Laurens Perseus Hickok was America's first systematic philosopher and also won distinction as a theologian and educational administrator. He was born in Bethel, Connecticut, and was educated at Union College. He trained for the ministry under William Andrews and Bennett Tyler, who was a major spokesman for "old school" Calvinism. Hickok served well as pastor at Kent, Connecticut (1823–1829), and Litchfield, Connecticut (1829–1836). He then became professor of theology at Western Reserve College (1836–1844) and Auburn Theological Seminary (1844–1855). His alma mater, Union College, called him to serve as vice-president and professor of mental and moral philosophy (1855–1866) and president (1866–1868). In 1868 he retired to Amherst, Massachusetts, where he wrote several books over the next twenty years.

The core of Hickok's philosophic enterprise was the attempt to allow adequate weight to the claims of reason and experience in all domains of intellectual life. Ultimately, he was convinced, the...