Paul Carus (; 18 July 1852 – 11 February 1919) was a

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

author, editor, a student of

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

Oriental Ideas in American Thought
from ''Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas'', edited by Philip P. Wiener (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1973–74). and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Life and education

Carus was born in Ilsenburg,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, and educated at the universities of

Strassburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the E ...

(then Germany, now France) and

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

, Germany. After obtaining his PhD from Tübingen in 1876The Monist:An International Quarterly Journal of General Philosophical Inquiry
featuring essays from scholars around the globe. he served in the army and then taught school. He had been raised in a pious and orthodox

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

home, but gradually moved away from this tradition.The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844–1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent
by Thomas A. Tweed (Paperback), page 65-67 He left Bismarck's

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

for the United States, "because of his liberal views". After he emigrated to the USA (in 1884) he lived in Chicago, and in

LaSalle, Illinois LaSalle is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Interstates 39 and 80. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Originally platted in 1837 over , the city's boundaries have grown ...

. Paul Carus married Edward C. Hegeler's daughter, engineer Mary Hegeler (Marie) and the couple later moved into the

Hegeler Carus Mansion The Hegeler Carus Mansion, located at 1307 Seventh Street in La Salle, Illinois is one of the Midwest's great Second Empire structures. Completed in 1876 for Edward C. Hegeler, a partner in the nearby Matthiessen Hegeler Zinc Company, the man ...

, built by her father. They had seven children, the firstborn, Robert died at birth, but Edward (b. 1890), Gustave (b. 1892), Paula (b. 1894), Elisabeth or "Libby" (b. 1896), Herman (b. 1899), and Alwin (b. 1901) all lived long lives.History of the Heleger Carus Foundation – The Hegeler Carus Mansion
Mary ran the family business, Matthiessen-Hegeler Zinc Company and the

Open Court Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

business and later took on the editorial role after Carus' death, alongside their daughter Elizabeth.

Career

In the United States, Carus briefly edited a German-language journal and wrote several articles for the ''Index'', the Free Religious Association organ. Soon after, he became the first managing editor of the

Open Court Publishing Company The Open Court Publishing Company is a publisher with offices in Chicago and LaSalle, Illinois. It is part of the Carus Publishing Company of Peru, Illinois. History Open Court was founded in 1887 by Edward C. Hegeler of the Matthiessen-Hegeler ...

, founded in 1887 by his father-in-law. The goals of Open Court were to provide a forum for the discussion of philosophy,

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

, and religion, and to make philosophical classics widely available by making them affordable. He also acted as the editor for two periodicals published by the company, ''The Open Court'' and '' The Monist''. He was introduced to

Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for ...

, the founder of American Pragmatism, by Judge Francis C. Russell of Chicago. Carus stayed abreast of Peirce's work and would eventually publish a number of his articles. During his lifetime, Carus published 75 books and 1500 articles,History of the Heleger Carus Foundation – Open Court Publishing Company
mostly through Open Court Publishing Company. He wrote books and articles on history, politics, philosophy, religion, logic, mathematics, anthropology, science, and social issues of his day. In addition, Carus corresponded with many of the greatest minds of the late 19th and early 20th century, sending and receiving letters from

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 1856 – 7 January 1943 ...

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...

Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( , ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was a Moravian-born Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the physics of shock waves. The ratio of one's speed to that of sound is named the Mach n ...

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the fi ...

, and many more.

Carus's world view and philosophy

Carus considered himself a

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

rather than philosopher. He referred to himself as "an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

who loved God".Recent American Thought
, fro

Carus is proposed to be a pioneer in the promotion of

interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

dialogue. He explored the relationship of science and religion, and was instrumental in introducing Eastern traditions and ideas to the West. He was a key figure in the introduction of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

to the West, sponsoring Buddhist translation work of

D.T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

, and fostering a lifelong working friendship with Buddhist Master, Soyen Shaku. Carus' interest in Asian religions seems to have intensified after he attended the

World's Parliament of Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

(in 1893). For years afterwards, Carus was a strong sympathizer of Buddhist ideas, but stopped short of committing fully to this, or any other, religion. Instead, he ceaselessly promoted his own rational concept which he called the "Religion of Science." Carus had a selective approach and he believed that religions evolve over time. After a battle for survival, he expected a "cosmic religion of universal truth" to emerge from the ashes of traditional beliefs. Carus proposed his own philosophy similar to

panpsychism In the philosophy of mind, panpsychism () is the view that the mind or a mindlike aspect is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality. It is also described as a theory that "the mind is a fundamental feature of the world which exists thro ...

known as 'panbiotism', which he defined as "everything is fraught with life; it contains life; it has the ability to live."

Religion of Science

Carus was a follower of

Benedictus de Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, ...

; he was of the opinion that Western thought had fallen into error early in its development in accepting the distinctions between body and mind and the material and the spiritual. (Kant's phenomenal and noumenal realms of knowledge; Christianity's views of the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

and the body, and the

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

and the

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

). Carus rejected such dualisms, and wanted science to reestablish the unity of knowledge. The philosophical result he labeled ''

Monism Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...

''. His version of ''monism'' is more closely associated with a kind of

pantheism Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ...

