Marjorie Glicksman Grene
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Marjorie Glicksman Grene (December 13, 1910 – March 16, 2009) was an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
philosopher. She wrote on existentialism and the philosophy of science, especially the philosophy of biology. She taught at the University of California at Davis from 1965 to 1978. From 1988 until her death, she was Honorary University Distinguished Professor of
Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
at Virginia Tech.


Life and career

Grene obtained her first degree, in zoology, from
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...
in 1931. She then obtained (from 1933–1935) an M.A. and then a doctorate in philosophy from
Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...
. This was, she said, "as close as females in those days got to
Harvard 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 higher le ...
". Grene studied with
Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
and Karl Jaspers, leaving Germany in 1933. She was in Denmark in 1935, and then at the University of Chicago. After losing her position there during World War II, she spent 15 years as a mother and farmer. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1976. Her ''New York Times'' obituary said Grene was "one of the first philosophers to raise questions about the synthetic theory of evolution, which combines Darwin's theory of evolution, Mendel's understanding of genetic inheritance and more recent discoveries by molecular biologists". Along with David Depew, she wrote the first history of the philosophy of biology. In 2002, she was the first female philosopher to have a volume of the '' Library of Living Philosophers'' devoted to her. In 1995, the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology established a prize for young scholars in Grene's name, writing: "Not only does her work in the history and philosophy of biology exemplify the strong spirit of interdisciplinary work fundamental to the ISHPSSB, but she played a central role in bringing together diverse scholars of biology even before the formation of the Society."


Family

From 1938 to 1961, Grene was married to
David Grene David Grene (13 April 1913 – 10 September 2002) was an Irish American professor of classics at the University of Chicago from 1937 until his death. He was a co-founder of the Committee on Social Thought and is best known for his translations of ...
, a classicist who farmed in Illinois and in his native Ireland. They had two children, Ruth Grene, a professor of plant physiology at Virginia Tech, and Nicholas Grene, a professor of English literature at
Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...
.


Works

Books authored *'' Dreadful Freedom: A Critique of Existentialism'' (1948) Reissued as '' Introduction to Existentialism'' (1959) *''
Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
'' (1957) *'' A Portrait of Aristotle'' (1963) *'' The Knower and the Known'' (1966) *'' Approaches to a Philosophical Biology'' (1968) *'' Sartre'' (1973) *'' The Understanding of Nature: Essays In The Philosophy Of Biology '' (1974) *'' Philosophy In and Out of Europe'' (1976) essays *'' Descartes'' (1985) *''Descartes Among the Scholastics'' (1991) Aquinas Lecture 1991 *''Interactions. The Biological Context of Social Systems'' (1992) with Niles Eldredge *'' A Philosophical Testament'' (1995) *'' Philosophy of Biology: An Episodic History'' (2004) with David Depew Works edited and translated *''Philosophers Speak for Themselves: From Descartes To Kant. Readings in the Philosophy of the Renaissance and Enlightenment'' (1940) with
Thomas Vernor Smith Thomas Vernor Smith (April 26, 1890 – May 24, 1964), who wrote under the byline T. V. Smith, was an American philosopher, scholar, and politician from Illinois, as well as an officer in the United States Army. Biography Smith was born in ...
**Reissued in two volumes: '' Descartes to Locke'' (1958) and '' Berkeley, Hume, Kant'' (1963) *''The World View of Physics by
C. F. von Weizsäcker C. or c. may refer to: * Century, sometimes abbreviated as ''c.'' or ''C.'', a period of 100 years * Cent (currency), abbreviated ''c.'' or ''¢'', a monetary unit that equals of the basic unit of many currencies * Caius or Gaius, abbreviated a ...
'' (1952) translator *'' The Anatomy of Knowledge: Papers Presented to the Study Group on Foundations of Cultural Unity, Bowdoin College, 1965 and 1966; '' (1969) editor *'' Knowing & Being: essays by Michael Polanyi'', (1969) editor *''Toward a Unity of Knowledge'' (1969) editor *''Laughing and Crying: A Study of the Limits of Human Behavior by Helmuth Plessner'' (1970) translator with James Spencer Churchill *''Interpretations of Life and Mind: Essays Around the Problem of Reduction'' (1971) editor *'' Spinoza : A Collection of Critical Essays'' (1973) editor *'' Topics in the Philosophy of Biology'' (1976) editor with
Everett Mendelsohn Everett Irwin Mendelsohn (October 28, 1931 – June 6, 2023) was an American historian of science. He was Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at Harvard University, where he was a faculty member from 1960 until his retirement in 2007. ...
*'' Dimensions Of Darwinism : Themes And Counterthemes In Twentieth-Century Evolutionary Theory'' (1983) editor *''Spinoza And The Sciences'' (1986) editor *''Muntu : African Culture and the Western World by
Janheinz Jahn Janheinz Jahn (23 July 1918 in Frankfurt on Main – 20 October 1973 in Messel, Darmstadt-Dieburg) was a German writer and influential scholar of literature from sub-Saharan Africa]. Jahn studied drama and Arabic Studies in Munich in the Thirties. ...
'' (1990) translator *''Descartes and His Contemporaries: Meditations, Objections, and Replies '' (1995) editor with Roger Ariew *''The Mechanization of the Heart: Harvey and Descartes by Thomas Fuchs'' (2001) translator *'' iarchive:malebranchesfirs0000unse, Malebranche's First and Last Critics: Simon Foucher and Dortous De Mairan'' (2002) with Richard A. Watson; translator *''Apology for Raymond Sebond by Montaigne'' (2003) translator with Roger Ariew *''Geoffroy Saint Hilaire by Hervé Le Guyader'' (2004) translator *For more complete details see "The Publications of Marjorie Grene" in her 1986 festschrift ''Human Nature and Natural Knowledge'' or Grene'
C.V.


See also

*
American philosophy American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevert ...
* List of American philosophers


References


Further reading

*''The Philosophy of Marjorie Grene'' (2002), edited by Randall E. Auxier and Lewis Edwin Hahn


External links


The philosophy of Marjorie Grene
2003 profile by Sally Harris for ''Virginia Tech Magazine'' (Archived by Wayback Machine)
An Interview with Marjorie Grene
2005 article by Benjamin Cohen for ''
The Believer Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to: Religion * Believer, a person who holds a particular belief ** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief *** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ *** Beli ...
'' magazine. (Archived by Wayback Machine)
IN MEMORIAM - Marjorie Glicksman Grene
from the University Of California.
In Memoriam: Marjorie Grene
from ''Virginia Tech Daily'' (Archived by Wayback Machine)

eulogy by Richard Burian and Roger Ariew for ''Isis''. (Archived by Wayback Machine) {{DEFAULTSORT:Grene, Marjorie Jewish American writers Jewish philosophers Writers from Virginia Virginia Tech faculty University of Chicago faculty Wellesley College alumni Radcliffe College alumni Presidents of the Metaphysical Society of America 1910 births 2009 deaths Writers from Chicago Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American women philosophers Existentialists Philosophers of science 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women Philosophers of biology Distinguished professors of philosophy