was an american idealist philosopher at harvard university. he continued the work of his philosophical teacher josiah royce in revising idealism to integrate and fit into empiricism, naturalism and pragmatism. he said that metaphysics has to make inductions from experience: "that which does not work is not true." his major field of study was the philosophy of religion, but his 22 books included discussions of philosophy and human rights, world politics, freedom of the press, the philosophical psychology of human nature; education; and more. in 1958 he served as president of the metaphysical society of america. ==early life and education== william ernest hocking was born in 1873 in cleveland, ohio. he was of cornish american heritage.rowse, a.l. the cousin jacks, the cornish in america, 1969 he attended public schools through high school. he worked first as a mapmaker, illustrator and printer's devil, before entering iowa state college of agriculture and mechanical arts in 1894, where he intended to be an engineer. reading william james' work the principles of psychology made him decide to go to harvard to study philosophy, but he first worked for four years as a teacher and high school principal to earn the money for his studies. in 1899 he entered harvard, where he also studied with josiah royce in philosophy, earning his master's degree in 1901. from 1902-1903 he studied in germany, at gÃ¶ttingen, where he was the first american to study with edmund husserl, and in berlin and heidelberg. he returned to harvard and completed his phd in 1904. ==career== hocking began teaching as an instructor in comparative religion at andover theological seminary. in 1906 he and his wife moved to the west coast, where he joined the philosophy faculty at the university of california, berkeley, under george howson. in 1908 he was called to yale, where he served as an assistant professor and published his first major work, the meaning of god in human experience (1912). in 1914 hocking returned to harvard, where he eventually became alford professor of natural religion, moral philosophy and civil polity. during world war i, in 1917 he was among the first american civil engineers to reach the front in france. in 1918 he was appointed as an inspector of "war issues" courses in army training camps. his experience led him to write his second book, about morale. returning to harvard after the war, hocking made the rest of his career there. in 1930-1932, he led the commission of appraisal, which studied the foreign mission work of six protestant christian denominations in india, burma, china, and japan. protestant missionaries ha
1873_births 1966_deaths American_people_of_Cornish_descent American_philosophers Harvard_University_alumni Harvard_University_faculty People_from_Cleveland,_Ohio Presidents_of_the_Metaphysical_Society_of_America Religious_naturalists