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Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy (July 6, 1888 – February 24, 1973) was a
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
and
social philosopher Social philosophy examines questions about the foundations of social institutions, social behavior, and interpretations of society in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social ...
, whose work spanned the disciplines of history, theology, sociology, linguistics and beyond. Born in Berlin, Germany into a non-observant
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
ish family, the son of a prosperous banker, he converted to Christianity in his late teens, and thereafter the interpretation and reinterpretation of Christianity was a consistent theme in his writings. He met and married Margrit Hüssy in 1914. In 1925, the couple legally combined their names. They had a son, Hans, in 1921. Rosenstock-Huessy served as an officer in the German army during World War I. His experience caused him to reexamine the foundations of liberal Western culture. He then pursued an academic career in Germany as a specialist in medieval law, which was disrupted by the rise of
Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
. In 1933, after
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
became Chancellor of Germany, he emigrated to the United States where he began a new academic career, initially at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
and then at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a Private university, private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded t ...
, where he taught from 1935 to 1957. Although never part of the mainstream of intellectual discussion during his lifetime, his work drew the attention of W. H. Auden, Harold Berman, Martin Marty,
Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a w ...
,
Page Smith Page Smith (September 6, 1917 – August 28, 1995) was an American historian, professor and author. In 1964 became the founding Provost of Cowell College, University of California, Santa Cruz and resigned from the university in 1973 in prote ...
, and others. Rosenstock-Huessy may be best known as the close friend of and correspondent with
Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (, ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His ...
. Their exchange of letters is considered by scholars of religion and theology to be indispensable in the study of the modern encounter of
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
s with
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism, monotheistic religion based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, life and Teachings of Jesus, teachings of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. It is the Major religious groups, world's ...
. In his work, Rosenstock-Huessy discussed speech and language as the dominant shaper of human character and abilities in every social context. He is viewed as belonging to a group of thinkers who revived post-
Nietzschean Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' ('' The World as Will and Repres ...
religious thought.


Early life

Rosenstock-Huessy was born Eugen Friedrich Moritz Rosenstock in Berlin, Germany on July 6, 1888, to Theodor and Paula Rosenstock. His father, a scholarly man, was a banker and a member of the Berlin Stock Exchange. He was the only son among seven surviving children. Despite his parents'
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
ish heritage, his family "celebrated some Christian holidays, in keeping with other German families at the time." He joined the Lutheran Protestant Church at age 17 and was christened at age 18. He remained a proponent of Christianity's foundational significance throughout the rest of his life. After graduating from a secondary school ( gymnasium) with very high academic standards and an emphasis on classical languages and literature, Rosenstock-Huessy pursued law studies at the universities of Zurich, Heidelberg, and Berlin. He corresponded with
Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (, ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His ...
and Hans Ehrenberg, regarding the relationship of man with God, as understood through Judaism and Christianity. In 1909 the University of Heidelberg granted him a doctorate in law. In 1912 he became a ''
Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
'', a preliminary qualification to becoming a professor, at the University of Leipzig, where he taught constitutional law and the history of law until 1914. In 1914 Rosenstock-Huessy visited
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
, Italy to conduct historical research. There he met Margrit Hüssy, a Swiss art history major. They married later that year. World War I broke out shortly thereafter.


World War I

At the onset of World War I, the German Army drafted Rosenstock-Huessy and stationed him at Western Front, including 18 months at
Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
, until the war's end. "During this period he organized courses for the troops, replacing the limited instruction in patriotism with broader topics. In 1916, he and his friend, the Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig, also on active duty, exchanged letters on Judaism and Christianity." That correspondence has become well known as a dialog between proponents of the two related religions. Rosenstock-Huessy's work, ''Judaism Despite Christianity'', contains much of this correspondence.


Interwar period

After World War I, Rosenstock-Huessy became active in labor issues, focusing on improving education as a means to improve the societal standard of living. He returned to academia and started publishing his first noted works.


Labor education

Rosenstock-Huessy did not return to his teaching post at the University of Leipzig. Instead, he obtained a position with
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated as DMG, also known as ''Daimler Motors Corporation'') was a German engineering company and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and ...
, the German car manufacturer, in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the S ...
, Germany. In 1919, he founded and became the editor until 1921 of the first factory newspaper in Germany, the Daimler ''Werkzeitung'' (Work Newspaper). In 1921, Rosenstock founded ''Die Akademie der Arbeit'' (the Academy of Labor) in Frankfurt am Main. "This institution offered courses and seminars for blue-collar workers, but he resigned in 1923 over differences with the trade union representatives. Nevertheless, he did not give up his involvement with adult education and his efforts to give industrial workers a voice of their own in society." He co-founded the Patmos Verlag publishing house, which published works on "new religious, philosophical, and social perspectives."


