SPEP -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 3/6/2006
Last Visited: 6/15/2008
It was at that time that a senior member of the Harvard Department of Philosophy, John Wild, began teaching courses on phenomenology and existentialism, and in collaboration with some of his graduate students compiled a paraphrase translation of Heidegger's Being and Time.During this period Professor Wild hatched the idea of a new professional society devoted to the examination of recent continental philosophy, and in particular the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty.The name of the projected society had not yet been determined, and it was only after Professor Wild left Harvard in 1961 to become Chairperson of the Department of Philosophy at Northwestern University that his envisagement of a professional society for phenomenological and existential thought became a reality, facilitated by the generous support of Northwestern University and its premier philosophy program in recent continental philosophy.
It was in the spring of 1962 that Wild's long-time plans for a professional society devoted to a discussion of phenomenology and existentialism were put into action.The planning for the first meeting took place in the seminar room of Brentano Hall, which housed the Northwestern Department of Philosophy.The committee in charge of the planning included John Wild, the newly appointed Head of the Northwestern Department of Philosophy; his two Northwestern University colleagues, William Earle and James Edie; George Schrader of Yale University; and Calvin Schrag, a former student of John Wild at Harvard, who had recently accepted an appointment at Purdue University.The committee in charge of the planning included John Wild, the newly appointed Head of the Northwestern Department of Philosophy; his two Northwestern University colleagues, William Earle and James Edie; George Schrader of Yale University; and Calvin Schrag, a former student of John Wild at Harvard, who had recently accepted an appointment at Purdue University.