The Participating Citizen: A Biography of Alfred Schutz

337 Pages·2004·1.72 MB·English

by  Michael D. Barber

The Participating Citizen
A Biography of Alfred Schutz
Michael D. Barber
THE PARTICIPATING CITIZEN
SUNY series in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences
Lenore Langsdorf, editor
THE PARTICIPATING
CITIZEN
A Biography of Alfred Schutz
M D. B
ICHAEL ARBER
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2004 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic,
magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, address State University of New York Press,
90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207
Production by Diane Ganeles
Marketing by Susan Petrie
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barber, Michael D., 1949–
The Participating citizen : a biography of Alfred Schutz / Michael D. Barber.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in the philosophy of the social sciences)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-6141-6 (alk. paper)
1. Schutz, Alfred, 1899–1959. 2. Sociologists—Austria—Biography.
3. Phenomenological sociology. I. Title. II. Series.
MH479.S38B37 2004
301'.092—dc22
[B] 2003060488
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Pat, who loved children,
and
For Devin and Ollie, whom she would have loved
Maternity, which is bearing par excellence, bears even
responsibility for the persecuting by the persecutor.
Emmanuel Levinas, Otherwise than Being
Then a child opens its eyes and sees a tree for the first
time. And people seem to us like walking trees.
Czeslaw Milosz, “Into the Tree”

Contents
Preface xi
1. Maturing in a Troubled Vienna 1
Schutz’s Youth 1
The Austrian/Viennese Context: Up to World War I 5
From War’s End to the Anschluss 11
Education and Employment 14
Marriage and the Founding of a Family 20
2. Social Science and Philosophy (1919–38):
Weber and Bergson 25
Schutz and Max Weber 25
From Bergson to Husserl 31
3. Philosophy and Social Science (1919–38):
Husserl and Mises and Kelsen 41
Edmund Husserl’s Phenomenology and
The Phenomenology of the Social World 41
The Austrian Economic School, Value-Freedom,
and the Context of Economic Science 48
Hans Kelsen, the Pure Theory of Law, and Alfred Schutz 61
4. Matters Unpublished 63
The Problem of Personality in the Social World 63
Diary of a 1937 Visit to the United States 67
5. Anschluss 73
The Emigration of the Immediate Family,
March 13, 1938–June 12, 1938 73
Arranging the Emigration of Schutz’s Parents from
Vienna to Paris, June 12, 1938–April 6, 1939
(and Ilse’s Mother, Gisela Heim, June 4, 1939) 76
vii
viii Contents
The Departure of the Schutz Family from Paris for the United States,
April 7, 1939–July 14, 1939 80
6. Reestablishing 85
Life in the United States and Its Insecurities 85
Helping Others Emigrate 87
Business as Usual and a New Academic World 88
7. World War II Years 97
Editing, Teaching, War Research, Business 97
Family and Friends 100
Publications 109
A Son’s Illness 113
8. Schutz, a Nihilist? 117
Gurwitsch and Schutz on “The Stranger” 117
The Voegelin/Schutz Debate 121
Assessment of the Debate: The Need for a
Participant Stance in Ethics 127
9. Peace and Productivity after the War (1945–51) 131
Working with Reitler and Company after the War 131
The New School for Social Research 131
The PPR Editorial Board and the International
Phenomenological Society 132
A Family Tragedy and Friends 135
Research and Publications 139
10. The Years 1952 to 1956: Responsible Life at its Fullest 149
The Final Years of Full Business Life 149
Family Life: Caring for Older and Younger Generations 149
The International Phenomenological Society and Editorial Duties 151
Teaching and Administrating at the New School 153
Schutz, the Mentor 160
11. The Years 1952 to 1956: Philosophical Midwifery;
Correspondence and Research 167
Collegiality in Correspondence 167
Publishing on Wide-Ranging Relevances 173
12. The Search for Equality 181
“Equality and the Meaning Structure of the Social World” 181
Aspects of Human Equality: The Fifteenth Symposium
of the Conference on Science, Philosophy, and Religion 184
The Institute of Ethics in 1956 187
Schutz, Ethics, and the Search for Equality 191
Contents ix
13. Triumphs and Decline, 1957–58 197
Disputes and Success in the World of Phenomenology 197
Active Citizenship in the New School Community 200
Encouraging and Advising Colleagues through Correspondence 204
Success at Royaumont and in Publication 209
14. Death and New Beginnings 217
Illness, Death, and Condolences 217
Posthumous Publications 219
Successors 225
Appendix: The Courses Schutz Taught 231
Notes 233
Bibliography 279
Index 309