Sidney Morgenbesser
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Sidney Morgenbesser (September 22, 1921 – August 1, 2004) was a Columbia University philosopher. Born in New York City, he attended the Jewish Theological Seminary and the University of Pennsylvania, arriving back at Columbia to lecture in 1953. In 1975, he was named the John Dewey Professor of Philosophy. Morgenbesser was known particularly for his sharp witticisms and humor, which often penetrated to the heart of the philosophical issue at hand. He published little, and established no school, but was revered by students and colleagues for his extraordinary intelligence and moral seriousness.
[edit] Stories and quotations
- During a lecture the Oxford linguistic philosopher J. L. Austin made the claim that although a double negative in English implies a positive meaning, there is no language in which a double positive implies a negative. To which Morgenbesser responded, "Yeah, yeah." (Some have it quoted as "Yeah, right." See litotes for the actual linguistic status of this hypothesis.)
- Morgenbesser was leaving a subway station in New York City and put his pipe is his mouth as he was going up the steps. A police officer told him that there was no smoking on the subway. Morgenbesser pointed out that he was leaving the subway, not inside it, and hadn't lit up yet anyway. The cop replied, "If I let you do it, I'd have to let everyone do it." The professor replied, "Who do you think you are, Kant?" The word "Kant" was mistaken for a vulgar epithet and Morgenbesser had to explain the situation at the police station.
- On the independence of irrelevant alternatives: After finishing dinner, Sidney Morgenbesser decides to order dessert. The waitress tells him he has two choices: apple pie and blueberry pie. Sidney orders the apple pie. After a few minutes the waitress returns and says that they also have cherry pie at which point Morgenbesser says "In that case I'll have the blueberry pie."
- During campus protests of the 60s Morgenbesser was hit on the head by police. When asked whether he had been treated unfairly or unjustly, he responded "Unfairly no, unjustly yes. The police hit me unjustly, but since they hit everyone else unjustly, it was not unfair."
- To B.F. Skinner, "Let me see if I understand your thesis. You think we shouldn’t anthropomorphize people?"
- "Moses published one book. What did he do after that?"
- "If P, so why not Q?"
- "Pragmatism is great in theory, but doesn't work in practice."
- Someone asked the question, "Why is there something rather than nothing?". His response: "Even if there were nothing you'd still be complaining!"
[edit] External links
- Columbia Philosophy Department Memorial Page
- The Lives They Lived: Sidewalk Socrates, The New York Times Magazine.
- The Witty Professor, NPR.
- Columbia News
- Sidney, by Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic.
