David Hartley was a British philosopher, physician and mathematician who became famous for developing the theory of “associationism”, and for theorizing the physiological basis of the human ability to establish mental associations which is now an established part of medical and psychological theory.
Hartley was born on August 8, 1705 near Halifax in Yorkshire. Both his parents died before he reached the age of twenty: his mother when he was three months old, his father (an Anglican clergyman) when he was fifteen. He was educated at Bradford grammar school and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he received his B.A. and M.A degrees, later becoming a fellow of the college in 1727. After completing his education, he had hoped to …
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Citation: Side, Jeffrey. "David Hartley". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 July 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2012, accessed 26 November 2024.]