Paul Edwards (philosopher)
Encyclopedia
Paul Edwards, born Paul Eisenstein, (September 2, 1923 – December 9, 2004) was an Austrian American moral philosopher.
in 1923 to assimilated Jewish parents, the youngest of three brothers.
According to Peter Singer
, his upbringing was non-religious. He distinguished himself early on as a gifted student and was admitted to the Akademisches Gymnasium
, a prestigious Viennese high school. When Germany annexed Austria
in 1938, Edwards was sent by his family to Scotland, later joining them in Melbourne, Australia, where the family name was changed to Edwards. He attended Melbourne High School, graduating as dux of the school, then studied philosophy at the University of Melbourne
, completing a B.A. and M.A.
He was awarded a scholarship to study in England in 1947, but on his way there, he stopped in New York and ended up staying there for the rest of his life, apart from a brief period teaching at the University of California in Berkeley. He finished his doctorate in New York, teaching at Columbia University
, New York University
, Brooklyn College
, and the New School
. While writing his doctoral thesis he contacted Bertrand Russell
because he shared Russell's scepticism about religious belief. This led to a lasting friendship and a number of joint projects. Edwards collected Russell's writings on religion and published them 1957, with an appendix on "the Bertrand Russell case", under the title Why I am not a Christian
.
Edwards was characterized by Michael Wreen as "mixed one part analytic philosopher to one part philosophe" with "a deep respect for science and common sense." His considerable influence on moral philosophy came from two works he edited, a very widely used introductory book he co-edited with Arthur Pap
(A modern introduction to philosophy, 1965), and the famous Encyclopedia of Philosophy, an eight volume "massive Enlightenment work with notable analytic sensibility."
A friend wrote in an obituary: "Those who knew Edwards will always remember his erudition and his wicked sense of humour. [ ... ] Given Paul's own biting wit, it's not surprising that he so admired Voltaire
and Russell. [ ... ] Never one to hide his own unbelief, he often commented that his two main goals were to demolish the influence of Heidegger and keep alive the memory of Wilhelm Reich
, the much-reviled psychoanalyst whose critiques of religion Edwards felt remained valid.
that he was "distressed that the revisions had diluted the philosophical message and had been too gentle on a lot of postmodern thought
."
was the talk of the town. Reich had at that time a large and enthusiastic following, especially among young intellectuals and people whose sympathies were clearly on the left but who, like Reich himself, had become totally disenchanted with communism as it had developed in Russia. The main source of Reich's attractiveness was not the orgone theory. [ ... ] It was first and foremost Reich's new therapy that seemed an exciting advance over the techniques of establishment psychiatry of the Freudian and other schools. There was also a widespread feeling that Reich had an original and penetrating insight into the troubles of the human race. ... For some years many of my friends and I regarded him as something akin to a messiah."
Twenty years later, as editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edwards wrote an article about Reich, comprising 11 pages as compared e.g. to the four pages devoted to Freud, the only serious text a noted philosopher ever wrote on Reich. He pointed out what is of interest to philosophers in Reich: his views concerning the origin of religious and metaphysical needs, the relation between the individual and society and the possibility of social progress, and, above all, the implications of his psychiatry for certain aspects of the mind-body problem. An abridged version of the article appeared in the Encyclopedia of Unbelief (ed. Gordon Stein, 1985).
As to Reich's orgone theory, Edwards omitted it from the Encyclopedia article because "it is of no philosophical interest." But in the BBC talk he said somewhat more: "I concede that Reich had no real competence as a physicist... At the same time I am quite convinced that the orgone theory cannot be complete nonsense. For a number of years, largely out of curiosity, I sat in an orgone accumulator once a day." Then he related some "facts", which in his opinion "make it impossible to dismiss the orgone theory." After Edwards' death, one of Reich's orgone accumulators was found in his apartment.
Life and career
Edwards was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1923 to assimilated Jewish parents, the youngest of three brothers.
According to Peter Singer
Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...
, his upbringing was non-religious. He distinguished himself early on as a gifted student and was admitted to the Akademisches Gymnasium
Akademisches Gymnasium (Vienna)
Founded in 1553, the Akademisches Gymnasium is the oldest secondary school in Vienna. The school offers a humanistic education and is known to be rather liberal compared to other traditional secondary schools in the city....
, a prestigious Viennese high school. When Germany annexed Austria
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
in 1938, Edwards was sent by his family to Scotland, later joining them in Melbourne, Australia, where the family name was changed to Edwards. He attended Melbourne High School, graduating as dux of the school, then studied philosophy at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, completing a B.A. and M.A.