Return to academia

In 1923, Rosenstock-Huessy received a second doctorate in philosophy from the University of Heidelberg. He then lectured at the
Technical University of Darmstadt Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data * Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...
in the faculty of social science and social history until he was offered a job at the
University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
as a full professor of German legal history, a position he held from 1923 until January 30, 1933. During this period, Rosenstock-Huessy became active in many other ways at the University of Breslau. He helped organize voluntary work service camps—''Löwenberger Arbeitslager'' ( Löwenberg Work Camp)—for students, young farmers, and young workers to address the living and labor conditions at coal mines in Waldenburg,
Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
. In 1926, Joseph Wittig, a reform-minded Roman Catholic priest, was excommunicated and thus lost his right to teach church history at the University of Breslau. Rosenstock-Huessy stood by his friend, Wittig, in this affair. In 1927 and 1928, they co-authored ''Das Alter der Kirche'' (''The Age of the Church''), which contained two volumes of essays on the history of the Church and a third volume devoted to documents leading up to Wittig's excommunication. In 1925, he co-founded a journal, ''Die Kreatur'' (''The Creature''), which was edited by Wittig,
Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...
, and Viktor von Weizsäcker, men of widely different perspectives, and which lasted until 1930. According to his recent publishers, "Among the contributors f ''Die Kreatur''were Nicholas Berdyaev,
Lev Shestov Lev Isaakovich Shestov (russian: Лев Исаа́кович Шесто́в; 31 January .S. 13 February 1866 – 19 November 1938), born Yehuda Leib Shvartsman (russian: Иегуда Лейб Шварцман), was a Russian existentialist and r ...
,
Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (, ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His ...
, Ernst Simon, Hugo Bergmann, Edgar Dacque, Hans Ehrenberg, Rudolf Ehrenberg, Marie Luise Enckendorff, Hermann Herrigel, Rudolf Hallo, Edith Klatt, Fritz Klatt, Ernst Michel, Wilhelm Michel, Werner Picht, Florens Christian Rang, Heinrich Sachs, and Margarette Susman. Each of these eoplehad, between 1910 and 1932, in one way or another, offered an alternative to the idealism, positivism, and historicism that dominated German universities." Soon after January 30, 1933, when the
National Socialists Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...
(Nazis) assumed power in Germany, Rosenstock-Huessy resigned from the University of Breslau and departed Germany that year. By the end of 1933, he received an appointment as lecturer in German Art and Culture at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
with the help of a professor of government there.


Publications, 1914–1933

Rosenstock-Huessy published his medieval study ''Königshaus und Stämme in Deutschland zwischen 911 und 1250'' (''The Royal House and the Tribes in Germany between 911 and 1250'') in 1914, which he had written in Leipzig and was the source of recognition for his second doctorate. In 1920, Rosenstock-Huessy published ''Die Hochzeit des Krieges und der Revolution'' (''The Marriage of War and Revolution''), "a collection of current events essays that were replete with visionary thinking and practical warnings of conflicts to come." In 1921, Rosenstock-Huessy published ''Angewandte Seelenkunde'' (''Practical Knowledge of the Soul'') wherein he developed a new method for the social sciences based on language, the spoken word, and his "grammatical approach." He later called this approach "metanomics." Together with Josef Wittig, a Roman Catholic, he published ''Das Alter der Kirche'' (''The Age of the Church'') in 1927-28. That work contained two volumes of essays on the life of the Church and a third volume devoted to documents leading up to Wittig's excommunication." "While he was still teaching at Breslau, Rosenstock wrote and published the first of his major works: ''Die Europäischen Revolutionen: Volkscharaktere und Staatenbildung'' (''The European
Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
s and the Character of Nations; 1931''). This book showed how 1,000 years of European history had been created from five different European national revolutions that collectively came to an end in World War I."


Dartmouth College

Rosenstock-Huessy encountered strong opposition at Harvard University to the presentation of his ideas in social history and other topics, all of which were based on his Christian faith. Reportedly, Rosenstock-Huessy frequently mentioned God in class. He also often attacked non-religious academic thinking, a teaching tradition assumed by the Harvard faculty to be a prerequisite for high scholarship. Profound differences of opinion ensued and led, in 1935, to his accepting an appointment as professor of social philosophy at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a Private university, private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded t ...
in
Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Eng ...
. He made his home in nearby
Norwich, Vermont Norwich is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, Windsor County, in the U.S. state of Vermont. The population was 3,612 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Home to some of the state of Vermont's wealthiest residents, the municipality is ...
. He taught at Dartmouth until his retirement in 1957. At Harvard, he had made friends there who helped him in his publishing efforts. His first major writing task was to develop an English-language revision of his earlier book on revolutions, and he soon published ''Out of Revolution: Autobiography of Western Man'' in 1938. George Allen Morgan, a former Harvard student under Alfred North Whitehead and himself the author of the classic ''What Nietzsche Means'', subsequently assisted Rosenstock-Huessy in the preparation of ''The Christian Future or the Modern Mind Outrun'' in 1946. Further, Whitehead had strongly supported Rosenstock-Huessy in his disagreements with members of the Harvard faculty.


