October 2, 1905: George Santayana Publishes "The Life of Reason"

October 2, 1905: George Santayana publishes Reason in Common Sense. It is the 1st part of what becomes a 5-part series, ultimately collected as The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress, a landmark work in both philosophy and sociology.

Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás was born on December 16, 1863, in the Spanish capital of Madrid. His mother took him to Boston at the age of 8, and anglicized his name to "George Santayana." He studied at Harvard under William James, one of the top philosophical writers of the era, and known as "The Father of American Psychology."

Santayana would go on to teach at Harvard as well, from 1889 to 1912. Among his students were sociali scientist W.E.B. Du Bois, journalist Walter Lippmann, novelist Gertrude Stein, and poets poets T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost and Conrad Aiken.

Santayana published The Life of Reason in 5 volumes, published in 1905 and 1906: Reason in Common Sense, Reason in Society, Reason in Religion, Reason in Art, and Reason in Science. In 1912, he moved back to Europe, living there the rest of his life, which included The Realms of Being, another major philosophical work, published in 1942, at the depth of World War II.

He died in Rome on September 26, 1952. He had pretty much outlived his fame, but some of the lines he included in The Life of Reason have become better remembered:

* "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (This one is frequently misquoted.)

* "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

* "There is no cure for birth and death, save to enjoy the interval."

* "The great difficulty in education is to get experience out of ideas."

* "Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.” (My definition of fanaticism is doubling your firepower when it's your aim that stinks.)

* His definition of beauty: "Pleasure objectified."

A revival of interest in him came in 1989: Needing a line, an event in 1952, to close the 1st verse of his song "We Didn't Start the Fire," Billy Joel included, "Santayana, goodbye." I was 19, and I was one of millions of Americans who had never heard of Santayana, and looked him up as a result.

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October 2, 1905 was a Monday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Highlanders were swept in a doubleheader by the Detroit Tiges, 7-2 and 7-1 at Hilltop Park in Upper Manhattan. Rookie Ty Cobb went 1-for-8. The Highlanders became the Yankees in 1913.

* The Boston Americans beat the Cleveland Naps, 8-3 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. George Winter outpitched Addie Joss. Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, the Cleveland team's 2nd baseman, best hitter, manager and namesake, did not play in this game. The Americans became the Boston Red Sox in 1908. The Naps would become the Indians in 1915, and the Guardians in 2022.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the St. Louis Browns, 5-0 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia. Andy Coakley pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at American League Park in Washington.

* Only one National League game was played: The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-4 at the West Side Grounds in Chicago. Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown outpitched Charles "Kid" Nichols.