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potential. For
Davidson, because we contain the divine within us, our unfettered natural instincts would impel us to act morally. As individuals became increasingly aware of the divine within themselves, so they became increasingly moral. James believed this individualistic religion made Davidson "indifferent...to socialisms and general administrative panaceas." According to James, Davidson taught that "Life must be flexible. You ask for a free man and these Utopias give you an interchangeable part, with a fixed number, in a rule-bound social organism." Apeirotheism called for the release of each individual's potential divinity through self-cultivation and the nurturing of others rather than through changes in one's material conditions. Davidson was convinced that this release would lead to the only true reform of human society; it was to this task that he devoted the rest of his life.
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concepts of the soul and Nous. Aristotle's "soul" is the rational, living aspect of a living substance and cannot exist apart from the body because it is not a substance, but rather an essence; Nous is rational thought and understanding. Davidson argued that
Aristotle's Nous identified God with rational thought, and that God could not exist apart from the world just as the Aristotlean soul could not exist apart from the body. Thus Davidson grounded an immanent
109:. After graduating from Aberdeen University (1860) as first graduate and Greek prizeman, he held the position of rector of the grammar school of Old Aberdeen (1860–1863). From 1863 until 1866, he was master in several English schools, spending his vacations on the continent. In 1866 he moved to Canada, to occupy a place in the London Collegiate Institute. In the following year, he came to the United States, and, after spending some months in
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302:. Human psyches are unique however, because they possess autonomy, which provides the potential to become divine through proper, moral association with other human psyches. This allowed Davidson to reject pantheism, which, he reasoned, led to a God "scattered through the universe...so that the total
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that has been described as a "form of pluralistic idealism...coupled with a stern ethical rigorism..." Increasingly, he preferred to identify his philosophy as apeirotheism, an appellation he defined as "a theory of Gods infinite in number." The theory was indebted to
Aristotle's pluralism and his
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In this context, panentheism is the view that, not only are man and nature modes or elements of God, as in pantheism, but God also transcends nature. Davidson co-authored a book on Bruno that was published in 1890. Brinton, Daniel G. and Thomas
Davidson, Giordano Bruno, Philosopher and Martyr—Two
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Davidson's religious philosophy had important consequences for social thought. Apeirotheism was utterly democratic and perfectionistic because it entailed that each individual has the potential to be a God, although restrictive social relations have thwarted the development of most people's
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exists only in the sum of things taken together." Rather, Davidson argued, God exists everywhere, but he "exists fully or completely" in each monad. Reality is a Göttergemeinschaft, a society of gods; metaphysical, social and spiritual unity is moral rather than ontological.
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having come to the ears of the pope through Bishop (later
Cardinal) Schiatlino, he was invited to the Vatican, where the pope suggested that he should settle in Rome and aid his professors in editing the new edition of St. Thomas. For more than a year he lived at
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Thomas
Davidson, "Noism," The Index (29 April 1886), 525. Concerning Davidson's views on pantheism, see his letter to Havelock Ellis, 20 October 1883. Quoted in Knight, 41. Cf. DeArmey, "Thomas Davidson's Apeirotheism,"
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Davidson, "The Power Not
Ourselves," The Index (15 October 1885), 184. Cf. Davidson, The Philosophy of Goethe's Faust, ed. Charles M. Bakewell (New York: Haskell House, 1969), 157–58.
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Davidson, Journal, 1884–1898 (Thomas
Davidson Collection, Manuscript Group #169, Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University). Quoted in DeArmey, "Thomas Davidson's Apeirotheism," 692
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and their problems. He aimed at founding among them what he called a "Breadwinners' College," but his work was cut short by his sudden death in
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Charles M. Bakewell, "Thomas
Davidson," Dictionary of American Biography, gen. ed. Dumas Malone (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1932), 96.
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James A. Good, "The Value of Thomas
Davidson." Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 40, no. 2 (Spring 2004): 289–318.
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211:(London, 1882). At the same time he wrote essays on classical subjects, mainly archaeological, published under the title
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125:, he was classical master in the St. Louis high school, and subsequently principal of one of the branch high schools.
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in New York, where he attained wide popularity by a series of lectures on sociology. A special class was formed for
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Cf. Anne C. Rose, Transcendentalism as a Social Movement, 1830–1850 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981), 161.
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Book: Utopian England: Community Experiments 1900–1945 (Studies in History, Planning, and the Environment)
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223:(3 vols., London, 1884). In 1883, he occupied a villa in Capri, and there translated Rosmini's
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Thomas Davidson papers (MS 169). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
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In Greece, he devoted himself mainly to archaeology and modern Greek. He wrote
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Hand-Book to Dante, from the Italian of Scartazzini, with Notes and Additions
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The Religion of Democracy: Seven Liberals and the American Moral Tradition.
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657:"The Development of Thomas Davidson's Religious and Social Thought"
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The Education of the Greek People and Its Influence on Civilization
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young men and women, whom he introduced to the great writers on
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Davidson was born of Presbyterian parents at Old Deer, near
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Davidson's most successful work was in connection with the
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The Philosophical System of Antonio Rosmini-Serbati
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519:by Thomas Davidson, edited by Charles M. Bakewell"
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219:(London, 1882). He also translated Rosmini's
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19:For other people named Thomas Davidson, see
555:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography
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266:Thomas Davidson taught a philosophy called
493:"Professor William James's Reminiscences,"
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319:Some of his publications are (ref. LWBL):
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16:Scottish-American philosopher (1840–1900)
374:Aristotle and Ancient Educational Ideals
705:Scottish emigrants to the United States
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565:"Davidson, Thomas (philosopher)"
463:Addresses (Philadelphia: McKay, 1890).
388:New York: Appleton, 1894 (repr. 1906).
378:New York: Scribner, 1892 (repr. 1905).
343:The Parthenon Frieze, and Other Essays
495:in Memorials of Thomas Davidson, 115.
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700:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
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325:A Short Account of the Niobe Group
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725:American philosophers of religion
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154:(1869). In Italy, he studied the
517:The Philosophy of Goethe's Faust
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21:Thomas Davidson (disambiguation)
602:International Journal of Ethics
571:New International Encyclopedia
237:The Fellowship of the New Life
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352:The Place of Art in Education
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637:Works by Thomas Davidson
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558:. New York: D. Appleton.
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130:Cambridge, Massachusetts
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401:Davidson, Thomas, with
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740:Scottish philosophers
160:scholastic philosophy
128:In 1875, he moved to
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412:Boston: Ginn, 1906.
281:Though initially a
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276:World Soul
273:Emersonian
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221:Psychology
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248:Jewish
188:Tivoli
180:Albano
166:, and
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140:, and
111:Boston
418:Notes
299:telos
164:Dante
138:Latin
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