Autobiographical Reflections (Eric Voegelin Institute Series in Political Philosophy) - Softcover

Voegelin, Eric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807120766 ISBN 13: 9780807120767

Publisher: Louisiana State University Press, 1984

Synopsis

Autobiographical Reflections is a window into the mind of a man whose reassessment of the nature of history and thought has overturned traditional approaches to, and appraisals of, the Western intellectual tradition. Here we encounter the motivations for Voegelin's work, the stages in the development of his unique philosophy of consciousness, his key intellectual breakthroughs, his theory of history, and his diagnosis of the political ills of the modern age.

Included in this revised volume is a glossary of terms used in Voegelin’s writings. The glossary lists, defines, and illustrates from the author’s writings many of the key terms employed, paying particular attention to the Greek terms. Together, the glossary and enlarged index systematically include names, subjects, ideas, writings, and terms, making this volume an indispensable help for any serious study of Eric Voegelin’s oeuvre.

About this title

Review

I have wanted to illustrate the variety of styles available to Voegelin, including the great force from which he is not debarred by a fundamental civilizedness and urbanity as admirable as they are rare in academic life. One clue to that life lies in the following passage: 'I have in my files documents labeling me a Communist, a Fascist, a National Socialist, an old Liberal, a new Liberal, a Jew, a Catholic, a Protestant, a Platonist, a neo-Augustinian, a Thomist, and of course a Hegelian - not to forget that I was supposedly strongly influenced by Huey Long. This list I consider of some importance, because the various characterizations of course always name the pet bete noire of the critic and give, therefore, a very good picture of the intellectual destruction and corruption that characterize the contemporary academic world.' Obviously a thinker damned in so many diverse ways is on to some uncomfortable truths. - Robert B. Heilman on Voegelin in the Sewanee Review; ""[Autobiographical Reflections] provides the best possible introduction to Voegelin's political philosophy as well as a splendid illustration of Voegelin's own interpretive procedure.... In short, [it] is accessible to anyone interested in discovering what the recovery of political science has meant. It also constitutes a significant contribution to that recovery."" - Review of Politics; ""The importance of this work resides in the fact that the student of Voegelin's thought is given the opportunity to learn firsthand of the origin and context within which Voegelin came upon his powerful insights, as well as to hear and assess for himself the musings of this great master as he reflects on the teachings of some of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century."" - Modern Age

About the Author

About the Author

Eric Voegelin (1901-1985) was one of the most original and influential philosophers of our time. Born in Cologne, Germany, he studied at the University of Vienna, where he became a professor of political science in the Faculty of Law. In 1938, he and his wife, fleeing Hitler, emigrated to the United States. They became American citizens in 1944. Voegelin spent much of his career at Louisiana State University, the University of Munich, and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. During his lifetime he published many books and more than one hundred articles. The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin will make available in a uniform edition all of Voegelin's major writings.

  About the Editor

Ellis Sandoz, Hermann Moyse Jr. Distinguished Professor of Political Science, is Director of the Eric Voegelin Institute for American Renaissance Studies at Louisiana State University. He is the general editor of Voegelin's History of Political Ideas and author or editor of numerous books, including Republicanism, Religion, and the Soul of America, A Government of Laws: Political Theory, Religion,and the American Founding and The Politics of Truth and Other Untimely Essays: The Crisis of Civic Consciousness.

About this edition

• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0807120766
• ISBN 13: 9780807120767
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144
• Editor: Sandoz Ellis