Lewis White Beck

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lewis White Beck
Born(1913-09-26)26 September 1913
Died7 June 1997(1997-06-07) (aged 83)
Rochester, New York
AwardsAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellowship
American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellow
EraWestern philosophy
RegionGerman philosophy
Main interests
Immanuel Kant
Moral philosophy

Lewis White Beck (September 26, 1913 – June 7, 1997) was an American philosopher and scholar of German philosophy. Beck was Burbank Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at the University of Rochester and served as the Philosophy Department chair there from 1949 to 1966. He translated several of Immanuel Kant's works, such as the Critique of Practical Reason, and was the author of Studies in the Philosophy of Kant (1965).

Biography[edit]

Born in Griffin, Georgia, Beck was the youngest of four children in a family raised by Erasmus W. Beck and Ann H. Beck. His siblings included: Evelyn H. Beck , Edwin H. Beck and Sarah A Beck. His father was employed as both an engineer and a sales representative.[1]

Beck received his bachelor's degree Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University in 1934, his master's degree from Duke University in 1935, and his doctoral degree from Duke University in 1937. His dissertation was entitled: "Synopsis: A Study in the Theory of Knowledge.[2]

Academic career[edit]

External image
image icon You may see Lewis White Beck lecturing at Emmory University in 1938
Here on usg.edu

Before moving to Rochester, Beck was an international student and a Fellow at the University of Berlin (1937–38; an interview about his experiences there appeared in The Atlanta Constitution, Sept. 18, 1938), an instructor at Emory University (1938–41), Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Delaware (1941–48)[3] , and associate professor at Lehigh University (1946–48), eventually becoming professor (1948–49). [4]

Beck joined the faculty at the University or Rochester in 1949 and served as Chairman of its Department of Philosophy from 1949-1966. He also served as Associate Dean of the Graduate School (1952-1956) as well as the Dean of the Graduate School (1956-1957) where he helped to raise international recognition for the PhD. program in Philosophy.[5] During this time he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of Philosophy (1957).[6]

In !962 he was appointed as the Burbank Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy and subsequently Professor Emeritus in 1979.[7][8] In 1962 he became the first recipient of the University's Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.[9] He was subsequently elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1963 and the American Council of Learned Societies in 1964.[10][11][12][13] From 1970-1975, Beck also served on the National Endowment for the Humanities Council.[14] During this time he also served as a member of the board of directors for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1970-1978).[15]

During the course of his long academic career, Beck also held appointments as a visiting lecturer at several leading academic research centers including: Columbia University (1950), George Washington University, the University of Minnesota (1953), the University of California at Berkeley (1973), Yale University (1974) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (1982-1983). In addition, he received honorary degrees from Hamilton College, Emory University and the University of Tubingen.[16][17]

in addition to his teaching activities, Beck also served on the editorial board of several leading philosophical research journals including: the Journal of the History of Ideas and Kantian-Studien. Over the years he also served on the editorial board of the journal The Monist which also featured his work.[18][19][20] In addition, in 1970 he served as editor of the Proceedings of the Third International Kant Congress.[21] In 1985 he also contributed to the formation of the North American Kantian Society.[22]

Academic works[edit]

Beck is most noted for his research into the collective writings of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Included among his publications is a translation of Kant's extensive "Critique of Pure Reason" in 1949.[23][24] He also achieved widespread national and international recognition within academic circles for his scholarship, commentary and encyclopedic knowledge of Kant's philosophical works.[25][26]

In he course of his exhaustive commentaries, Beck shared several noteworthy insights into Kant's philosophical thoughts. While revisiting Kant's distinction between "analytic" and "synthetic" truths and his concept of the "synthetic a priori", Beck attempted to clarify Kant's reasoning by exploring whether synthetic judgements should be made analytic, as well as whether Kant incorrectly identified some "contingent judgements" as "necessary judgements". He further observed that Kant's utilization of the term "synthetic" appears to convey different meanings in Kant's writings on transcendental logic as compared to his writings on the theory of general logic. Beck observed further that this divergence in meaning accounts for the unfortunate confusion in the minds of many students who explore translations of Kant's works from the original german into english.[27]

