  Chauncey Wright was an American philosopher of science of the second half of the nineteenth century and an early proponent of Darwinism in the United States. Sometimes cited as a founder of pragmatism, he is more appropriately remembered as an original  thinker in the tradition of David Hume and John Stuart  Mill.[1] Wright's primary interest and originality lay in philosophy of science, but his insights and influence carried over to other venues, including philosophy of education and theory of meaning. Wright exercised a great influence at a crucial time in American cultural life — in the 1860s and 70s, when the force of religious piety and Transcendentalism was waning.  He was a tireless critic of metaphysics and the natural theology he believed it served, but he was also a discriminating interpreter of principles in science and philosophy. He wrote little and his influence was exerted by means of conversation and philosophical discussion with the circle of intellectuals and academics centered in Cambridge, Mass. from 1850–75. This circle included Charles S. Peirce, William James, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., all of whom acknowledged Wright's influence.[2]