John Fiske

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John Fiske, 1878

John Fiske (1842 - 1901), born Edmund Fisk Green, was an American philosopher and historian. He was born at Hartford, Conn., March 30, 1842. On the second marriage of his mother (1855) he assumed the name of his maternal great-grandfather, John Fiske. As a child, he exhibited remarkable precocity. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1863 and at the Harvard Law School in 1865.

His philosophy was influenced by Herbert Spencer, particularly Spencer's views on evolution. Fiske believed in the racial superiority of the "Anglo-Saxon race" as a product of natural selection, pointing to the fact that the English and the Americans had already covered a third of the globe and had spearheaded progress in the form of democracy and capitalism. Fiske was instrumental in the application of Social Darwinism to racism.

Before he became a writer, he practiced law. In books such as Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy (ISBN 0384157807), Fiske aimed to reconcile science and orthodox religious beliefs. Fiske was a popular lecturer on these topics in his early career and later turned to historical writings instead, publishing books such as The Discovery of America (1892, ISBN 1932080422). In addition, he edited, with Gen. James Grant Wilson, Appleton's Cyclopœdia of American Biography (1887). He died, worn out by overwork, at Gloucester, Mass., July 4, 1901.

Works

* General
Myths and Myth Makers (1872)
Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy (1874)
The Unseen World (1876)
Darwinism and Other Essays (1879; revised and enlarged, 1885)
Excursions of an Evolutionist (1883)
The Destiny of Man Viewed in the Light of his Origin (1884)
The Idea of God as Affected by modern Knowledge (1885)
Origin of Evil (1899)
A Century of Science and Other Essays (1899)
Through Nature to God (1899)
The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War (1900)
Life Everlasting (1901)

* History
American Political Ideas Viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History (1885)
The Critical Period of American History, 1783-89 (1888)
The Beginnings of New England (1889)
The War of Independence, a book for young people (1889)
Civil Government of the United States (1890)
The American Revolution (two volumes, 1891)
The Discovery of America (two volumes, 1892)
A United States History for Schools (1895)
Old Virginia and her Neighbors (two volumes, 1897)
Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America (two volumes, 1899)
Essays, Literary and Historical (1902)
New France and New England (1902)
A collection of his historical works appeared in 1912 as Historical Works (Popular Edition). It is in eleven volumes.

External links

This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.

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