Sir William Temple's significance for the history of logic lies in his strenuous championing of Ramism in the Cambridge of the 1580s. He is perhaps best known for the bitter pamphlet war with Everard Digby that began his public writing career. The dispute attracted the influential Wéchel firm in Frankfurt am Main, which ensured that it became part of a wider international debate by publishing works by both Temple and Digby. In later life Temple played a fundamental role in the development of Trinity College Dublin. His long reign as provost was crucial in the consolidation of the new colonial college, and as the author of the first extant set of statutes he influenced the direction of the institution for centuries to come.

Temple was born in around 1550. Some commentators have assumed that he was the son of Anthony and Jane Bargrave Temple of Coughton, Warwickshire...