- Irwin Edman
Irwin Edman (
November 28 ,1896 –September 4 ,1954 ) was an Americanphilosopher andprofessor of philosophy. He was born inNew York City toJewish parents. Edman spent his high-school years at Townsend Harris Hall, a New York high school for superior pupils. He then attendedColumbia University , where he graduatedPhi Beta Kappa and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1917, and his Ph.D. in 1920. He became a professor of philosophy at Columbia, and during the course of his career he rose to serve as head of the philosophy department. He also served as a visiting lecturer atOxford University ,Amherst College , theUniversity of California , andHarvard and Wesleyan Universities. TheUnited States Department of State and the Brazilian government in 1945 sponsored a series of lectures he gave inRio de Janeiro .Edman was known for the “charm and clarity” of his writing, and for being an open-minded critic. He was a popular professor and served as a mentor to undergraduate students, notably Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Herman Wouk (Columbia class of 1934), who dedicated his first novel to Edman.In addition to writing philosophical works, Irwin Edman was a frequent contributor to literary magazines such as
The New Yorker , theAtlantic Monthly , theNew York Times Magazine , Harper's, and Commentary.In 1953, Professor Edman was elected vice president of the
National Institute of Arts and Letters .Irwin Edman published many books on philosophy as well as poetry and some fiction. Some of his works include “Philosopher’s Holiday,” “Richard Kane Looks at Life,” “Four Ways of Philosophy,” "Philosopher's Quest," and “Arts and the Man – An Introduction to Aesthetics.”
External links
* [http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/irwin_edman.html A Tribute to Irwin Edman on Columbia University's website]
* [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Philosophy_Of_Schopenhauer Edman's introduction to Schopenhauer's main work]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.