Renewed labor education

In 1940 he presented a request to
US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Sta ...
,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, and was granted approval to organize a youth training program for the
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a ...
(CCC).
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four t ...
and journalist
Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and was one of the few women news commentators on radio ...
were champions of the proposal. He then founded Camp William James in Tunbridge,
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the n ...
as a prototype for a national peacetime volunteer labor service. "Involving mainly students from Dartmouth, Radcliffe, and Harvard, its purpose was to train young leaders to expand the 7-year-old CCC from a program for unemployed youth into a work service program that would accept volunteers from all walks of life." The entrance of the United States into World War II in 1941 ended this and all other CCC programs because men were needed in the armed services and women became a greater part of the workforce. This concept anticipated the
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...
by more than two decades.


Publications, 1933–1973

Rosenstock-Huessy published ''Out of Revolution: Autobiography of Western Man'' in 1938, an English-language revision of his earlier book on revolutions. Together with George Allen Morgan, he published ''The Christian Future or the Modern Mind Outrun'' in 1946. In '' Out of Revolution'', Rosenstock-Huessy wrote:
The present time is bound (...) to attempt an organization of future society by which the dynamite of revolution may be manipulated as persistently and consciously as contractors use real dynamite in building tunnels or roads.
During 1956 through 1958, Rosenstock-Huessy developed the principle of metanomics in his two-volume '' Soziologie'' (''Sociology'')—Volume I: ''On the Forces of Common Life'' (''When Space Governs'') and Volume II: ''On the Forces of History'' (''When the Times Are Obeyed''). During 1963 through 1964, he further developed this principle in Volumes I & II of, ''Die Sprache des Menschengeschlechts: Eine Leibhaftige Grammatik in Vier Teilen'' (''The Speech of Mankind: A Personal Grammar in Four Parts''). Whereas ''Soziologie'' is unavailable in English, Rosenstock-Huessy's '' Speech and Reality'' is an English-language introduction to that work. A collection of his writings, '' I Am an Impure Thinker'' offers a good overview of Rosenstock-Huessy's thought processes.


Transitions

Rosenstock-Huessy's wife, Margrit, died in 1959. In 1960,
Freya von Moltke Freya von Moltke (née Deichmann; 29 March 1911 – 1 January 2010) was a German American lawyer and participant in the anti-Nazi opposition group, the Kreisau Circle, with her husband, Helmuth James von Moltke. During World War II, her hus ...
became Rosenstock-Huessy's companion. She was the widow of Helmuth James von Moltke, who had opposed National Socialism and was executed by the Nazis. After World War II and continuing through his retirement from Dartmouth, Rosenstock-Huessy was a frequent guest professor at many universities in Germany and the United States. He remained active in lecturing and writing until his final years. His output comprises more than 500 essays, articles, and monographs, as well as 40 books. He was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in 1958 at the
University of Münster The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of stu ...
. Rosenstock-Huessy died on February 24, 1973. He and his wife are buried at the Hillside Cemetery in Norwich, Vermont.


Quotations

* ''"The French Revolution first introduced into Europe the notion of the tissue-paper frontier. Hitherto, all boundaries had been marshes, forests, mountains, dikes; that is to say, significant boundaries. But when boundaries can be drawn on paper, they need have no more significance than the stroke of a pen or a piece of chalk."'' * ''"Grammar and logic free language from being at the mercy of the tone of voice. Grammar protects us against misunderstanding the sound of an uttered name; logic protects us against what we say having a double meaning."'' * ''"He who believes in nothing still needs a girl to believe in him."''


Select bibliography


In English

*. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *.


In German

*. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *.


See also

*
List of American philosophers This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States. {, border="0" style="margin:auto;" class="toccolours" , - ! {{MediaWiki:Toc , - , style="text-ali ...
*
List of peace activists This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work w ...


Notes


Citations


Sources


Primary

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Secondary

*. * * *. * *. *. *.


Further reading


In English

* * * * * *


In German

* * * * * * *


External links


The Papers of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy in Rauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth College

The Eugen Rosenstock Huessy Society of North America

The official web site of the Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy Fund and Argo Books
includes

accessed 20 March 2007 * The Norwich Center, Norwich, Vermont, maintains an internet site devoted to an introductor

signed by Clinton C. Gardner, President of the Norwich Center, accessed 20 March 2007 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenstock-Huessy, Eugen 1888 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American philosophers Lutheran philosophers Jewish philosophers American sociologists German Lutherans American Lutherans Converts to Lutheranism from Judaism German people of Jewish descent American people of German-Jewish descent Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jewish American writers Technische Universität Darmstadt faculty Dartmouth College faculty German Army personnel of World War I 20th-century German philosophers German sociologists Harvard University faculty Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Writers from Berlin Revolution theorists Heidelberg University alumni Leipzig University faculty University of Breslau faculty University of Zurich alumni Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from the Province of Brandenburg German male writers Critics of atheism