H. Wildon Carr

Herbert Wildon Carr (16 January 1857 – 8 July 1931) was a British philosopher. He was known for reconciling Leibnizian Monadology with Bergsonian vitalism.

Life

Carr was Professor of Philosophy, King's College London from 1918 to 1925, and visiting professor at the University of Southern California from 1925 until his death.

Philosophy

Carr was an advocate of Bergsonian vitalism which he combined with a monadistic idealism. In a symposium of the Aristotelian Society he authored The Idealistic Interpretation of Einstein's Theory (1921–1922) which declared that the theory of relativity was in "complete accord" with idealistic philosophy, not realism. Carr stated that "while my theory of knowledge is idealistic and even solipsistic, my theory of existence is vitalistic". He defined creative evolution as "an idealistic principle applied to positive science". He argued that materialistic and mechanistic principles fail to explain the intelligence of organisms. He has been described as a pantheist.

Selected publications

Henri Bergson: The Philosophy of Change, London: Jack, 1911 The Problem of Truth, New York: Dodge, 1913 The Philosophy of Benedetto Croce, London: Macmillan, 1917 The General Principle of Relativity in Its Philosophical and Historical Aspect, London: Macmillan, 1922 L'Énergie spirituelle, Translated by H. Wildon Carr as Mind-Energy: Lectures and Essays, London: Macmillan, 1920 A Theory of Monads: Outlines of the Philosophy of the Principle of Relativity, London: Macmillan, 1922 Scientific Approach to Philosophy: Selected Essays and Reviews, London: Macmillan, 1924 Changing Backgrounds in Religion and Ethics: A Metaphysical Meditation, New York: Macmillan, 1927 The Unique Status of Man, in, American Journal of Sociology, 1928 The Freewill Problem, London: Benn Ltd., 1928 Leibniz, Boston: Little Brown, 1929