Beck also asserted that Kant's Critique of Practical Reason has been largely neglected by modern readers and sometimes supplanted in the minds of many scholars by the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals. He claimed that a complete understanding of Kant's moral philosophy is most easily attained by reviewing Kant's "second critique" which puts forth an analysis of the concepts of both freedom and practical reason. In his A Commentary on Kant's Critique of Practical Reason (1961) Beck asserts that Kant's "second critique" serves to weave these divers strands into a unified pattern for his theory on moral authority in general.[28]

In his Six Secular Philosophers (1966), Beck also endeavored to explore the general characteristics of a secular philosophy and whether such a philosophy can be formulated to accommodate religious beliefs and values. Beck observed that while an exact or precise conceptualization of a secular philosophy might be elusive, a secular philosophy is likely to require an appeal to an independence of thought. In Beck's view it should also incorporate certain aspects of religious thought as well. With this in mind, Beck identified several "families" of secular philosophers. In his first group Beck calls our attention to philosophers who placed limits on the scope, validity and content of religious belief by an appeal to scientific and philosophic endeavors. He identifies Baruch Spinoza, David Hume and Kant in this grouping. In his second grouping, Beck identified Frederich Nietzsche, William James and George Santayana, each of whom explored the relationship of religious values in general to other values in life. Beck asserted that Kant ultimately could not embrace Spinoza's embrace of substance or his appeal to monism. According to Beck, Kant agreed instead with Hume that a scientific interpretation of nature cannot serve by itself to confirm religious belief. According to Beck, Kant also parted ways with Hume, however, by insisting that a different rational basis for religious thought can be found in mankind's moral consciousness.[29]

Over the years, Beck was praised by his students for his charm and wit. Even after his formal retirement in 1979 he continued to meet with informal gatherings of aspiring young scholars in an effort to share his unique insights into Kant's works until 1996.[30] He was often observed to joke that his prize for an award in teaching excellence was rejected as "nontaxable" by the Internal Revenue Service because it was more appropriately categorized as "unearned".[31]

Death[edit]

Beck retired in 1979 and died at age 83 in Rochester, New York.[32]

Selected publications[edit]

External videos
video icon You may read Lewis White Beck's:
Studies in the Philosophy of Kant (1965)
Early German Philosophy: Kant and His Predecessors (1969)
and additional publications about Kant
Here on Archive.org

Books[edit]

  • Philosophic Inquiry: An Introduction to Philosophy (1952)[33]
  • A Commentary on Kant's Critique of Practical Reason (1961) [34]
  • On History (1963)[35][36]
  • Studies in the Philosophy of Kant (1965) [37]
  • Six Secular Philosophers (1966) [38]
  • 18th-Century Philosophy (1966) Editor: Lewis White Beck [39]
  • Early German Philosophy: Kant and His Predecessors (1969) [40]
  • Kant's Theory of Knowledge Editor: Lewis White Beck (1974)[41]
  • The Actor and the Spectator (1975) [42]
  • Essays on Kant and Hume (1978)[43]
  • Mr. Boswell dines with Professor Kant (1979)
  • Essays by Lewis White Beck: Five Decades as a Philosopher (1998) Editor: Predrag Cicovaki [44]

Translations[edit]

  • Kant, Immanuel (1950). Lewis White Beck (ed.). Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Present Itself as a Science. New York: Bobbss Merrill Educational Publishing – via Internet Archive.
  • Kant, Immanuel (1956). Critique of Practical Reason. Translated by Lewis White Beck. New York: The Liberal Arts Press – via Internet Archive.
  • Kant, Immanuel (1997). The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals and What is Enlightenment. Translated by Lewis White Beck (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc. – via Internet Archive.

