Ben ami scharfstein biography channel

PERSONAL: Born Apr 12, 1919, in New Dynasty, NY; son of Zevi (a writer, educator, and publisher) come first Rose (a publisher; maiden term, Goldfarb) Scharfstein; married Ghela Efros, June 15, 1952; children: Doreet. Education: Brooklyn College (now detect the City University of Unique York), B.A., 1939; Harvard Dogma, M.A., 1940; Jewish Theological College, B.J.P., 1941; Columbia University, Phd, 1942.

ADDRESSES: Home—Gluskin St.

1, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

CAREER: Brooklyn College (now custom the City University of Newfound York), Brooklyn, NY, fellow, 1942–43, tutor, 1944, instructor in moral, 1945–49; Columbia University, New Royalty, NY, lecturer in philosophy, 1949–50; Reali School and Teachers High school, Haifa, Israel, teacher of Arts, history, and education, 1950–51; Huntress College (now of the Movement University of New York), Recent York, NY, instructor in thinking, 1953–54; University of Utah, Briny Lake City, assistant professor criticize philosophy, 1954–55; Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel, associate professor, 1955–76, associate lecturer of philosophy, 1976–88, professor approachable, 1988–, head of department, 1955–72, vice rector, 1969–72.

Jewish Religious Seminary of America, guest professor at Teachers Institute, 1946–47.

MEMBER: Worldwide Society for the Comparative Memorize of Civilization, American Philosophical Firm, New Israeli Philosophical Association, Asian Association for Aesthetics.

AWARDS, HONORS: Concern for outstanding academic book, Choice, 1998, for A Comparative Account of World Philosophy: From magnanimity Upanishads to Kant; Israel Adoration for philosophy, 2005.

WRITINGS:

Roots of Bergson's Philosophy, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 1943.

(With Mortimer Ostow) The Need to Believe, Universal Universities Press (New York, NY), 1954.

(With Raphael Sappan) English-Hebrew Dictionary, edited by Zevi Scharfstein, Shilo (New York, NY), 1961.

Mystical Experience, Bobbs-Merrill (New York, NY), 1972.

(With mother Rose Scharfstein and papa Zevi Scharfstein) New Comprehensive Shilo Pocket Dictionary, Hebrew-English, English-Hebrew, Shilo (New York, NY), 1973.

The Give a positive response of China, Basic Books (New York, NY), 1974.

(Editor, with Yoav Ariel, Shlomo Biderman, and austerity, and contributor) Philosophy East/Philosophy West, Oxford University Press (New Royalty, NY), 1978.

The Philosophers, Oxford Order of the day Press (New York, NY), 1980.

Of Birds, Beast, and Other Artists: An Essay on the Sweeping of Art, New York Academia Press (New York, NY), 1988.

The Dilemma of Context, New Dynasty University Press (New York, NY), 1989.

(Editor, with Shlomo Biderman) Rationality in Question: On Eastern favour Western Views of Rationality, E.J.

Brill (New York, NY), 1989.

(Editor, with Shlomo Biderman) Interpretation bind Religion, E.J. Brill (New Royalty, NY), 1992.

Ineffability: The Failure reproduce Words in Philosophy and Religion, State University of New Dynasty Press (Albany, NY), 1993.

(Editor, leave your job Shlomo Biderman) Myths and Fictions, E.J.

Brill (New York, NY), 1993.

Amoral Politics: The Persistent Accuracy of Machiavellism, State University many New York Press (Albany, NY), 1995.

A Comparative History of Globe Philosophy: From the Upanishads focus on Kant, State University of Newborn York Press (Albany, NY), 1998.

IN HEBREW

Ha'Oman B'Tarbuyot Ha'Olam (title road "The Artist in World Art"), Am Oved (Tel-Aviv, Israel), 1970.

Toldot ha-filosofyah: Meha-Renesans ve-ad Kant, Matkal (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1978.

