Charles Augustus Strong

Charles Augustus Strong (November 28, 1862 – January 23, 1940) was an American philosopher and psychologist. He spent the earlier part of his career teaching in the United States, but after his wife died, in 1906 he settled with their daughter in Italy, near Florence. Between 1918 and 1936 he wrote most of his works there.

Early life and education

Charles Augustus Strong was born in the United States on November 28, 1862, at Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was the eldest son of Augustus Hopkins Strong and his wife.

In 1865 his father moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio, where they became acquainted with the family of John D. Rockefeller. Strong was educated as a youth at the Rochester Theological Seminary, where his father was president. He studied in higher grades at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Strong was a student of Latin and Greek, and edited the school paper. In July 1881 he travelled to Germany, where he studied at the Gütersloh Gymnasium.

Philosophy

In The Origin of Consciousness (1918), Strong advocated a form of panpsychism. The book expanded on William Kingdon Clifford's mind-stuff theory. Philosopher David Skrbina has noted that "Strong stands out as one of the more consistent and open advocates of panpsychism in the first part of the century."

Personal life

On March 22, 1889, Strong married Bessie, the eldest of four daughters of John D. Rockefeller and his wife Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman (1839–1915).

In 1906, after the death of his wife, Strong moved with his daughter Margaret to Fiesole, Italy, near Florence. He wrote his most influential works while living there. He died on January 23, 1940, near his Villa Le Balze, in Fiesole. His daughter, Margaret Rockefeller Strong, left the villa to Georgetown University for the establishment there of the Charles August Strong Center for Scholarship.

Publications Why the Mind Has a Body (1903) The Origin of Consciousness (1918) Essays in Critical Realism (1920) The Wisdom of the Beasts (1921) A Theory of Knowledge (1923) Essays on the Natural Origin of the Mind (1930) A Creed for Sceptics (1936)