Martin Foss (1889–1968) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
-born
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
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 ...
,
professor, and
scholar.
Life and career
Martin Foss was born in
Berlin,
Germany, in 1889 and studied
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 ...
and
law at German and French universities. He married Hilde Schindler, and they had two children, Oliver Foss, a
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
, and the
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
Lukas Foss. The Jewish family left Germany in 1933 when
Adolf Hitler came into power, and for the next four years Martin Fuchs commuted secretly between
Paris and Berlin. With the help of the
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
community in the
United States, the family was able to immigrate to the U.S. in 1937. The Quakers provided initial shelter for the family and advised Martin to change the family name from Fuchs to Foss. (It is unknown why the name was not changed to Fox, which is what "Fuchs" means.) Martin subsequently became an American citizen. He taught philosophy at
Haverford College
Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...
, where he retired as
professor emeritus, as well as at
Temple University.
He died of a heart attack at the age of 79, while he was running to catch a plane at
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
.
Martin Foss taught and wrote during a time when
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
dominated and influenced many thinkers, such as
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 ...
,
Ortega y Gasset
Ortega is a Spanish surname. A baptismal record in 1570 records a ''de Ortega'' "from the village of Ortega". There were several villages of this name in Spain. The toponym derives from Latin ''urtica'', meaning "nettle".
Some of the Ortega spel ...
, and
Jean-Paul Sartre.
Existentialism was also popular, but his view of existence was based more on the views of
Medieval thinkers such as
Cusanus
Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic cardinal, philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first German proponents of Re ...
. Foss was considered to be an
Aristotelian philosopher. He was a student of
Max Scheler
Max Ferdinand Scheler (; 22 August 1874 – 19 May 1928) was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology. Considered in his lifetime one of the most prominent German philosophers,Davis, Zachar ...
, whose works had a significant influence on his ideas about
ethics,
value
Value or values may refer to:
Ethics and social
* Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them
** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...
, and
love.
Martin Foss's book, ''Symbol and Metaphor in Human Experience'', was listed as one of the “Most Neglected Books of the Past 25 Years” by ''The American Scholar'' in 1956. Other writers have cited his work as being "far-reaching," "seminal," and "ahead of its time." In the academic treatise, ''The Faces of Reason: An Essay on Philosophy and Culture in English Canada, 1850-1950'', authors Leslie Armour and Elizabeth Trott state that Martin Foss may be considered a greater philosopher than Martin Heidegger. Although
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 ...
has clearly had far greater recognition and impact, many would argue that Martin Foss's work deserves renewed attention.
Professor Martin Foss
Professor Foss was highly regarded by his Haverford College students as written in their class of 1948 yearbook dedication:
"Soon after his arrival on the Haverford campus, Dr. Martin Foss impressed his unique personality on the students who were lucky enough or foresighted enough to take one of his courses. In his own inimitable manner, Dr. Foss graphically developed the neophytes into thinking students. By driving home his points with emotional style so characteristic of him and him alone. Dr. Foss instilled a love of his subject into all of us who studied under him. No other professor in recent memory has so often been imitated in campus skits with such friendly satire. Dr. Foss' own brand of "Phil-Foss-ophy" has, of necessity, been responsible for such well-known phrases as "Yes, my dear, but you see..." and "the stream of life, the flux". Standing fast to his views on any particular subject Dr. Foss will fall back on his two favorite philosophers, Kant and Aristotle, to back him up. A man with such deep scholarly convictions and great love for his chosen profession could not help but make a profound impression on the students of Haverford, and it is with the deepest gratitude and respect that we dedicate the 1948 RECORD to Martin Foss, teacher, scholar, and friend."
Philosophy
Martin Foss’s work deals with the “large” issues of life—love, death, and creative rebirth. His writings on
art and the
creative process
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...
are particularly noteworthy, offering a missing perspective in that genre. His texts reach far beyond
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 ...
, and have been used in academic
depth psychology,
theology, and art programs, as well as philosophy programs.
Foss's perspective on
Greek tragedy
Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy.
Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...
is important and unprecedented. His views on tragedy as religious drama give new meaning to the word "
religion."
Culture, meaning and destiny
In his seminal book ''Symbol and Metaphor In Human Experience,'' for which he is primarily known, Foss explains the difference between
the Self
The self is an individual as the object of that individual’s own reflective consciousness. Since the ''self'' is a reference by a subject to the same subject, this reference is necessarily Subjective character of experience, subjective. The sen ...
as a maker of things and the creative process of
personality. The germ of this distinction is developed as well in another of his books, ''Death, Sacrifice, and Tragedy'', which explores in more detail the meanings of Greek and
Shakespearean tragedies. In Foss’s view, the significance of Greek tragedy involves the discovery of the "creative and dynamic personality and man's sacrificial and intercessional nature."
