Josiah Royce (1855–1916) was an American objective Idealist philosopher and teacher. His emphasis on individuality and will, rather than intellect, strongly influenced 20th-century philosophy in the U.S.
Born in Grass Valley, California, Royce trained as an engineer. He later turned to philosophy, studied in Germany and at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore (under the philosophers William James and Charles Sanders Peirce,) and taught at Harvard from 1882.
Royce stressed the unity of human thought with the external world, and his Idealism extended to religion, the basis of which he conceived to be human loyalty. He was greatly influenced by Hegel and developed a philosophy of Idealism emphasizing the importance of the individual in Religious Aspects of Philosophy (1885.)
Royce’s notable works include The Spirit of Modern Philosophy (1892,) Studies of Good and Evil (1898,) The World and the Individual (2 vols., 1900–01,) and The Philosophy of Loyalty (1908.) He also wrote on mathematical logic, social ethics, literary criticism, history, psychology, and religion.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Josiah Royce
Unless you can find some sort of loyalty, you cannot find unity and peace in your active living.
—Josiah Royce
Topics: Commitment, Dedication, Loyalty
Religious faith, indeed, relates to that which is above us, but it must arise from that which is within us.
—Josiah Royce
Topics: Faith, Belief, Self-reliance
Thinking is like loving and dying. Each of us must do it for himself.
—Josiah Royce
Topics: Thinking, Self-reliance, Confidence
Ideas any one can mould as he wishes.
—Josiah Royce
Topics: Wishes, One liners
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