Henry Horace Williams
Encyclopedia
Henry Horace Williams was a professor of philosophy
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
from 1890 to 1940. From 1921 to 1935 he was a Kenan Professor of philosophy at UNC, and from 1936-1940 he was a Professor Emeritus. After being invited to teach at UNC, he became the first chair of the Mental and Moral Sciences Department, which is today better known as the Department of Philosophy.
His many interests were varied, yet his especial focus was logic and its humanistic aspects and evolution. He was an owner of the Horace Williams House in Chapel Hill, NC, where The Preservation Society of Chapel Hill
is headquartered, beginning in 1897. Horace died in 1940 - nearing death, Horace donated his home and outlying properties to UNC's Philosophy Department. This outlying property eventually became the well-known Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill.
. He was born to a farming family - his father was a country doctor who did not attend college. Horace, fortunately, attended the Academy in Murfreesboro, North Carolina
, where he had "an intellectual conversion which determined the direction of his whole future life" (Origin of Belief, p.196). He went on to attend UNC in 1879, and he later he attended Yale Divinity School
, where he achieved his B.D. degree in 1888. He went on to teach challenging philosophy courses at Harvard (which had a far freer environment than other institutions during this period) and was known as a notably tough grader, consistently asking labyrinthine philosophical questions.
Horace was quite well known as a community stand out in Chapel Hill and in other locales. Robert Watson Winston, well aware of the professor's iconoclastic nature, went as far as to pen a book called, Horace Williams: Gadfly of Chapel Hill.
Notable students:
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
from 1890 to 1940. From 1921 to 1935 he was a Kenan Professor of philosophy at UNC, and from 1936-1940 he was a Professor Emeritus. After being invited to teach at UNC, he became the first chair of the Mental and Moral Sciences Department, which is today better known as the Department of Philosophy.
His many interests were varied, yet his especial focus was logic and its humanistic aspects and evolution. He was an owner of the Horace Williams House in Chapel Hill, NC, where The Preservation Society of Chapel Hill
The Preservation Society of Chapel Hill
The Preservation Society of Chapel Hill is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Founded in 1972 by Ida Friday and Georgia Kyser , the society works to save and restore Chapel Hill's natural and man-made, historic artifacts...
is headquartered, beginning in 1897. Horace died in 1940 - nearing death, Horace donated his home and outlying properties to UNC's Philosophy Department. This outlying property eventually became the well-known Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill.
Biography
Prof. Henry Horace Williams (HHW) was born in 1858 in Gates County, North CarolinaGates County, North Carolina
Gates County is a small rural county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010, the population was 12,197. Its county seat is Gatesville. It is part of the Albemarle Sound area of the Inner Banks...
. He was born to a farming family - his father was a country doctor who did not attend college. Horace, fortunately, attended the Academy in Murfreesboro, North Carolina
Murfreesboro, North Carolina
Murfreesboro is a town in Hertford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,045 at the 2000 census. Murfreesboro is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region.-Geography:Murfreesboro is located at ....
, where he had "an intellectual conversion which determined the direction of his whole future life" (Origin of Belief, p.196). He went on to attend UNC in 1879, and he later he attended Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School is a professional school at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. preparing students for ordained or lay ministry, or for the academy...
, where he achieved his B.D. degree in 1888. He went on to teach challenging philosophy courses at Harvard (which had a far freer environment than other institutions during this period) and was known as a notably tough grader, consistently asking labyrinthine philosophical questions.
Horace was quite well known as a community stand out in Chapel Hill and in other locales. Robert Watson Winston, well aware of the professor's iconoclastic nature, went as far as to pen a book called, Horace Williams: Gadfly of Chapel Hill.
"While he was a student in the Yale Divinity School he was not infrequently called before the committee, not for any fault in his conduct but because he openly questioned, even rejected, some of the statements of his orthodox professors... The only authority which he recognized as final was the authority of truth."Origin of Belief, p.196
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Notable students:
- Sam ErvinSam ErvinSamuel James "Sam" Ervin Jr. was a Democratic Senator from North Carolina from 1954 until 1974. A native of Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often told humorous stories in his Southern drawl...
, chair of the Senate Watergate Committee - Edward Kidder Graham, acting president of UNC in 1914
- Graham Kenan
Published works
- The Evolution of Logic (1925)
- Modern Logic (1927)
- The Education of Horace Williams (1936)
- The Good Teacher (1945)
- Logic for Living (1951)
- The Origin of Belief (1978)