William Douw Lighthall
Encyclopedia
William Douw Lighthall K.C., LL.D., F.R.S.C. (often referred to as W.D. Lighthall), can be and has been described as a Canadian "lawyer, historian, novelist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, and editor."
, Canada West, to Margaret Wright McIntryre and William Francis Lighthall, W.D. Lighthall grew up in Montreal
and attended McGill University
, where he took his B.A.
in 1879, Bachelor of Civil Laws in 1881, and M.A
. in 1885. Admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1881, he practiced law in Montreal for the next 63 years, from 1881 to 1944.
In 1890 he married Cybel Charlotte Wilkes, and they had three children: Alice Margaret Schuyler Lighthall (born 1891), Cybel Katharine Schuyler Lighthall, (born 1893), and William Wilkes Schuyler Lighthall, born 1896.
In 1893 W.D. Lighthall did the legal work pro bono
to incorporate the Montreal Women's Club.
He served as mayor
of Westmount
from 1900 to 1903. During that time he originated, and in 1901 co-founded, the Union of Canadian Municipalities (now the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
). He also served as vice president of the National Municipal League of America.
In 1915 he founded Canada's first veterans' group, the Canadian Association of Returned Soldiers.
Lighthall was a member of the International Congress of Philosophy
. He published in the Philosophical Review three times in the late 1920s.
He took a long-time interest in Canadian history, originating the Château Ramezay Historical Museum, and serving on the Royal Historical Monuments Commission and as chairman of the McCord Historical Museum. He wrote historical books, such as Montreal After 250 Years, and monographs, like The Manor House of Lacolle.
Lighthall also wrote historical romances, initially under the pen name of Wilfrid Châteauclair, beginning with The Young Seigneur, or Nation Making in 1888. He wrote poetry as well, publishing his first book, Thoughts, Moods and Ideals, in 1887. He was an early supporter of the Canadian Authors Association, becoming its president in 1930.
In literary circles, though, Lighthall "is remembered mainly for his anthology, Songs of the Great Dominion
... which included a large number of poets whose names are still familiar, for example, Wilfred Campbell
, Carman
, Crawford
, Johnson
, Lampman
, and Charles G.D. Roberts
."
In 1921 he was made an honorary Doctor of Laws by McGill.
A reader of Lighthall's philosophical works may encounter some difficulty with the style. The main problem lies in the fact that Lighthall seldom completely reworked the lecture notes, pamphlets, and texts that he used to create the works as he published them. Furthermore, he preferred to number his paragraphs, as he considered these paragraphs to be “capsular” ideas. Perhaps due to his training in law he preferred to protect the integrity of these modules rather than sacrifice any of their meaning for the integrated flow of ideas in a particular chapter as a whole. Because of this practice the author’s style appears jarringly disjointed at times. Ironically, the logical progression of deductive reasoning, so important to Lighthall's system, is often under stress because of this style.
The Lighthall system was an attempt to remarry science and religion in a single philosophical understanding of reality. Within the structure of that system Lighthall claimed to have avoided what he called the “metaphysical” problem. He insisted that all that was proposed in the hypothesis was derived from his observation of scientific fact.
To be precise Lighthall considered the principles of his theory to be “proven” scientific facts and the proof to be founded upon deductive reasoning.
The system equated Instinct with Will. Further it viewed Will as the manifest cause of both the conscious and unconscious act. Lighthall stated: 'All living action is willing, and all is by nature purposive.’
Lighthall informed his readers that it was the phenomenon of the altruistic act that had been the initial “middle” ground that had led him to the formulation of the theory:
Life and work
Born in HamiltonHamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Canada West, to Margaret Wright McIntryre and William Francis Lighthall, W.D. Lighthall grew up in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and attended McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, where he took his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1879, Bachelor of Civil Laws in 1881, and M.A
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
. in 1885. Admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1881, he practiced law in Montreal for the next 63 years, from 1881 to 1944.
In 1890 he married Cybel Charlotte Wilkes, and they had three children: Alice Margaret Schuyler Lighthall (born 1891), Cybel Katharine Schuyler Lighthall, (born 1893), and William Wilkes Schuyler Lighthall, born 1896.