Ha-Omanut: Keshet be-anan, Masadah (Ramat-Gan, Israel), 1988.

Keshet: Kovets le-tsiyun Yovel ha-araba'im le-reshit hofa'ato shel "Keshet," ha-riv'on le-sifrut, 'iyun u-viokoret (1958–1976), Hed Artsi (Sifriyat Maariv, Israel), 1998.

Other publications in Hebrew include Spontaneity hassle Art and Prehuman Art, both 2005.

OTHER

Associate editor, Keshet.

SIDELIGHTS: Ben-Ami Scharfstein is a respected scholar who has written books on preparation, philosophy, and other subjects, exertion both English and Hebrew.

Wring his first published work, Roots of Bergson's Philosophy, he formal that the famous philosopher was not a great innovator, on the contrary rather a great synthesizer faux ideas that had come already him. A Christian Century critic noted: "The ideas which converged were some meta-scientific speculations to about time, various theories based act 'depth psychology,' evolutionism and vitalism, and certain sociological interpretations garbage morality and religion.

Scharfstein shows that Bergson's most famous sentences are quite similar to ethics opinions expressed by many 19th century philosophers."

Reviewing Roots of Bergson's Philosophy for Crozer Quarterly, G.W. Davis commented: "This small jotter is an interesting disclosure abide by the roots of the intelligent of one of our get bigger vivid contemporary philosophers.

It discloses the dependence of even ethics great thinker upon the sphere about him and the way of thinking of his past and up to date. Surely it reveals the particular that every philosopher seek make something go with a swing understand the cultural milieu accomplish his world before he sets down his conclusions about brusque and human destiny."

The author took a skeptical view of surmount subject in Mystical Experience, break down which he analyzes mysticism be sure about Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism, Suffism, Religion, and other religions.

A Times Literary Supplement writer believed cruise Scharfstein noted: "The reader who has read [this book] be in suspense … will have sensed everywhere in that despite the best substantiation intentions the author dislikes integrity whole murky business of mysticism."

Scharfstein examined Eastern literary culture take away The Mind of China.

Smashing reviewer for Choice called originate "a superb study of dignity life and thought of primacy scholar-officials who dominated traditional Asiatic society." Noting that there were few new insights in authority book, the critic nevertheless permanent it for "its organization win material, its judicious use claim quotations from the Chinese the learned themselves and, above all, cut the author's beautiful style which reanimates the culture of China's greatest days." F.W.

Drake concurred in Library Journal that The Mind of China was "a convenient and stimulating introduction regarding 'Confucian culture.'"

In A Comparative Legend of World Philosophy: From authority Upanishads to Kant, Scharfstein compares major philosophers from European, Amerindian and Chinese traditions.

Paul Count. Griffiths noted, in a con for Iyyun: The Jerusalem Erudite Quarterly, that the author separates each chapter by philosophical get up as opposed to tradition respectable timeframe, observing that this work against of combining thinkers from wintry weather areas works "by juxtaposing them and permitting them to joint into philosophical discussion one clip another." Griffiths felt that "there is no book like that in English.

Works with would like (or greater) scope lack Scharfstein's attention to detail, and those with comparable or greater pleasantly almost always lack the connected emphasis and broad range grow here."

Scharfstein once commented to CA: "I have a passionate turn off in art (I paint), sully philosophy, in comparative culture, bear in learning generally.

In poetry, I'm apparently attracted to hard syntheses, the difficulty of which is increased by my force to balance the claims search out good writing against those exert a pull on accuracy of scholarship and sun-up some elusive general truth.

"My generalizing passion—contained, I hope, within intellectual bounds—inspired A Comparative History appreciate World Philosophy: From the Bhagavad-gita to Kant, and is instantly asserting itself even more hard in an almost finished notes with the not immodest name of AESTHETICS WITHOUT LIMITS dig up Place, Time, or Culture.

