Walter Kaufmann: Philosopher, Humanist, Heretic - Hardcover

Corngold, Stanley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691165017 ISBN 13: 9780691165011

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2018

Synopsis

The first complete account of the ideas and writings of a major figure in twentieth-century intellectual life

Walter Kaufmann (1921–1980) was a charismatic philosopher, critic, translator, and poet who fled Nazi Germany at the age of eighteen, emigrating alone to the United States. He was astonishingly prolific until his untimely death at age fifty-nine, writing some dozen major books, all marked by breathtaking erudition and a provocative essayistic style. He single-handedly rehabilitated Nietzsche’s reputation after World War II and was enormously influential in introducing postwar American readers to existentialism. Until now, no book has examined his intellectual legacy.

Stanley Corngold provides the first in-depth study of Kaufmann’s thought, covering all his major works. He shows how Kaufmann speaks to many issues that concern us today, such as the good of philosophy, the effects of religion, the persistence of tragedy, and the crisis of the humanities in an age of technology. Few scholars in modern times can match Kaufmann’s range of interests, from philosophy and literature to intellectual history and comparative religion, from psychology and photography to art and architecture. Corngold provides a heartfelt portrait of a man who, to an extraordinary extent, transfigured his personal experience in the pages of his books.

This original study, both appreciative and critical, is the definitive intellectual life of one of the twentieth century’s most engaging yet neglected thinkers. It will introduce Kaufmann to a new generation of readers and serves as a fitting tribute to a scholar’s incomparable libido sciendi, or lust for knowledge.

About this title

About the Author

Stanley Corngold is professor emeritus of German and comparative literature at Princeton University. His many books include The Fate of the Self: German Writers and French Theory; Complex Pleasure: Forms of Feeling in German Literature; Lambent Traces: Franz Kafka (Princeton); and Franz Kafka: The Ghosts in the Machine. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Review

"Corngold’s ‘philosophical biography’ portrays Kaufmann as a fascinating, admirable, and flawed character. After a brief biographical chapter, Corngold takes us through Kaufmann’s intellectual journey from his first book to his last. The detailed discussions of Kauf­mann’s individual works, supplemented by an array of philosophical and liter­ary references, are balanced and rich."---Lewis Rosenberg, Australian Book Review

"[A] luminous biography." (Kirkus)

"In this new work, [Stanley] Corngold presents a historical account of philosopher Walter Kaufmann's writings, which ranged widely from ethics and religion to a major rethinking of Friedrich Nietzsche. Thorough and engaging, Corngold presents a vivid picture of Kaufmann's life through an analysis of his most influential works."---William Simkulet, Library Journal

"Corngold writes with a tenacity and intensity that matches his subject . . . [and] proves an admirable guide."---Robert L. Kehoe III, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Best known for inaugurating the rehabilitation of Nietzsche, Kaufmann is portrayed in Stanley Corngold’s splendid recent biography―Walter Kaufmann: Philosopher, Humanist, Heretic―as the conduit through which [Martin] Buber’s teaching entered the American conversation."---Benjamin Balint, Wall Street Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0691165017
• ISBN 13: 9780691165011
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 760