In 1893 W.D. Lighthall did the legal work pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
to incorporate the Montreal Women's Club.
He served as mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Westmount
Westmount, Quebec
Westmount is a city on the Island of Montreal, an enclave of the city of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada; pop. 20,494; area 4.02 km²; population density of 5,092.56 inhabitants/km²....
from 1900 to 1903. During that time he originated, and in 1901 co-founded, the Union of Canadian Municipalities (now the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is a civic advocacy group representing many Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence debate and policy, as it is main national lobby group of mayors, councillors and other elected municipal...
). He also served as vice president of the National Municipal League of America.
In 1915 he founded Canada's first veterans' group, the Canadian Association of Returned Soldiers.
Lighthall was a member of the International Congress of Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. He published in the Philosophical Review three times in the late 1920s.
He took a long-time interest in Canadian history, originating the Château Ramezay Historical Museum, and serving on the Royal Historical Monuments Commission and as chairman of the McCord Historical Museum. He wrote historical books, such as Montreal After 250 Years, and monographs, like The Manor House of Lacolle.
Lighthall also wrote historical romances, initially under the pen name of Wilfrid Châteauclair, beginning with The Young Seigneur, or Nation Making in 1888. He wrote poetry as well, publishing his first book, Thoughts, Moods and Ideals, in 1887. He was an early supporter of the Canadian Authors Association, becoming its president in 1930.
In literary circles, though, Lighthall "is remembered mainly for his anthology, Songs of the Great Dominion
Songs of the Great Dominion
Songs of the Great Dominion was a pioneering anthology of Canadian poetry published in 1889. The book's full title was Songs of the Great Dominion: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada. The collection was selected and edited by William Douw Lighthall of Montreal...
... which included a large number of poets whose names are still familiar, for example, Wilfred Campbell
William Wilfred Campbell
William Wilfred Campbell was a Canadian poet. He is often classed as one of the country's Confederation Poets, a group that included fellow Canadians Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, Archibald Lampman, and Duncan Campbell Scott; he was a colleague of Lampman and Scott...
, Carman
Bliss Carman
Bliss Carman FRSC was a Canadian poet who lived most of his life in the United States, where he achieved international fame. He was acclaimed as Canada's poet laureate during his later years....
, Crawford
Isabella Valancy Crawford
Isabella Valancy Crawford was an Irish-born Canadian writer and poet. She was one of the first Canadians to make a living as a freelance writer....
, Johnson
Pauline Johnson
Emily Pauline Johnson , commonly known as E. Pauline Johnson or just Pauline Johnson, was a Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century...
, Lampman
Archibald Lampman
Archibald Lampman, was a Canadian poet. "He has been described as 'the Canadian Keats;' and he is perhaps the most outstanding exponent of the Canadian school of nature poets." The Canadian Encyclopedia says that he is "generally considered the finest of Canada's late 19th-century poets in...
, and Charles G.D. Roberts
Charles G.D. Roberts
Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts, was a Canadian poet and prose writer who is known as the Father of Canadian Poetry. He was "almost the first Canadian author to obtain worldwide reputation and influence; he was also a tireless promoter and encourager of Canadian literature......
."
Recognition
W.D. Lighthall was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1902, and served as its president in 1918 and 1919.In 1921 he was made an honorary Doctor of Laws by McGill.
Lighthall's philosophy
Lighthall was among a number of the post-Darwinian thinkers of the nineteenth century who struggled with the concept of a Supreme Cause. Some of them not only struggled to redefine “God”; they also struggled to rename this entity. For his part Lighthall defined the cause as a “force of will” and called that force “The Outer Consciousness”, “The Outer Knowledge”, ”The Directive Power”, and “The Person of Evolution”. However unlike the philosopher Schopenhauer or the novelist Hardy, Lighthall, who considered himself to be both a philosopher and a novelist was optimistic in his view of the nature of “the will”. That optimism was based on Lighthall's unbending faith in the positive nature of evolutionary progress. His views are present in his Novels particularly in The Master of Life as well as in his hope for Canada as a nation.A reader of Lighthall's philosophical works may encounter some difficulty with the style. The main problem lies in the fact that Lighthall seldom completely reworked the lecture notes, pamphlets, and texts that he used to create the works as he published them. Furthermore, he preferred to number his paragraphs, as he considered these paragraphs to be “capsular” ideas. Perhaps due to his training in law he preferred to protect the integrity of these modules rather than sacrifice any of their meaning for the integrated flow of ideas in a particular chapter as a whole. Because of this practice the author’s style appears jarringly disjointed at times. Ironically, the logical progression of deductive reasoning, so important to Lighthall's system, is often under stress because of this style.