He was awarded a scholarship to study in England in 1947, but on his way there, he stopped in New York and ended up staying there for the rest of his life, apart from a brief period teaching at the University of California in Berkeley. He finished his doctorate in New York, teaching at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
, and the New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
. While writing his doctoral thesis he contacted Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
because he shared Russell's scepticism about religious belief. This led to a lasting friendship and a number of joint projects. Edwards collected Russell's writings on religion and published them 1957, with an appendix on "the Bertrand Russell case", under the title Why I am not a Christian
Why I Am Not a Christian
Why I Am Not a Christian is a 1927 essay by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell hailed by The Independent as "devastating in its use of cold logic", and listed in the New York Public Library's list of the most influential books of the 20th century....
.
Edwards was characterized by Michael Wreen as "mixed one part analytic philosopher to one part philosophe" with "a deep respect for science and common sense." His considerable influence on moral philosophy came from two works he edited, a very widely used introductory book he co-edited with Arthur Pap
Arthur Pap
Arthur Pap was a philosopher in the school of analytic philosophy. Pap published a number of books regarding analytical philosophy, its function within philosophy, and its impact on society....
(A modern introduction to philosophy, 1965), and the famous Encyclopedia of Philosophy, an eight volume "massive Enlightenment work with notable analytic sensibility."
A friend wrote in an obituary: "Those who knew Edwards will always remember his erudition and his wicked sense of humour. [ ... ] Given Paul's own biting wit, it's not surprising that he so admired Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and Russell. [ ... ] Never one to hide his own unbelief, he often commented that his two main goals were to demolish the influence of Heidegger and keep alive the memory of Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
, the much-reviled psychoanalyst whose critiques of religion Edwards felt remained valid.
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Edwards was editor-in-chief of Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Philosophy, published in 1967. With eight volumes and nearly 1,500 entries by over 500 contributors it is one of the monumental works of twentieth century philosophy. Using his editorial prerogative, Edwards made sure that there were plentiful entries on atheism, materialism and related subjects. He always remained "a fervent advocate of clarity and rigour in philosophical argument." When, after four decades, the Encyclopedia was revised by other editors for a new edition, Edwards told Peter SingerPeter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...
that he was "distressed that the revisions had diluted the philosophical message and had been too gentle on a lot of postmodern thought
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
."
Wilhelm Reich
Edwards related in a BBC talk that when he came to New York in 1947, "Wilhelm ReichWilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
was the talk of the town. Reich had at that time a large and enthusiastic following, especially among young intellectuals and people whose sympathies were clearly on the left but who, like Reich himself, had become totally disenchanted with communism as it had developed in Russia. The main source of Reich's attractiveness was not the orgone theory. [ ... ] It was first and foremost Reich's new therapy that seemed an exciting advance over the techniques of establishment psychiatry of the Freudian and other schools. There was also a widespread feeling that Reich had an original and penetrating insight into the troubles of the human race. ... For some years many of my friends and I regarded him as something akin to a messiah."
Twenty years later, as editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edwards wrote an article about Reich, comprising 11 pages as compared e.g. to the four pages devoted to Freud, the only serious text a noted philosopher ever wrote on Reich. He pointed out what is of interest to philosophers in Reich: his views concerning the origin of religious and metaphysical needs, the relation between the individual and society and the possibility of social progress, and, above all, the implications of his psychiatry for certain aspects of the mind-body problem. An abridged version of the article appeared in the Encyclopedia of Unbelief (ed. Gordon Stein, 1985).
As to Reich's orgone theory, Edwards omitted it from the Encyclopedia article because "it is of no philosophical interest." But in the BBC talk he said somewhat more: "I concede that Reich had no real competence as a physicist... At the same time I am quite convinced that the orgone theory cannot be complete nonsense. For a number of years, largely out of curiosity, I sat in an orgone accumulator once a day." Then he related some "facts", which in his opinion "make it impossible to dismiss the orgone theory." After Edwards' death, one of Reich's orgone accumulators was found in his apartment.
Writings
- Bertrand Russell's Doubts About Induction (1949)
- The Logic of Moral Discourse (1950–1951)
- A modern introduction to philosophy; readings from classical and contemporary sources. (1957) (co-ed. by P.E., with Arthur Pap)
- Hard and Soft Determinism (1958)
- The Cosmological Argument (1959)
- Ethics and Language (1966)
- Atheism (1967)
- Encyclopedia of Philosophy (8 vols., 1967), editor-in-chief
- Ethics and Atheism (1968)
- Buber and Buberism (1970)
- Heidegger on Death (1979)
- Voltaire (1989), Selections, edited, with introduction, notes, and annotated bibliography by P.E.
- Immortality (1991)
- Reincarnation (2002)
- Heidegger's Confusions (2004)
- God and the Philosophers (2009, posthumously)