, although it was occasionally identified with

positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

. He regarded every law of nature as a part of God's being. Carus held that God was the name for a ''cosmic order'' comprising "all that which is the bread of our spiritual life." He held the concept of a

personal God A personal god, or personal goddess, is a deity who can be related to as a person, instead of as an impersonal force, such as the Absolute, "the All", or the "Ground of Being". In the scriptures of the Abrahamic religions, God is described as b ...

as untenable. He acknowledged

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

Christ as a redeemer, but not as the only one, for he believed that other religious founders were equally endowed with similar qualities. His beliefs attempted to steer a middle course between idealistic

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

and

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialis ...

. He differed with metaphysicians because they " reified" words and treated them as if they were realities, and he objected to materialism because it ignored or overlooked the importance of form. Carus emphasized form by conceiving of the divinity as a cosmic order. He objected to any monism which sought the unity of the world, not in the unity of truth, but in the oneness of a logical assumption of ideas. He referred to such concepts as ''henism'', not monism. Carus held that

truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belief ...

was independent of time, human desire, and human action. Therefore, science was not a human invention, but a human

revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

which needed to be apprehended; discovery meant apprehension; it was the result or manifestation of the cosmic order in which all truths were ultimately harmonious.

Criticisms of Carus' ideas

It is claimed that Carus was dismissed by Orientalists and philosophers alike because of his failure to comply with the rules of either discipline.

Legacy

The legacy of Paul Carus is honored through the efforts of the ''Hegeler Carus Foundation'', the '' Carus Lectures'' at the ''

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...

(APA)'', and the ''Paul Carus Award for Interreligious Understanding'' by the ''Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR)''.

Mary Hegeler Carus Mary Hegeler Carus (January 10, 1861 – June 27, 1936) was an American engineer, editor and entrepreneur. In 1882 she was the first woman to graduate in engineering from the University of Michigan. Early life Marie Hermine Henriette Hegeler ...

and their daughter Elizabeth Carus took on the editorial role after Carus' death.

Bibliography

His publications include:
''The Open Court Fortnightly Journal Vol 1''
1887-1888 * ''The Soul of Man: An Investigation of the Facts of Physiological And Experimental Psychology'' (1891, republished 2006) * ''Monism: Its Scope and Import'' (1891) *
Homilies of Science
' (The Open Court Publishing Co., 1892) * '' The Religion of Science'' (1893, republished 2007)
''Truth in fiction: twelve tales with a moral''
1893
''The Philosophy of the Tool''
1893 * ''

The Gospel of Buddha ''The Gospel of Buddha'' is an 1894 book by Paul Carus. It is modeled on the New Testament and tells the story of Buddha through parables. It was an important tool in introducing Buddhism to the west and is used as a teaching tool by some Asia ...

'' (1894) * ''Buddhism and Its Christian Critics'' (1894, republished 2005)
1905, new & revised edition

''The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil''
(1900) * ''Eros and Psyche: A fairy-tale of ancient Greece, retold after Apuleius'' (1900)
''Fundamental problems; the method of philosophy as a systematic arrangement of knowledge''
1903
''The Surd of Metaphysics''
(1903)
''The Nature of the State''
1904
''Kant and Spencer; a study of the fallacies of agnosticism''
1904
''Karma: A Story of Buddhist Ethics''
(1903, republished 2004)
''Primer of philosophy''
1906 * ''Story of Samson and its Place in the Religious Development of Mankind'' (1907, republished 2003) *
The Bride Of Christ: A Study In Christian Legend Lore''
(1908)
''The Foundations of Mathematics''
(1908, republished 2004) * '' GOD: An Enquiry into the Nature of Man's Highest Ideal and a Solution of the Problem from the Standpoint of Science'' (1908, republished 2007)
''The Philosopher's Martyrdom; A Satire''
1908
''Godward; a record of religious progress''
1908
''The Pleroma: An Essay on the Origin of Christianity''
(1909)
''Philosophy as a Science: A Synopsis of the Writings of Paul Carus''
(1909) * ''The Philosophy of Form'' (1911, republished 2007) * ''The Mechanistic Principle and the Non-Mechanical: An Inquiry into Fundamentals With Extracts from Representatives of Either Side'' (1913)
''The Principle of Relativity In the Light of the Philosophy of Science''
(1913, republished 2004)
''Nietzsche and Other Exponents of Individualism''
(1914, republished 2007)
''Goethe, with special consideration of his philosophy'', by Paul Carus
1915 * ''Kant's

Prolegomena In an essay, article, or book, an introduction (also known as a prolegomenon) is a beginning section which states the purpose and goals of the following writing. This is generally followed by the body and conclusion. Common features and techni ...

'' (1902, republished 1947)
''The Rise of Man: A Sketch of the Origin of the Human Race''
(republished 2004)
''The Ethical Problem''
1899 (republished 2005)

References

External links

The Monist

Hegeler Carus Foundation

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carus, Paul 1852 births 1919 deaths People from Ilsenburg People from the Province of Saxony German emigrants to the United States American philosophers American publishers (people) American theologians American Buddhist studies scholars German scholars of Buddhism American male non-fiction writers 19th-century American translators 19th-century male writers Panpsychism 19th-century American businesspeople