Morris, George Sylvester, 1840-1889

Professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and University of Michigan.

George Sylvester Morris, educator and philosopher, was born November 15, 1840 in Norwich, Vermont. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1861, then from 1862 to 1863, Morris served in the Union Army. In the fall of 1863, he joined the staff of Dartmouth as a tutor in Greek and Mathematics, a post he held for one year. In 1864, Morris entered the Union Theological Seminary, then in the period 1866-1868, he traveled to Europe to study at the University of Halle and the University of Berlin. In 1870 Morris became professor of modern languages at the University of Michigan; later, in 1885, he headed the university's philosophy department. Morris wrote on both Kant and Hegel and was a champion of the idealistic movement initiated by Kant. Morris died in Ann Arbor on March 23, 1889.