American philosopher and educator Herman Harrell Horne (1874-1946) was a leading spokesman for philosophical idealism in educational theory and practice during the first half of the 20th century. He advocated a spiritual and religious approach to education.

Herman Harrell Horne was born on November 22, 1874, in Clayton, North Carolina. His father was Hardee Horne, a farmer, and his mother was Ida Caroline Harrell Horne. Horne was educated in the public schools of Clayton and also at the Davis Military Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina in the early 1890s, receiving both the B.A. and the M.A. degrees in 1895. Shortly thereafter he attended Harvard University, where he received a second M.A. degree in 1897 and the Ph.D. degree in 1899. He did post-graduate work at the University of Berlin in 1906-1907.

Horne began his teaching career as an instructor in French at...