The Lighthall system was an attempt to remarry science and religion in a single philosophical understanding of reality. Within the structure of that system Lighthall claimed to have avoided what he called the “metaphysical” problem. He insisted that all that was proposed in the hypothesis was derived from his observation of scientific fact.
To be precise Lighthall considered the principles of his theory to be “proven” scientific facts and the proof to be founded upon deductive reasoning.
The system equated Instinct with Will. Further it viewed Will as the manifest cause of both the conscious and unconscious act. Lighthall stated: 'All living action is willing, and all is by nature purposive.’
Lighthall informed his readers that it was the phenomenon of the altruistic act that had been the initial “middle” ground that had led him to the formulation of the theory:
- ‘The utilitarian school, with its intellectual solutions on the basis of joy and pains, reflected by sympathy, appeared to me to give a reasonable account of most other moral acts,-but that an individual could deliberately annihilate himself for another evidently imported some element extraneous to the individual's own ordinary machinery of willing. Determined to accept no superficial 'explanation' of the problem such as glib use of words like 'volition' and 'conation,' I reduced acts of will to their simplest forms, noting their gradual shadings into, and intimate connections with habits, instincts, functions, reflexes, etc., and observing that these led to a world outside the consciousness of the individual. Thence I was brought to conclude, like Schopenhauer, that there is a unitary directive cause behind all these processes, and I included Evolution itself, regarded as one long act of willing. The characteristics that struck me most forcibly were the independence of this outer will, and its apparently highly conscious nature.'
History
- Montreal After 250 Years. Montreal: F.E. Grafton, 1892. Reprinted as Sights and Shrines of Montreal.
- A New Hochelagan Burying-Ground Discovered at Westmount on the Western Spur of Mount Royal, Montreal, July–September 1898. Montreal: Privately printed, 1898.
- The Manor House of Lacolle. C.A. Marchand, n.d.
- The Glorious Enterprise (1902)
- Canada, A Modern Nation (1904)
Philosophy
- Sketch of a new utilitarianism: including a criticism of the ordinary argument from design and other matter (1877).
- "An Organic Superpersonality?--A Rejoinder". Philosophical Review 36 (4):372-373. (1927).
- "The Directive Power". Philosophical Review 37 (6):600-606. (1928).
- "The Knowledge That is in Instinct." Philosophical Review 39 (5):491-501 (1930).
- The Person of Evolution: The Outer Consciousness, The Outer Knowledge, The Directive Power, Studies of Instinct as Contribution to a Philosophy of Evolution. Toronto: Macmillan, 1930.
Fiction
- The Young Seigneur, or Nation Making. Montreal: Drysdale, 1888.
- The False Chevalier, or, The Lifeguard of Marie Antionette. Montreal: F.E. Grafton, 1898.
- The Master of Life . Toronto: Musson, 1908. A a romance of the Five Nations and of prehistoric Montreal.
Poetry
- Thoughts, Moods and Ideals: Crimes of Leisure. Montreal: "Witness" Steam Printing House, 18871887 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* George Frederick Cameron, Lyrics on Freedom, Love and Death, posthumously published ....
. - Old Measures (collected verse). Montreal: A.T. Chapman, 19221922 in poetry— Opening lines from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry established...
. Toronto: Musson, 1922.
Edited
- Songs of the Great Dominion: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada Walter Scott [Windsor Series], 1889.
- Canadian Poems and Lays. Walter Scott, 1892.
- Canadian Poems (Canterbury Poets, 1891).