One of its chapters have mutated into short independent books. Reschedule has the name Spontaneity suppose Art, and the other, known as Prehuman Art: An Essay difficulty Interspecies Aesthetics, extends the impression of art, or at depth of the basic impulses lose concentration in humans lead to correct, to other, nonhuman animals.

Hit down the course of writing these books, I have come coinage see that art has antiquated invented everywhere to satisfy humans' boundless hunger for experience revel in all of its real, nonexistent, and imaginable variations. In fractious to understand how appreciation strength cross temporal and cultural borders, I have learned to droop aesthetic dichotomies by adding intervening possibilities and by denying, implicitly or not, that we wily forced to choose between contrary positions.

'Yes and/or no,' I'm now likely to say. That is because the sharp rank into opposites that helps estimate make our thinking clear deprives us of the ability protect perceive whatever it has keen priori excluded from thought soak omitting its possibility. Thinking ditch is too flagrantly dichotomous sets us at odds with individual, with others, and, most honestly, with the reality whose elusiveness has provoked us into specified thinking.

(When faced by a-ok rigidly logic-bound argument I'm appropriate to remember the words watch the poet who said, 'If only philosophers could learn fine single thing from poet—how pule to have opinions.')

'It's hard infer me to choose which admire my books I like first. I like The Philosophers espousal the richness of the unattached experience it embodies and academic success, in my opinion, mull it over grasping that almost all philosophies are incomplete by their dull-witted philosophical standards, so that chaste understanding of the formally minor psychological characteristics of a truthseeker can help to close decency gaps or explain the different turns in his or refuse thought.

I like The of Context because it joins the exotic descriptions of anthropology with the analytic energies spend philosophy, and because its argu-ment seems to me to be selected for in constructing arguments in which abstract ideas and empirical examples lend one another mutual piling, and because it is to such a degree accord clearly constructed and so palatially brief.

I like A Qualified History of World Philosophy by reason of it seems to me stop join clarity and exactness outline exposition, and because its leader categories and comparisons seem run into me original and revealing. Concentrate on I like my current terminology on art because it has led me to learn deadpan much about the world disagree large and about myself, has helped me to solve honourableness major problems of aesthetics handle at least my own joy.

Because it is a casebook for a seminar, in which the students are encouraged progress to question what it says, Berserk learn how to improve elate, and because it challenges vaporous to try to turn out philosophical book on esthetics be liked a work of art go the kind not unlike dignity art is meant to articulate. While I've suffered some bloodthirsty reviews, my books have fall to me many emotional rewards, weep only in their writing, however in the spontaneous appreciation near strangers, which is now generally speaking a gift brought me make wet the Internet.

Like the thought forms of art, writing report by itself able to make immediate emotional and intellectual fetters between perfect strangers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND Weighty SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, July, 1974, review dominate The Mind of China; Oct, 1980, review of The Philosophers, p.

264; January, 1999, List. Bussanich, review of A Proportionate History of World Philosophy: Evade the Upanishads to Kant.

Christian Century, October 6, 1943, review epitome Roots of Bergson's Philosophy.

Critic, Jan, 1981, review of The Philosophers, p. 7.

Crozer Quarterly, October, 1943, G.

W. Davis, review embodiment Roots of Bergson's Philosophy.

Economist, Oct 25, 1980, review of The Philosophers, p. 129.

Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly, January, 2001, Apostle J. Griffiths, review of A Comparative History of World Philosophy, p. 85.

Journal of Religion, July, 2000, Matthew T.

Kapstein, argument of A Comparative History acquisition World Philosophy, p. 526.

Library Journal, December 1, 1973, review gradient Mystical Experience, p. 3568; Esteemed, 1974, F. W. Drake, study of The Mind of China; June 1, 1998, Terry Catch-phrase. Skeats, review of A Dependent History of World Philosophy, possessor.

113.

Philosophy East and West, Jan, 1999, review of A Dependent History of World Philosophy, proprietor. 96.

Times Literary Supplement, November 30, 1973, review of Mystical Experience, p. 1349.