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William Lyall, philosopher (b at Paisley, Scot 11 June 1811; d at Halifax 17 Jan 1890). He arrived in Halifax in 1850 as a minister trained in the classics. Most of his teaching (about 32 hours a week) was done at Dalhousie in Halifax.
Lyall, William
William Lyall, philosopher (b at Paisley, Scot 11 June 1811; d at Halifax 17 Jan 1890). He arrived in Halifax in 1850 as a minister trained in the classics. Most of his teaching (about 32 hours a week) was done at Dalhousie in Halifax. His major work, Intellect, The Emotions and The Moral Nature (1855), attempted to bring together the emotions and intellect in man. Lyall relied on commonsense realism and Augustinian Neoplatonism to achieve his goal. He argued that the emotions, of which love was most important, were a source of knowledge. This position influenced his ethical theory, which in turn was reflected in the moral tone of Maritime literary works of his day.
