BAIN

bain, alexander (1818-1903), scottish philosopher and educationalist, was born on the 11th of june 1818 in aberdeen, where he received his first schooling. in early life he was a weaver, hence the punning description of him as _weevir, rex philosophorum_. in 1836 he entered marischal college, and came under the influence of john cruickshank, professor of mathematics, thomas clark, professor of chemistry, and william knight, professor of natural philosophy. his college career was distinguished, especially in mental philosophy, mathematics and physics. towards the end of his arts course he became a contributor to the _westminster review_ (first article "electrotype and daguerreotype," september 1840). this was the beginning of his connexion with john stuart mill, which led to a life-long friendship. in 1841 he became substitute for dr glennie, the professor of moral philosophy, who, through ill-health, was unable to discharge the active duties of the chair. this post he occupied for three successive sessions, during which he continued writing for the _westminster_, and also in 1842 helped mill with the revision of the ms. of his _system of logic_. in 1843 he contributed the first review of the book to the _london and westminster_. in 1845 he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in the andersonian university of glasgow. a year later, preferring a wider field, he resigned the position and devoted himself to literary work. in 1848 he removed to london to fill a post in the board of health, under edwin chadwick, and became a prominent member of the brilliant circle which included george grote and john stuart mill. in 1855 he published his first large work, _the senses and the intellect_, followed in 1859 by _the emotions and the will_. these treatises won for him a position among independent thinkers. he was examiner in logical and moral philosophy (1857-1862 and 1864-1869) to the university of london, and in moral science in the indian civil service examinations. in 1860 he was appointed by the crown to the new chair of [v.03 p.0222] logic and english in the university of aberdeen (created on the amalgamation of the two colleges, king's and marischal, by the scottish universities commission of 1858). up to this date neither logic nor english had received adequate attention in aberdeen, and bain devoted himself to supplying these deficiencies. he succeeded not only in raising the standard of education generally in the north of scotland, but also in forming a school of philosophy and in widely influencing the teaching of english grammar and composition. his efforts were first directed to the preparation of english textbooks: _higher english grammar_ (1863), followed in 1866 by the _manual of rhetoric_, in 1872 by _a first english grammar_, and in 1874 by the _companion to the higher grammar_. these works covered a large field and their original views and methods met with wide acceptance. but the other subject of his chair also called for attention. his own philosophical writings already published, especially _the senses and the intellect_ (to which was added, in 1861, _the study of character_, including an _estimate of phrenology_), were too large for effective use in the class-room. accordingly in 1868, he published his _manual of mental and moral science_, mainly a condensed form of his treatises, with the doctrines re-stated, and in many instances freshly illustrated, and with many important additions. the year 1870 saw the publication of the _logic_. this, too, was a work designed for the use of students; it was based on j. s. mill, but differed from him in many particulars, and had as distinctive features the treatment of the doctrine of the conservation of energy in connexion with causation and the detailed application of the principles of logic to the various sciences. his services to education in scotland were now recognized by the conferment of the honorary degree of doctor of laws by the university of edinburgh in 1871. next came two publications in "the international scientific series," namely, _mind and body_ (1872), and _education as a science_ (1879). all these works, from the _higher english grammar_ downwards, were written by bain during his twenty years' professoriate at aberdeen. to the same period belongs his institution of the philosophical journal _mind_; the first number appeared in january 1876, under the editorship of a former pupil, g. croom robertson, of university college, london. to this journal bain contributed many important articles and discussions; and in fact he bore the whole expenses of it till robertson, owing to ill-health, resigned the editorship in 1891, when it passed into other hands. bain resigned his professorship in 1880 and was succeeded by william minto, one of his most brilliant pupils. nevertheless his interest in thought, and his desire to complete the scheme of work mapped out in earlier years, remained as keen as ever. accordingly, in 1882 appeared the _biography of james mill_, and accompanying it _john stuart mill: a criticism, with personal recollections_. next came (1884) a collection of articles and papers, most of which had appeared in magazines, under the title of _practical essays_. this was succeeded (1887, 1888) by a new edition of the _rhetoric_, and along with it, a book _on teaching english_, being an exhaustive application of the principles of rhetoric to the criticism of style, for the use of teachers; and in 1894 he published a revised edition of _the senses and the intellect_, which contains his last word on psychology. in 1894 also appeared his last contribution to _mind_. his last years were spent in privacy at aberdeen, where he died on the 18th of september 1903. he married twice but left no children. bain's life was mainly that of a thinker and a man of letters. but he also took a keen interest and frequently an active part in the political and social movements of the day; and so highly did the students of aberdeen rate his practical ability, that, after his retirement from the chair of logic, they twice in succession elected him lord rector of the university, each term of office extending over three years. he was a strenuous advocate of reform, especially in the teaching of sciences, and supported the claims of modern languages to a place in the curriculum. a marble bust of him stands in the public library and his portrait hangs in the marischal college. wide as bain's influence has been as a logician, a grammarian and a writer on rhetoric, his reputation rests on his psychology. at one with johannes mueller in the conviction _psychologus nemo nisi physiologus_, he was the first in great britain during the 19th century to apply physiology in a thoroughgoing fashion to the elucidation of mental states. he was the originator of the theory of psycho-physical parallelism, which is used so widely as a working basis by modern psychologists. his idea of applying the natural history method of classification to psychical phenomena gave scientific character to his work, the value of which was enhanced by his methodical exposition and his command of illustration. in line with this, too, is his demand that psychology shall be cleared of metaphysics; and to his lead is no doubt due in great measure the position that psychology has now acquired as a distinct positive science. prof. wm. james calls his work the "last word" of the earlier stage of psychology, but he was in reality the pioneer of the new. subsequent psycho-physical investigations have all been in the spirit of his work; and although he consistently advocated the introspective method in psychological investigation, he was among the first to appreciate the help that may be given to it by animal and social and infant psychology. he may justly claim the merit of having guided the awakened psychological interest of british thinkers of the second half of the 19th century into fruitful channels. he emphasized the importance of our active experiences of movement and effort, and though his theory of a central innervation sense is no longer held as he propounded it, its value as a suggestion to later psychologists is great. his autobiography, published in 1904, contains a full list of his works, and also the history of the last thirteen years of his life by w. l. davidson of aberdeen university, who further contributed to _mind_ (april 1904) a review of bain's services to philosophy. works (beside the above):--edition with notes of paley's _moral philosophy_ (1852); _education as a science_ (1879); _dissertations on leading philosophical topics_ (1903, mainly reprints of papers in _mind_); he collaborated with j. s. mill and grote in editing james mill's _analysis of the phenomena of the human mind_ (1869), and assisted in editing grote's _aristotle_ and _minor works_; he also wrote a memoir prefixed to g. croom robertson's _philosophical remains_ (1894). (see psychology and association of ideas.) (w. l. d.)