Ralph Barton Perry

Ralph Barton Perry (July 3, 1876 – January 22, 1957) was an American philosopher, born in Poultney, Vermont. He pursued his higher education at Princeton University (B.A., 1896) and Harvard University (M.A., 1897; Ph.D., 1899). After teaching philosophy at Williams and Smith colleges, he began his long tenure at Harvard in 1902, rising through the ranks to become Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy. Perry was a student of William James and became a prominent figure in the New Realism movement. His philosophical work included contributions to ethical theory, epistemology, and metaphysics. He argued for a naturalistic theory of value and a New Realist approach to perception and knowledge. Perry also explored the role of religion in relation to reason and social progress, advocating for a form of moral idealism. His influential biography of William James earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1936. He was also known for his advocacy of "militant democracy" and his work "Puritanism and Democracy" (1944), which sought to reconcile foundational concepts of American identity. Between 1946 and 1948, he delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures in Glasgow, titled "Realms of Value." Perry died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1957.