Felix Adler (philosopher)

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Felix Adler, ca.1913

Felix Adler (born August 13, 1851 in Alzey , † April 24, 1933 in New York ) was a German-American philosopher . He was Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

Life

He was born the son of Alzeyer Rabbi Samuel Adler , who emigrated with him to America in 1857, since his father was appointed Chief Rabbi of the Temple Emanu-El in New York City. Felix Adler studied at Columbia University , returned to Germany and did his doctorate at Heidelberg University . In 1874 he went back to the USA, where he worked for two years as a professor of Hebrew and Oriental literature at Cornell University.

In 1876 Adler founded the "Society for Ethical Culture", which advocated secular humanism , in New York , and remained its moral and spiritual leader until his death. Adler initially found supporters for his ideas in many states of the USA , but soon also in some European countries. An important representative of these views in the German-speaking world was the Viennese philosophy professor Friedrich Jodl , who worked after Ludwig Feuerbach, as co-founder and chairman of the “German Society for Ethical Culture”. The endeavor of these societies is known as the ethical movement .

From 1902 to 1918 Adler was Professor of "Political and Social Ethics" at Columbia University . He was also the founder of The Ethical Record (1888) and The International Journal of Ethics (1890), founded the New York Philosophy Club in 1900 and was President of the American Philosophical Association from 1928 until his death .

Works (selection)

  • Creed and deed. A series of discourses . New York 1877 (Reprint 1972).
  • The moral lessons of the children . Dümmler, Berlin 1894.
  • Life and destiny . Phillips, New York 1903.
  • The religion of duty. Phillips, New York 1905.
  • (as co-author): Child labor and social progress. American Academy, Philadelphia 1908.
  • The world crisis and its meaning . Appleton, New York 1915.
  • An ethical philosophy of life. Appleton, New York 1923.
  • The reconstruction of the spiritual ideal. Appleton, New York 1924.
  • Ethical philosophy of life. Reinhardt, Munich 1926.

Festschrift

  • Horace James Bridges (Ed.): Aspects of ethical religion. Essays in honor of Felix Adler . American Ethical Union, New York 1926.

literature

  • Benny Kraut: From Reform Judaism to Ethical Culture: The Religious Evolution of Felix Adler. Hebrew Union College Press, Cincinnati 1979, ISBN 0-87820-404-0 (biography).
  • Horace Leland Friess: Felix Adler and ethical culture. Memories and studies. Columbia University Press, New York 1981, ISBN 0-231-05184-0 .
  • Tobias Brinkmann: Sundays at Sinai: A Jewish Congregation in Chicago. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2012, ISBN 978-0-226-07454-2 (touches on Adler's origins in Alzey and relationships with Jewish immigrants from Eppelsheim in Chicago).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Adler, Felix
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1851
PLACE OF BIRTH Alzey
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1933
Place of death new York