Maurice Alexander Natanson (November 26, 1924 – August 16, 1996) was an American philosopher "who helped introduce the work of

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

and

Edmund Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...

in the United States". He was a student of

Alfred Schutz Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

and helped popularize Schutz' work from the 1960s onward. During his career he taught at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, the

University of California at Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located in Monterey Bay, ...

where he helped establish the

History of Consciousness History of Consciousness is the name of a department in the Humanities Division of the University of California, Santa Cruz with a 50+ year history of interdisciplinary research and student training in "established and emergent disciplines and fi ...

graduate program. He was a visiting professor at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

and

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. A captivating speaker, Natanson delivered the inaugural Alfred Schutz Memorial Lecture, "Alfred Schutz: Philosopher and Social Scientist" (1995) and the Aron Gurwitsch Memorial Lecture "Illusion and Irreality" (1983) at the annual meetings of the Society for Phenomenology & the Human Sciences in 1995. Natanson was born in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn. He died from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

on August 16, 1996, at age 71.

Works

Natanson was the author of numerous works including: *''A Critique of Jean-Paul Sartre's Ontology'' (1951) *''Literature, Philosophy and the Social Sciences'' (1962) *''The Journeying Self: A Study in Philosophy and Social Role'' (1970) *''Edmund Husserl: Philosopher of Infinite Tasks'' (1973) *''Phenomenology, Role and Reason'' (1974) *''Anonymity: A Study in the Philosophy of Alfred Schutz'' (1986) *''The Erotic Bird: Phenomenology in Literature,'' (1998) and editor of ''Essays in Phenomenology'' (1966) *''Phenomenology and the Social Sciences'' (volumes 1 and 2) (1973). Natanson also edited ''The Problem of Social Reality'', volume I of the collected papers of

. The Husserl book won the National Book Award for Philosophy and Religion in 1974. A ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' in honor of Natanson, ''The Prism of the Self'', published in 1995 (edited by Steven Calt Crowell), includes contributions from Fred Kersten, Lester Embree, Lewis Gordon,

Thomas Luckmann Thomas Luckmann (; October 14, 1927 – May 10, 2016) was an American-Austrian sociologist of German and Slovene origin who taught mainly in Germany. Born in Jesenice, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Luckmann studied philosophy and linguistics at the ...

, Richard Zaner, Nobuo Kazashi, Michael McDuffie, Gail Weiss, and

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In ...

References

External links

Photographs of Maurice Natanson from the UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections
1924 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American philosophers Philosophers from New York (state) Deaths from prostate cancer in California People from Manhattan Phenomenologists University of California, Santa Cruz faculty University of Houston faculty University of North Carolina faculty Writers from Brooklyn Yale University faculty {{US-philosopher-stub