William Ernest Hocking

William Ernest Hocking

William Ernest Hocking (1873 - 1966) 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 in empiricism, naturalism and pragmatism. Metaphysics has to make inductions from experience: "that which does not work is not true".

In political philosophy he claimed that liberalism must be superseded by a new form of individualism in which the principle is: "every man shall be a whole man" and we have only one natural right: "an individual should develop the powers that are in him". The most important freedom is "the freedom to perfect one's freedom". He considered christianity as great agent in making of world civilization.

He was attended lectures by many German philosophers of his time; Dilthey, Paul Natorp, Husserl, Wilhelm Windelband and Heinrich Rickert. A staunch defender of idealism in America, Hocking took his understanding of idealism to be very critical in terms of what that entitled in meaning anything definite about "religion," "history" or the "superpersonal."

In many regards he agreed with Wilhelm Luetgert, a German critic of idealism, however without abandoning its position. Hocking believed nothing that could be was ultimately irrational, while declaring equally that there was no unknowable in what was.


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  • William Ernest Hocking — (* 10. August 1873 in Cleveland (Ohio); † 12. Juni 1966 in Madison (New Hampshire)) war ein US amerikanischer Theologe und Philosoph. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Werke 3 Weblinks …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Ernest Hocking — (1 de agosto de 1873 Cleveland (Ohio) 12 de junio de 1966, Madison, Nuevo Hampshire) fue un filósofo idealista estadounidense de la Universidad de Harvard. Continuó el trabajo de su profesor Josiah Royce relativo a la revisión del idealismo con… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Hocking, William Ernest — ( 18 7 3 1966 )    American theologian and missiologist    William Ernest Hocking was a philosopher and theologian whose controversial ideas on the Social Gospel and the global spread of Christianity had a substantial impact on the Protestant… …   Encyclopedia of Protestantism

  • Hocking — may refer to: * Hocking County, Ohio * Hocking Hills in Ohio * Hocking College in Ohio * Hocking River in Ohio * William Ernest Hocking, American Idealist philosopher * Hocking, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located… …   Wikipedia

  • Hocking — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Gary Hocking (1937–1962), Motorrad und Automobilrennfahrer Murray Hocking (* 1971), australischer Badmintonspieler William Ernest Hocking (1873–1966), US amerikanischer Theologe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • hocking — present part of hock * * * /hok ing/, n. William Ernest, 1873 1966, U.S. philosopher. * * * hocking see hock v.1 and v.2 …   Useful english dictionary

  • Hocking — biographical name William Ernest 1873 1966 American philosopher …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Hocking — /hok ing/, n. William Ernest, 1873 1966, U.S. philosopher. * * * …   Universalium

  • John William Miller — (1895–1978) was an American philosopher in the idealist tradition. His work appears in six published volumes, including The Paradox Cause (1978) and most recently The Task of Criticism (2006). His principal philosophical ambitions were 1) to… …   Wikipedia

  • William McKinley — This article is about the 25th President of the United States. For other people with the same name, see William McKinley (disambiguation). William McKinley 25th President of the United States In office …   Wikipedia

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