born May 31, 1838, Skipton, Yorkshire, Eng.
died Aug. 29, 1900, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
British philosopher.
Educated at Cambridge, he remained there as a fellow (from 1859) and professor (from 1883). His Methods of Ethics (1874) is considered by some the most significant 19th-century ethical work in English. Drawing on the utilitarianism of categorical imperative of {{link=Kant, Immanuel">Immanuel Kant , he proposed a system of "universalistic hedonism" that would reconcile the apparent conflict between the pleasure of self and the pleasure of others. His other writings include Principles of Political Economy (1883) and Elements of Politics (1891). He also cofounded the Society for Psychical Research (1882) and helped found Cambridge's first women's college.