Archived works[edit]

  • The Lewis White Beck Papers collection was gifted to the University of Rochester for archival purposes by Professor Beck in 1960, 1965, 1969 and 1975. The manuscripts and notes contained within the collection are accessible to scholars and research students within the University of Rochester's Rare Books and Special Collections Library upon request.[45]
  • The Lewis White Beck manuscripts of Immanuel Kant's Critique of Practical Reason and Other Writings in Moral Philosophy Collection at the University of Delaware contains various drafts, galley proofs, page proofs and the published edition of Professor Beck's translations and editing of Immanuel Kant's work as completed during his tenure at Delaware University from 1943-1948 and is open both to researchers and scholars. [46]

Professional affiliations[edit]

Lewis White Beck was both an active member and a member emeritus of the American Philosophical Association.[47] He served as President of the American Philosophical Association- Eastern Division in 1971 as well as the chairman of its board of officers (1974-1977). He also served as the president of the North East Society for 18th Century Studies in 1974.[48]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Philosophy Documentation Center: The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series 2013: Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 1981-1990. Hull, Richard T. Biography: Lewis White Beck 2013 p. 69-71 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  2. ^ Philosophy Documentation Center: The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series 2013: Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 1981-1990. Hull, Richard T. Biography: Lewis White Beck 2013 p. 69-71 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  3. ^ Lewis White Beck manuscripts of Immanuel Kant's Critique of Practical Reason and Other Writings in Moral Philosophy University of Delaware Library Identifier # MSS 0122 on findingaids.lib.undel.edu
  4. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  5. ^ University of Rochester - River Campus Library: Rare Books and Special Collections: "Leafing Through Lewis White Beck's Career and Mind" Tanzel, Vincent. September 29, 2022. Biography: Lewis White Beck on library.rochester.edu
  6. ^ John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships 1957 Lewis White Beck on gf.org/fellows
  7. ^ Philosophy Documentation Center: The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series 2013: Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 1981-1990. Hull, Richard T. Biography: Lewis White Beck 2013 p. 69-71 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  8. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  9. ^ University of Rochester - River Campus Library: Rare Books and Special Collections: "Leafing Through Lewis White Beck's Career and Mind" Tanzel, Vincent. September 29, 2022. Biography: Lewis White Beck on library.rochester.edu
  10. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010:ChapterB" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  11. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  12. ^ American Council Of Learned Societies Fellowships- ACLS Fellowships Program 1964 Lewis White Beck Project:" A History of German Philosophy, from the Beginnings to Recent Times" Lewis White Beck on acls.org
  13. ^ American Academy of Arts and Sciences: Lewis White Beck 1963 Lewsi White Beck Fellowship on amacad.org
  14. ^ University of Rochester - "Philosopher, Scholar Lewis White Beck Dies" June 12, 1997 Obituary for Lewis White Beck on rochester.edu/news
  15. ^ University of Rochester - "Philosopher, Scholar Lewis White Beck Dies" June 12, 1997 Obituary for Lewis White Beck on rochester.edu/news
  16. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  17. ^ Philosophy Documentation Center: The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series 2013: Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 1981-1990. Hull, Richard T. Biography: Lewis White Beck 2013 p. 69-71 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  18. ^ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. "Recent Publications" Vol 22, No. 3 (March 1962) pp. 443-447 "The Monist - editor Lewis White Beck" on jstor.org
  19. ^ The Monist publisher of works by Lewis White Beck on JSTOR.org
  20. ^ The Monist "Introduction and Bibliography" Lewis White Beck. Volume 53, issue 4, 1 October 1969 p. 523-531 Lewis White Beck on academic.oup.com
