Walter Terence Stace
| Walter Terence Stace | |
|---|---|
| Born |
17 November 1886 London, UK |
| Died | 2 August 1967 (aged 80) Laguna Beach, California, US |
| Occupation | Philosopher, academic, civil servant |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
| Subject | Philosophy of mysticism |
| Notable works | Mysticism and Philosophy (1960) |
Walter Terence Stace (17 November 1886 – 2 August 1967) was a British civil servant, educator, public philosopher and epistemologist, who wrote on Hegel, mysticism, and moral relativism. He worked with the Ceylon Civil Service from 1910-1932, and from 1932-1955 he was employed by Princeton University in the Department of Philosophy. He is most renowned for his work in the philosophy of mysticism, and for books like Mysticism and Philosophy (1960) and Teachings of the Mystics (1960). These works have been influential in the study of mysticism, but they have also been severely criticised for their lack of methodological rigor and their perennialist pre-assumptions.
Walter Terence Stace was born in Hampstead, London into an English military family. He was a son of Major Edward Vincent Stace (September 3, 1841 - May 6, 1903) (of the Royal Artillery) and Amy Mary Watson (1856 - March 29, 1934), who were married on December 21, 1872 in Poona (Pune), India. In addition to attaining high rank in the Royal Artillery, Walter's father Edward had also served as a British Political Agent (February 1889-August 1893) in British Somaliland. Walter's great-grandfather William Stace (1755 - May 31, 1839) was Chief Commissary (Commissary-General) of the Royal Artillery during the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815). Walter's mother Amy was a daughter of Rev. George Augustus Frederick Watson (1821-1897) and Elizabeth Mary Williams, who were married on June 15, 1852 in St. James' Church, Paddington, London. Rev. G. A. F. Watson was vicar (1877-1893) of St. Margaret's Church in Abbotsley, Huntingdonshire/Cambridgeshire.
Instead of pursuing a military career, Walter decided to follow a religious and philosophical path. He was educated at Bath College (1895-1901), Fettes College (in Edinburgh, Scotland) (1902-1904), and later at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland). His original intention was to become a priest in the Anglican Church, having experienced a religious conversion in his teens. However, while at Trinity College, through the influence of Hegel scholar Henry Stewart Macran (1867-1937) (professor of moral philosophy in Trinity College) he developed a deep interest in the systematic philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831), and graduated in philosophy in 1908.
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