Herbert Spiegelberg (May 18, 1904 – September 6, 1990) was an American

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

who played a prominent role in the advancement of phenomenogical philosophy in the United States.

Life

Spiegelberg was born in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, in the Alsatian region of northeastern France. He studied at the universities of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, where he encountered

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 ...

and many others in the vanguard of the European phenomenological movement. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1928 from the University of Munich. His doctoral dissertation was written under the direction of the phenomenologist

Alexander Pfänder Alexander Pfänder (7 February 1870, Iserlohn18 March 1941, Munich) was a German philosopher who was a member of the Munich phenomenological school. Biography Pfänder was born in Iserlohn and spent his entire academic career in Munich, where he w ...

and was titled ''Gesetz und Sittengesetz'' (''Law and Morality''). In 1937 Spiegelberg left the continent and studied for a year in England before emigrating to the United States. In the U. S., he taught first at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

and then at

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a Private college, private liberal arts college and Music school, conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second colle ...

, which later awarded him an honorary doctoral degree. In 1953-54 and 1955-56 he received grants from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

for the preparation of the first edition of his landmark historical survey, ''The Phenomenological Movement: A Historical Introduction''. In 1963, he relocated to

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and remained there until his retirement as

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

in 1971. He also served as visiting professor at the universities of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and

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and as

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Lecturer at the University of Munich. Spiegelberg conducted five influential workshops in phenomenology, during the summers of 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, and 1972. The first workshop was supported by a grant from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

and the second by a grant from the

Monsanto Company The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...

. In 1981, Washington University established a series of lectures in phenomenology in his honor. Herbert Spiegelberg died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, at the age of 86, at his home in St. Louis, Missouri. His collected papers are available in the archives of the

Washington University Libraries Washington University Libraries is the library system of Washington University in St. Louis. The Washington University Libraries are a powerful network of academic resources featuring 9 University Libraries (7 locations on the Danforth Campus, on ...

Philosophy

Spiegelberg played a major role in the development of interest in phenomenology in America.

Major works

Books

* * (2 vols) :* (2 vols) :* 768 pages. * 411 pages. * 290 pages. * 239 pages. * 337 pages.

Translations

* 98 pages

Secondary sources

* 279 pages.

References

External links

Collected papers archive
at Washington University Libraries {{DEFAULTSORT:Spiegelberg, Herbert 1904 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American philosophers American philosophy academics Phenomenologists Washington University in St. Louis faculty Lawrence University faculty Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Swarthmore College faculty University of Southern California faculty University of Michigan faculty