Maybe the name Ph. D., but the Ph. D. itself is older in the USA and in Europe. There were Ph. D. in the 19th century both in Europe and in Universities like Yale or Harvard.
Could you clarify? Humboldt University started granting PhDs in the early 19th century, Yale in 1861, so yes, of course there were PhDs in the 19th century.
At the time, the PhD was not seen very highly in the department, and in the report on the defence of the PhD Moore famously said:
"It is my personal opinion that Mr. Wittgenstein’s thesis is a work of genius; but, be that as it may, it is certainly well up to the standard required for the Cambridge degree of Doctor of Philosophy’
I don't get that interpretation from that quote at all. To me, the quote is about contrasting the speaker's subjective view with a more objective "standard" requirement for a PhD degree. It's basically saying: "To me, his work as that of a genius. But YMMV. However, even if you don't want to go quite that far, you'll certainly admit that it's great and fulfills the requirements for a PhD."
Not being the work of a genius does not necessarily mean that it's not an achievement.
I think it's more along the lines of: the degree itself is a insignificant and unworthy of his work. It's like giving him a Kindergarten gold star sticker. Which says something about the quality of his work, or of other degree holders, or both.
