Bangor, North Wales, 1900

The Morgan Papers explores the enduring questions of human conduct and character.

This volume brings together a selection of the lectures, essays, notes and reflections of Professor Ieustin Owain Morgan, Chair of Mental and Moral Science at University College Morlan.

Drawn from papers prepared over several years of teaching, reflection and inquiry, these writings examine the central question that lies at the heart of Professor Morgan’s work:

Why do human beings act as they do?

The subjects range from character and conscience to will, responsibility and moral judgement, drawing upon philosophy, psychology and careful observation of human conduct.

Though written in the voice of a Victorian scholar, the questions they ask remain as relevant today as when they were first posed.

Neither Professor Morgan nor University College Morlan existed in history. Yet both are grounded in the intellectual, religious and social world of late nineteenth-century Wales, where new ideas in philosophy and psychology were beginning to challenge long-held assumptions about human nature.

Further notes on the history and ideas behind the work can be found in my Notebook.