April 21, 2006

The Organizers of the Conference "American Philosophy in the 21st Century: Classic Foundations and Contemporary Solutions" (held in Buffalo New York on April 21) were kind enough to give me some time at the end of the day to let people know about the Walter Kaufmann Web-Site.  I gave a 10 minute talk, and handed out a brochure (comments welcome on what to include/how to improve this) outlining some of Kaufmann's major areas of contribution and publication in Philosophy.  Amongst others, both Peter Hare and Joseph Margolis had some interesting and helpful things to say about their experiences with Walter Kaufmann, and their impression of the role that he had played in American Philosophy during the 60s and 70s.  I'd like to thank everyone who provided me with feedback at the Conference, and especially to thank the Conference organizers, Russ Pryba and Joseph Palencik for allowing me an opportunity to speak. 

     American Philosophers at the Center for Inquiry in Buffalo, NY, April 21, 2006.

March 2, 2006

Lecture explores work of German-Jewish refugee

The life and works of Walter Kaufmann, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who went on to become a professor of philosophy at Princeton, will be the subject of an Honors Lecture by David Pickus at 5 p.m., March 7, in room L174 of the Coor Building. The talk is free and open to the public.

“Walter Kaufmann: Jewish Nietzschean” will focus on one of the most interesting German-Jewish refugee intellectuals in America. The talk is part of the Barrett Honors College Honors Lecture Series.

“In the course of a prolific and eccentric writing career, Kaufmann combined the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche with his understanding of Judaism to create an interesting and challenging variety of individualism,” says Pickus, a Barrett Honors College lecturer and Honors Faculty Fellow.

Kaufmann, who was raised in Berlin, escaped to America in 1939. After serving in the Army in World War II, he began to study the works of German philosopher Nietzsche, who challenged the foundations of traditional morality and values.

Kaufmann wrote a number of provocative and insightful books on subjects that included the place of religion in modern life, the future of the humanities and the dangers of conformity in mass society. Pickus hopes to spark a wider discussion about the meaning of Kaufmann's work.

“I will discuss the experience of German Jews living under the Hitler regime, as well as Kaufmann's efforts to transmit German intellectual culture to the United States,” Pickus says. “In doing so, I bring up a number of topics relevant today, including his critique of contemporary faith, morals and our university system.”

Pickus received his doctorate in German intellectual history from the University of Chicago in 1995. His research studies German and Jewish history, and the impact of persecution on modern life and thought.

Learn More

Fall 2008

Beginning this fall, the Walter Kaufmann Web Site Project will be have a new home, along with Andrew Spear himself, in the Philosophy Department at Grand Valley State University in Allendale near Grand Rapids, Michigan.  All correspondence regarding the site (which is still very welcome) should still be directed to Andrew, now at “speara AT gvsu.edu”. 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

               The Walter Kaufmann Web-Site Project began as a single page on my public HTML space at the University of Buffalo in Fall 2002.  Since that time it has grown a great deal thanks to the input and contributions of many different individuals.  I have been contacted by computer programmers, lawyers, university professors, high school students, graduate students, booksellers and many others, all unified by a shared interest in the life and work of Walter Kaufmann.  I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the site over the last three years.

                Additionally, I would like to issue a universal apology to all of you who have e-mailed me and received no response and to those of you to whom my responses have been extremely slow.  I receive a great deal of correspondence regarding the site and have a backlog of updates, information and questions that I have not yet been able to process.  I am working to catch up on this backlog, but of late it has been growing more quickly than I have been able to work through it. 

               In spite of this I do hope to continue expanding the site in the coming year.  As always, keep sending me any information/resources that you have regarding Walter Kaufmann's life and work.  It will eventually find its way onto the site.

With best wishes for all in the new year,

Andrew Spear

Green Bay, WI

December 21, 2005

Winter 2013

February 23, 2013     A memorial to Kaufmann is dedicated in the University Chapel at Princeton University.

2015

After years out of print, Princeton University Press has reissued Kaufmann’s The Faith of a Heretic in paperback and with a new introduction by Stanley Corngold.

2019

Professor Stanley Corngold of Princeton University has published Walter Kaufmann: Philosopher, Humanist, Heretic with Princeton University Press.