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Irving Singer

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Irving Singer
Born(1925-12-24)December 24, 1925
Brooklyn, New York,USA
DiedFebruary 1, 2015(2015-02-01)(aged 89)
Notable work(seepublished worksbelow)
Awards(seeawardsbelow)
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolHumanist[citation needed]
InstitutionsHarvard,MIT
Main interests
Aesthetics,philosophy of love,philosophy of film[citation needed]
Websitewww.mit.edu/~philos/singer.html

Irving Singer(December 24, 1925 – February 1, 2015) was an American professor of philosophy who was on the faculty of theMassachusetts Institute of Technologyfor 55 years and wrote over 20 books.[1]He was the author of books on various topics, including cinema, love, sexuality, and the philosophy ofGeorge Santayana.He also wrote on the subject of film, including writings about the work of film directorsIngmar Bergman,Alfred Hitchcock.

Biography

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Singer was born inBrooklyn,New York City, on December 24, 1925;[2]his parents were Isadore and Nettie Stromer Singer, Jewish immigrants fromAustria-Hungary,who owned a grocery store inConey Island.[2][3]

Singer skipped threegradesin school, graduating from Manhattan'sTownsend Harris High Schoolat age 15.[2][3]

He entered the U.S. Army, serving inWorld War II,writingHistory of the210th Field Artillery Group,which was published by the Army in 1945.[2][3]

After studying for a short time atBrooklyn Collegebefore the war and attendingBiarritz American UniversityinParisjust after the war, Singer went toHarvard Universityon theG.I. Bill,[2][3]was elected toPhi Beta Kappa,and graduatedsumma cum laudewith anA.B.in 1948.[3]He did his graduate studies atOxford Universityand Harvard, receiving hisPhDin philosophy from Harvard in 1952.[3]

Singer taught briefly at Harvard,Cornell University,theUniversity of Michigan,andJohns Hopkins University.He joined theMassachusetts Institute of Technologyin 1958, first as a lecturer, but then promoted to associate professor in 1959, and full professor at 1967.[1]Among the many subjects Singer taught atMassachusetts Institute of Technologywere: Philosophy of Love in the Western World, Film as Visual and Literary Philosophy, and The Nature of Creativity.[4]

He died in 2015, aged 89.[2]

Awards

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  • Four prize essays and other student awards,[specify]Harvard University[5]
  • ACLS Research Scholar, 1949–1950[5]
  • Post-doctoral Fulbright Research Scholar, 1955–1956[5]
  • Bollingen Grant-in-aid, 1958, 1959, 1965[5]
  • The Hudson Review Fellow in Criticism, 1958–1959[5]
  • Guggenheim Fellowship, 1965–1966[5]
  • ACLS Grant-in-aid, 1966[5]
  • Fellow of theVilla I Tatti,Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Florence, Italy, 1965–1967[5]
  • Bollingen Fellowship, 1966–1967[5]
  • Rockefeller Foundation Grant, 1970[5]
  • Balliol College/MIT Exchange, Oxford University, 1999[5]
  • Fellow, European Humanities Research Centre, Oxford University, 1999–2004[5]

Published works

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By Singer

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  • Santayana's Aesthetics: A Critical Analysis(1957) *The Goals of Human Sexuality(1973)ISBN9780393010718
  • Mozart and Beethoven: The Concept of Love in Their Operas(1977)ISBN9780262513647
  • The Nature of Love Volume 1: Plato to Luther(1984)ISBN978-0262512725
  • The Nature of Love Volume 2: Courtly and Romantic(1984)ISBN9780262512732
  • The Nature of Love Volume 3: The Modern World(1987)ISBN978-0262512749
  • Meaning in Life: The Creation of Value(1992, 1996)ISBN9780262266482
  • Meaning in Life Volume 2: The Pursuit of Love(1994)ISBN9780801852404
  • Meaning in Life Volume 3: The Harmony of Nature and Spirit(1996)ISBN9780801860515
  • Reality Transformed: Film as Meaning and Technique(1998)ISBN978-0262692489
  • George Santayana, Literary Philosopher(2000)ISBN9780300128536
  • Feeling and Imagination: The Vibrant Flux of Our Existence(2001)
  • Explorations in Love and Sex(2001)ISBN9780742512382ISBN978-0742512382
  • Sex: A Philosophical Primer(2001, expanded edition: 2004)ISBN978-0742512368
  • Three Philosophical Filmmakers: Hitchcock, Welles, Renoir(2004)ISBN978-0262693288
  • Ingmar Bergman, Cinematic Philosopher: Reflections on his Creativity(2007)ISBN978-0262513234
  • Cinematic Mythmaking: Philosophy in Film(2008)ISBN978-0262515153
  • Philosophy of Love: A Partial Summing-Up(2009)ISBN978-0262516174
  • Modes of Creativity: Philosophical Perspectives(2011)ISBN978-0262518758

About Singer

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  • The Nature and Pursuit of Love: The Philosophy of Irving Singer(Prometheus Books, 1995) — based on academic papers presented at a three-day conference about Singer atBrock Universityin 1991ISBN978-0879759124[1]

References

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  1. ^abc"Irving Singer, MIT philosopher and author, retires after 55 years"(Press release). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. 2013.Retrieved2014-02-17.
  2. ^abcdefRoberts, Sam (February 15, 2015)."Irving Singer, M.I.T. Professor Who Wrote 'The Nature of Love,' Dies at 89".NYTimes.com.New York City: The New York Times Company.Retrieved2015-02-17.
  3. ^abcdef"Irving Singer, professor emeritus of philosophy, dies at 89".MIT News.Cambridge, Massachusetts:Massachusetts Institute of Technology.February 8, 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 9 February 2015.Retrieved9 February2015.
  4. ^"MIT SHASS: News - 2013 - Irving Singer, MIT philosopher and author, retires after 55 years".shass.mit.edu.Retrieved2022-08-31.
  5. ^abcdefghijklSinger, Irving (August 1, 2008)."Curriculum vitae"(PDF).Retrieved2015-02-17.
[edit]
Reviews
Video
Archives at
LocationMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Distinctive Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Datesapproximately 1950s to 2000s
AccessThis collection is open
SourceIrving Singer papers
How to use archival material
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