American philosopher, a founder of the New Realism.

Born in Chelsea, Mass., father, a lawyer, also named William Pepperell Montague. Harvard undergraduate, graduated 1896; Harvard Ph.D. in philosophy, 1898; spent a year teaching at Cambridge; at University of California, Berkeley, for 4 years; took a post at Barnard College (Columbia), 1903; on the graduate faculty of Columbia University, 1907; retired from both in 1947.

Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins, University of California, Yale, and Harvard. Carnegie Visiting Professor of International Relations in 1928 in Japan, Czechoslovakia, and Italy.

John Roth provides a brief summary of his thought (in the DAB):

`... The high esteem in which he was held is reflected in the fact that he filled three of the most important philosophical lectureships in the United States... His important writings include "A Realistic Theory of Truth and Error,"...; The New Realism (1912), The Ways of Knowing (1925), Belief Unbound (1930), The Chances of Surviving Death (1934), The Ways of Things (1940), and Great Visions of Philosophy (1950). ...

The thought of William... forms an important chapter in the history of American philosophy. His early philosophical training ... brought him into contact with ... William James [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] , ... and George Santayana. American philosophy was heavily dominated by theories of idealism ... rooted in the work of Hegel and Kant. In his 1902 paper "Professor Royce's Refutation of Realism" , Montague emerged as a penetrating critic of idealist thought. ... he was active ... in pushing forward a philosophical alternative ... known as "New Realism".

Along with the growth of pragmatism, this movement put idealism on the defensive in American philosophy. ... he explored and developed variations on the reality of a world independent of thought; ... rejection of the thesis that all relations are fundamentally "internal" in character; acceptance of scientific method as providing the normative model and foundation of knowledge, ...' (Roth, in DAB, Supl. 5, 1951-55, p.504)

`... one high certainty that is quite philosophy's own: Ideals are eternal things, and the life that incarnates them attains an absolute value that time alone could not create and that their death is powerless to destroy.' (William Pepperell Montague)

Some of Professor Royce's Refutation is available online. Ralph Perry also wrote a critique of this work.

'He was one of the authors of the new realist manifesto (1910) and the collection The New Realism (1912). ... Claiming to have achieved a new synthesis of idealism and materialism, Montague called this synthesis animistic materialism... Montague regarded matter and the psyche as two different forms of energy; he considered matter as the mechanical system of kinetic energy and thought as the hierarchical system of potential energy concentrated in the brain. Montague supported the theory of emergent evolution, which he interpreted mechanistically...' (Bogomolov, Great Soviet Encyclopedia)

`... Montague inaugurated an introductory course that provided a broad survey of logic, theory of knowledge, metaphysics, and ethics and that pictured the universe as described by scientists. ... His particular fields of interest were time-perception, verification of Fechner's law, energistic theory of consciousness, basic conception of physics, and the New Realism. ... New Realism constituted essentially a return to naive or common-sense realism, emphasizing, however, a distinction between accurate and erroneous experience, and envisaging two kinds of experience: the actual, or sensory things; and the independent, or nonsensory objects or essences, such as values, number, space and time, laws of nature, and falsity as well as truth.' (NC)

What is it about philosophers and shortcuts to utopia? The National Cyclopedia describes his efforts to influence politics:

`... he was interested in radical social theories and mathematics. During the First World War he joined with ... other right-wing Socialists in an abortive effort to win American radicals to the side of the democratic nations. In 1934, at an annual meeting ... of the American Philosophical Association, he proposed the implementing of liberalism by delegating dictatorial powers to the President of the United States and urged the creation of a chain of communities for the unemployed of that depression period. He repeated this theory at the International Philosophical Congress held in Prague...' (NC)

The Ways of Knowing or the Methods of Philosophy, (1925).

Belief Unbound, a Promethean Religion for the Modern World, (1930).

The Chances of Surviving Death, (1934).

The Ways of Things - A Philosophy of Knowledge, Nature and Value, (1940).

Great Visions of Philosophy, (1950), a collection of his lectures.

The New Realism, (1912) (co-author)

Contemporary American Philosophy, (1930), co-author with George Adams.

A descendent of Richard Montague (of Hadley, Mass, 1658).

Sources:
[DAB], Supl. 5, 1951-1955, p. 503.
The National Cyclopedia.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia.