{{short description|American philosopher, theologian and Behaviorist}} {{refimprove|date=February 2013}}
'''James Bissett Pratt''' (June 22, 1875 – January 15, 1944) held the Mark Hopkins Chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at Williams College. He was president of the American Theological Society from 1934 to 1935.
Born in Elmira, New York, Pratt was the only child of Daniel Ransom Pratt and Katharine Graham Murdoch. He had an early appreciation of being read to by his mother, and particularly admired the idealism of Ralph Waldo Emerson in his youth. Pratt graduated from Elmira Free Academy in 1893, then attended Williams College, graduating in 1898.<ref name="AutoXQ-1">{{cite web |last1=Petersen |first1=Kristen A. |title=Pratt, James Bissett (1875-1944) |url=https://specialcollections.williams.edu/williams-history/biographies/james-bissett-pratt-1875-1944/ |website=Williams College History Biographies |publisher=Williams College Special Collections |accessdate=20 July 2020}}</ref>
He subsequently studied at the University of Berlin and at Harvard University, earning his doctorate through his mentor William James in 1905. He returned to Williams to teach and write on philosophy thereafter. Pratt began teaching at Williams College in 1905 as Instructor of Philosophy. In 1906, he was promoted to Assistant Professor.<REF name="AutoXQ-1"/>
In 1910, Pratt traveled to Chicago, where he met his future wife, Catherine Mariotti. They traveled to Italy in 1911 and were married. In 1917, Pratt was named the Mark Hopkins Chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. He took a sabbatical in 1923, travelling in the Far East and teaching at the Chinese Christian University in Peking. Pratt retired in 1943 and received an honorary L.H.D. from Williams College. He died on January 15, 1944.<ref name="AutoXQ-1" />
== Writings == * [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005772422 The Psychology of Religious Belief], 1907 * [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001382951 What Is Pragmatism?] 1909<ref name="Schinz1909">{{cite journal|last1=Schinz|first1=Albert|authorlink=Albert Schinz|title=Book Review: ''What is Pragmatism?'' by James Bisset Pratt|journal=Ethics|volume=20|issue=1|year=1909|pages=117–120|issn=0014-1704|doi=10.1086/206496|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000048168366&view=1up&seq=131|url-access=subscription}}</ref> * [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001394640 India and Its Faiths], 1915<ref name="JonesPratt1916">{{cite journal|last1=Jones|first1=John Peter|title=Review of ''India and Its Faiths: A Traveller's Record'' by James Bissett Pratt|journal=The Journal of Race Development|volume=6|issue=3|year=1916|pages=339|issn=1068-3380|doi=10.2307/29738149|jstor=29738149|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101077788030&view=1up&seq=353|hdl=2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t3tt5652x|hdl-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> * [https://books.google.com/books?id=H3xBAAAAYAAJ Democracy and Peace], 1916 * [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011680997 Essays in Critical Realism], 1920 (collection of essays with one essay [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b5191393&view=1up&seq=99 ''Critical Realism and the Possibility of Knowledge''] by Pratt) * [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001391457 The Religious Consciousness: A Psychological Study], 1920<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thouless|first=R. H.|date=1921|title=Book Review: The Religious Consciousness: A Psychological Study|journal=Theology|language=en-US|volume=2|issue=11|pages=261–267|doi=10.1177/0040571x2100201110|s2cid=148591692|issn=0040-571X}}</ref> * [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001388520 Matter and Spirit], 1922 *Behaviorism and consciousness, 1922 * [https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1929-01246-000 The Pilgrimage of Buddhism], 1928<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Edward J.|date=2011|title=The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage. By J. B. Pratt. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1928.|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/pilgrimage-of-buddhism-and-a-buddhist-pilgrimage-by-j-b-pratt-9-7-pp-xii-758-london-macmillan-and-co-ltd-1928/A1434F2B80B0CE107E15BF6719D5356E|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|language=en|volume=61|issue=3|pages=613–614|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00151676|s2cid=161928352 |issn=1474-0591|url-access=subscription}}</ref> * [https://archive.org/details/reasoninartofliv0000prat Reason in the Art of Living], 1949<ref>{{Cite web|last=Collins|first=Phillip|date=1949|title='Reason in the Art of Living' By Professor Pratt Appears in Posthumous Publication|url=https://unbound.williams.edu/williamsarchives/islandora/object/williamsrecord:4270?search=%2522james%2520bissett%2520pratt%2522|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-21|website=unbound.williams.edu}}</ref> * [https://www.questia.com/library/669733/eternal-values-in-religion Eternal Values of Religion, 1950]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Aubrey|first=Edwin E.|date=1950|title=Eternal Values in Religion, by James Bissett Pratt|journal=Theology Today|volume=7|issue=2|pages=259–261|doi=10.1177/004057365000700214|s2cid=170536516|issn=0040-5736}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://archivesspace.williams.edu/repositories/2/resources/109 James Bissett Pratt Papers] at Williams College Archives and Special Collections
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, James Bissett}} Category:1875 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Williams College faculty Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Category:Williams College alumni __FORCETOC__