Lewis White Beck

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Lewis White Beck
Born(1913-09-26)26 September 1913
Died7 June 1997(1997-06-07) (aged 83)
Rochester, New York
AwardsAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellowship
American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellow
EraWestern philosophy
RegionGerman philosophy
Main interests
Immanuel Kant
Moral philosophy

Lewis White Beck (September 26, 1913 – June 7, 1997) was an American philosopher and scholar of German philosophy. Beck was Burbank Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at the University of Rochester and served as the Philosophy Department chair there from 1949 to 1966. He translated several of Immanuel Kant's works, such as the Critique of Practical Reason, and was the author of Studies in the Philosophy of Kant (1965).

Biography

Born in Griffin, Georgia, Beck was the youngest of four children in a family raised by Erasmus W. Beck and Ann H. Beck. His siblings included: Evelyn H. Beck , Edwin H. Beck and Sarah A Beck. His father was employed as both an engineer and a sales representative.[1]

Beck received his bachelor's degree Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University in 1934, his master's degree from Duke University in 1935, and his doctoral degree from Duke University in 1937. His dissertation was entitled: "Synopsis: A Study in the Theory of Knowledge.[2]

Academic career

Before moving to Rochester, Beck was an international student and a Fellow at the University of Berlin (1937–38; an interview about his experiences there appeared in The Atlanta Constitution, Sept. 18, 1938), an instructor at Emory University (1938–41), assistant professor at the University of Delaware (1941–46), and associate professor at Lehigh University (1946–48), eventually becoming professor (1948–49). [3]

Beck joined the faculty at the University or Rochester in 1949 and served as Chairman of its Department of Philosophy from 1949-1966. He also served as Associate Dean of the Graduate School (1952-1956) as well as the Dean of the Graduate School (1956-1957) where he helped to raise international recognition for the PhD. program in Philosophy.[4] During this time he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of Philosophy (1957).[5]

In !962 he was appointed as the Burbank Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy and subsequently Professor Emeritus in 1979.[6][7] In 1962 he became the first recipient of the University's Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.[8] He was subsequently elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1963 and the American Council of Learned Societies in 1964.[9][10][11] From 1970-1975, Beck also served on the National Endowment for the Humanities Council.[12] During this time he also served as a member of the board of directors for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1970-1978).[13]

During the course of his long academic career, Beck also held appointments as a visiting lecturer at several leading academic research centers including: Columbia University (1950), George Washington University, the University of Minnesota (1953), the University of California at Berkeley (1973), Yale University (1974) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (1982-1983). In addition, he received honorary degrees from Hamilton College, Emory University and the University of Tubingen.[14][15]

in addition to his teaching activities, Beck also served on the editorial board of several leading philosophical research journals including: the Journal of the History of Ideas and Kantian-Studien. In 1985 he also contributed to the formation of the North American Kantian Society.[16]

Academic works

Beck is most noted for his research into the collective writings of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Included among his publications is a translation of Kant's extensive "Critique of Pure Reason" in 1949.[17][18] He also achieved widespread national and international recognition within academic circles for his scholarship, commentary and encyclopedic knowledge of Kant's philosophical works.[19]

Over the years, Beck was praised by his students for his charm and wit. Even after his formal retirement in 1979 he continued to meet with informal gatherings of aspiring young scholars in an effort to share his unique insights into Kant's works until 1996.[20] He was often observed to joke that his prize for an award in teaching excellence was rejected as "nontaxable" by the Internal Revenue Service because it was more appropriately categorized as "unearned".[21]

Death

Beck retired in 1979 and died at age 83 in Rochester, New York.[22]

Selected publications

External videos
video icon You may read Lewis White Beck's:
Studies in the Philosophy of Kant (1965)
Early German Philosophy: Kant and His Predecessors (1969)
and additional publications about Kant
Here on Archive.org

Books

  • Philosophic Inquiry: An Introduction to Philosophy (1952)
  • A Commentary on Kant's Critique of Practical Reason (1961)
  • Six Secular Philosophers (1966)
  • Early German Philosophy: Kant and His Predecessors (1969)
  • The Actor and the Spectator (1975)
  • Essays on Kant and Hume (1978)
  • Mr. Boswell dines with Professor Kant (1979)

