Howison, George Holmes, 1834-1917

Biography

George Holmes Howison, philosopher and professor of the University of California, was born in Maryland in 1834. He graduated from Marietta college in 1852, and took his master's degree there in 1855. He did further work at Lane Theological Seminary, graduating in 1855. He then taught mathematics from 1864 to 1866, at Washington University in St. Louis. and at the age of 35 published a textbook on analytic geometry. Here from 1866 to 1869 he also taught political economy. From St. Louis, Howison went to Boston, teaching logic and philosophy of science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1871 to 1879, and lecturing in ethics at Harvard from 1879 to 1880. He then traveled to Europe in 1881, and attended the University of Berlin in 1881 and 1882. During the academic year of 1883 and 1884 he was lecturer in philosophy at the University of Michigan. Appointed professor of the Mills Chair of Philosophy at the University of California in the fall term of 1884, Howison founded and later became head of the Department of Philosophy. In 1900 and in 1909 he returned to Europe, renewing ties with philosophers abroad. He published many articles and essays, among others The Limits of Evolution and The Concept of God, He died on December 31, 1916.

From the guide to the George Holmes Howison papers, ca. 1862-1917, (The Bancroft Library)