He writes: ''"life in its core is a perpetual conversion from a lower sphere to a higher one, destroying the lower for the sake of realizing the higher, and this creative destruction, the sacrificial action, conveys to life its essential character, which is sacramental."''
The theme of death, sacrifice, and tragedy is the basis for his view of
ethics which supplants the modern
humanist perspective that is limited to pragmatic man using his environment solely for fulfilling the needs and desires of the body. This use of the environment for practical expediency is a sphere which man and the animal have in common. It is the world of order and the making of things for their various uses. But beyond the physical world, Foss argues that man is a citizen of another world as well, a world that is hidden but disclosed. This world is the sphere of value "where no things, no accomplishments, no possessions as such count, but where works and achievements manifest a loving communion and nothing else." In Foss’s view, the purpose of human life is to serve this spiritual, transcendent world which rises before man as the meaning and destiny of his life. Through sacrifice and the creative process of personality, man is lifted into this world of intensive reality which shapes his destiny.
Foss contrasts this concept of creation with the commonly accepted ethic of
utilitarianism that is prevalent in modern societies. He writes that an ethics of utilitarianism enables a "rational organization of a collective ritual of law," and he defines rituals of law as symbolic reductions that are finite and relative (i.e., not the source of absolute ethical values). Stuck in this deficient sphere, man desires a more meaningful life, which involves seeking the higher realm of creation. Foss refers to this choice as "man under destiny." It is not an easy way of living, since one must accept the
sacrament
A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...
al nature of life and the communion of Love as the source of one's direction in life.
Consciousness
While other great thinkers in the early 20th century such as
Carl Jung and
Sigmund Freud concentrated their research on defining the
human unconscious, Martin Foss took on its natural counterpoint,
consciousness. The main premise of consciousness was that it wasn’t a static object of humanity comprehendible only by philosophers and theologians. Consciousness is a process whose partner is life. Foss wrote “we are here in a realm where consciousness has not an object, not a content detached from itself, but is aware merely of its own drive and destiny”.
[Foss, Martin. (1949). Symbol and Metaphor in Human Experience. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.] Consciousness contains all the
potential of human existence. “Consciousness is real, is being; it may be potential being, but even as potential it is in a process of realization in which no distinction can be made between that which is but could also not be (matter or mere possibility) and that which essentially and necessarily is (form)”. By attaching the conditionality of potential to his definition of consciousness, Foss essentially said that human beings have no limitations on what they can be, perceive, and create. An idea existing only in the mind is as real as what is perceived via the physical senses.
Martin Foss and other philosophers
Foss's work diverges in important ways from that of
Carl Jung. Both scholars were writing in parallel (during the same period of time) about similar concepts, although Foss highlights the
creative process
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...
as the central element of life in a way that Jung does not. Jung's definition of the
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
is very different from Foss's. In Jung's view, a symbol has great meaning, deriving from the
collective unconscious
Collective unconscious (german: kollektives Unbewusstes) refers to the unconscious mind and shared mental concepts. It is generally associated with idealism and was coined by Carl Jung. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populat ...
. Contrary to Jung, Foss uses the term "symbol" to refer to that which is man-made and static (Jung uses the term "sign" to denote something static). Foss uses the term "
metaphor" to denote the universal creative process that underlies human life and consciousness. In Foss's view, the metaphoric process of life is a continuous, ongoing creative force that is always working to "move beyond" (and destroy) the static state of the symbol. The metaphoric wants to create anew.
His writings can also be compared with the writings of Martin Heidegger and
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, both of whom are well known for their views on
process philosophy, which describes the universe as a process, rather than a fixed state.
Major publications
*Essay. ''Logos'', XII (1924)
*Essay. ''Logos'', XIII (1925)
*''The Idea of Perfection in the Western World'' (1946). New Jersey:
Princeton University Press
*''Symbol and Metaphor in Human Experience'' (1949). New Jersey: Princeton University Press
*''Logic and Existence'' (1962). New York: Philosophical Library
*''Death, Sacrifice and Tragedy'' (1966). New York: Philosophical Library
References
External links
“Most Neglected Books of the Past 25 Years”Frye, Northrop & Knights, L.C. (1963). ''Myth and Symbol: Critical Approaches and Applications''. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.Armour, Leslie & Trott, Elizabeth (1982). ''The Faces of Reason: An Essay on Philosophy and Culture in English Canada, 1850–1950''. Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press* http://groups.google.com/group/Martin-foss
* http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20021113044605/http%3A//www.bayarea.net/%7Ekins/aboutme/900greatbooks.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foss, Martin
1889 births
1968 deaths
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