Translations

  • Kant, Immanuel (1950). Lewis White Beck (ed.). Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Present Itself as a Science. New York: Bobbss Merrill Educational Publishing – via Internet Archive.
  • Kant, Immanuel (1956). Critique of Practical Reason. Translated by Lewis White Beck. New York: The Liberal Arts Press – via Internet Archive.
  • Kant, Immanuel (1997). The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals and What is Enlightenment. Translated by Lewis White Beck (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc. – via Internet Archive.

Archived works

  • The Lewis White Beck Papers collection was gifted to the University of Rochester for archival purposes by Professor Beck in 1960, 1965, 1969 and 1975. The manuscripts and notes contained within the collection are accessible to scholars and research students within the University of Rochester's Rare Books and Special Collections Library upon request.[23]

Professional affiliations

Lewis White Beck was both an active member and a member emeritus of the American Philosophical Association.[24] He served as President of the American Philosophical Association- Eastern Division in 1971 as well as the chairman of its board of officers (1974-1977). He also served as the president of the North East Society for 18th Century Studies in 1974.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ Philosophy Documentation Center: The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series 2013: Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 1981-1990. Hull, Richard T. Biography: Lewis White Beck 2013 p. 69-71 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  2. ^ Philosophy Documentation Center: The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series 2013: Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 1981-1990. Hull, Richard T. Biography: Lewis White Beck 2013 p. 69-71 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  3. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  4. ^ University of Rochester - River Campus Library: Rare Books and Special Collections: "Leafing Through Lewis White Beck's Career and Mind" Tanzel, Vincent. September 29, 2022. Biography: Lewis White Beck on library.rochester.edu
  5. ^ John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships 1957 Lewis White Beck on gf.org/fellows
  6. ^ Philosophy Documentation Center: The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series 2013: Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 1981-1990. Hull, Richard T. Biography: Lewis White Beck 2013 p. 69-71 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  7. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  8. ^ University of Rochester - River Campus Library: Rare Books and Special Collections: "Leafing Through Lewis White Beck's Career and Mind" Tanzel, Vincent. September 29, 2022. Biography: Lewis White Beck on library.rochester.edu
  9. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010:ChapterB" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  10. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  11. ^ American Council Of Learned Societies Fellowships- ACLS Fellowships Program 1964 Lewis White Beck Project:" A History of German Philosophy, from the Beginnings to Recent Times" Lewis White Beck on acls.org
  12. ^ University of Rochester - "Philosopher, Scholar Lewis White Beck Dies" June 12, 1997 Obituary for Lewis White Beck on rochester.edu/news
  13. ^ University of Rochester - "Philosopher, Scholar Lewis White Beck Dies" June 12, 1997 Obituary for Lewis White Beck on rochester.edu/news
  14. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  15. ^ Philosophy Documentation Center: The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series 2013: Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 1981-1990. Hull, Richard T. Biography: Lewis White Beck 2013 p. 69-71 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  16. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186-187 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  17. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  18. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  19. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  20. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  21. ^ University of Rochester - River Campus Library: Rare Books and Special Collections: "Leafing Through Lewis White Beck's Career and Mind" Tanzel, Vincent. September 29, 2022. Biography: Lewis White Beck on library.rochester.edu
  22. ^ Kantian Review Vol 1.In Memoriam: Lewis White Beck. Cambridge University Press 1997 p. 186 Lewis White Beck on Google.com
  23. ^ University of Rochester - Rare Books and Special Collections Library Identifier A.B39 Lewis White Beck Papers on archives.lib.rochester.edu
  24. ^ Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association: Membership List Vol 70, No 2 (Nov. 1996) p. 278 Lewis White Beck on jstor.org
  25. ^ University of Rochester - "Philosopher, Scholar Lewis White Beck Dies" June 12, 1997 Obituary for Lewis White Beck on rochester.edu/news

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