  21. ^ The Bloomsburg Encyclopedia of Philosophers in America From 1600 to the Present. Shook, John R. Editor. Bloomsbury Academic. New York. 2016 p. 71-72 Lewis White Beck biography ISBN 978-1-4725-7054-3 Lewis White Beck University of Toronto on Google Books
  22. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186-187 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  23. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  24. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  25. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  26. ^ The Bloomsburg Encyclopedia of Philosophers in America From 1600 to the Present. Shook, John R. Editor. Bloomsbury Academic. New York. 2016 p. 71-72 Lewis White Beck biography ISBN 978-1-4725-7054-3 Lewis White Beck University of Toronto on Google Books
  27. ^ The Bloomsburg Encyclopedia of Philosophers in America From 1600 to the Present. Shook, John R. Editor. Bloomsbury Academic. New York. 2016 p. 71-72 ISBN 978-1-4725-7054-3 Lewis White Beck University of Toronto on Google Books
  28. ^ The Bloomsburg Encyclopedia of Philosophers in America From 1600 to the Present. Shook, John R. Editor. Bloomsbury Academic. New York. 2016 p. 71-72 Lewis White Beck biography ISBN 978-1-4725-7054-3 Lewis White Beck University of Toronto on Google Books
  29. ^ The Bloomsburg Encyclopedia of Philosophers in America From 1600 to the Present. Shook, John R. Editor. Bloomsbury Academic. New York. 2016 p. 71-72 Lewis White Beck biography ISBN 978-1-4725-7054-3 Lewis White Beck University of Toronto on Google Books
  30. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  31. ^ University of Rochester - River Campus Library: Rare Books and Special Collections: "Leafing Through Lewis White Beck's Career and Mind" Tanzel, Vincent. September 29, 2022. Biography: Lewis White Beck on library.rochester.edu
  32. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  33. ^ Philosophical inquiry: An Introduction to Philosophy. Beck, Lewis White. Prentice Hall 1952 Lewis White Beck on Google Books
  34. ^ A Commentary on Kant's Critique of Practical Reason Beck, Lewis White. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, 1960 ISBN 0-226-04075-5 Lewis White Beck on Google Books
  35. ^ On History Kant, Immanuel. Beck, Lewis White. Editor & Translator. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1963 ISBN 9780672603877 Lewis White Beck on Worldcat.org
  36. ^ On History Kant, Immanuel. Beck, Lewis White. Editor & Translator. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1963 ISBN 9780672603877 Lewis White Beck on archive.org
  37. ^ Studies in the Philosophy of Kant Beck, Lewis White. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1965 Lewsi White Beck on archive.org
  38. ^ Six Secular Philosophers Beck, Lewis White. Harper & Brothers, New York 1960 Lewis White Beck on Archive.org
  39. ^ 18-th Century Philosophy Lewis White Beck Ed. The Free Press, New York 1966 ISBN 0-02-902100-6 Lewis White Beck on Google Books
  40. ^ Early German Philosophy: Kant and His Predecessors Beck, Lewis White. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 1969 ISBN 9780783716701 Lewis White Beck on google Books
  41. ^ Kant's Theory of Knowledge. Beck, Lewis White. Editor. D. Reidal Publishing, Boston, 1974 ISBN 978-90-277-0529-7 Lewis White Beck on Google Books
  42. ^ The Actor and the Spectator Beck, Lewis White. Yale University Press London 1975 ISBN 0-300-01899-1 Lewis White Beck on Archive.org
  43. ^ Essays on Kant and Hume Beck, Lewis White. Yale University Press, 1978 ISBN 97807837278668 Lewis White Beck on Google Books
  44. ^ Essays by Lewis White Beck: Five Decades as a Philosopher Beck, Lewis White. Editor: Predrag Cicovaki. University of Rochester Press, Rochester, New York, 1998 Lewsi White Beck on Archive.org
  45. ^ University of Rochester - Rare Books and Special Collections Library Identifier A.B39 Lewis White Beck Papers on archives.lib.rochester.edu
  46. ^ Lewis White Beck manuscripts of Immanuel Kant's Critique of Practical Reason and Other Writings in Moral Philosophy University of Delaware Library Identifier # MSS 0122 on findingaids.lib.undel.edu
  47. ^ Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association: Membership List Vol 70, No 2 (Nov. 1996) p. 278 Lewis White Beck on jstor.org
  48. ^ University of Rochester - "Philosopher, Scholar Lewis White Beck Dies" June 12, 1997 Obituary for Lewis White Beck on rochester.edu/news

External links[edit]



Stub icon

This biography of an American philosopher is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lewis_White_Beck&oldid=1225354284"