Morris Weitz

Morris Weitz

Morris Weitz(/ˈwiːts/;July 24, 1916 – February 1, 1981) "was an American philosopher of aesthetics who focused primarily on ontology, interpretation, and literary criticism".From 1972 until his death he was Richard Koret Professor of Philosophy atBrandeis University.

Biography

Personal life

Morris Weitz was born on July 24, 1916, in Detroit, his parents having emigrated from Europe (and his father having worked as a painting contractor).He was husband toMargaret (née) Collins( "an author and renowned scholar of French women, French culture and the French Resistance") and the father of three children, Richard, David, and Catherine (the former being a director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis and a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute). Morris Weitz died on February 1, 1981, in hospital inRoxburyafter a long illness aged 64, having lived latterly inNewton,Massachusetts.

Tertiary education and academic career

Weitz obtained his BA in 1938 fromWayne State University.While doing graduate work in French history at theUniversity of Chicagohe metBertrand Russell,which directed Weitz's interests towards philosophy. He received his Masters and, in 1943, his PhD in philosophy from theUniversity of Michiganwith a dissertation titledThe Method of Analysis in the Philosophy of Bertrand Russell.During the course of his career he taught philosophy at theUniversity of Washington(1944–45),Vassar College(1945–48), andOhio State University(1954–69).In 1969 Weitz moved toBrandeis Universitywhere, in 1972, he was named Richard Koret Professor of Philosophy in 1972, a position he retained until his death. He was also a visiting professor atColumbia,Cornell,andHarvard.He was recognised with aGuggenheim Fellowshipin 1959,and was also honored as aFulbright Senior Scholar.

Philosophical thought, influence, and criticisms

Weitz spent a year inOxfordwhich led to lifelong friendships with Oxford philosophers such asGilbert Ryle,H.L.A. Hart,andIsaiah Berlinand, in 1953, the publication inThe Philosophical ReviewofOxford Philosophy(1953). In the same, according toAaron W. Meskinwriting inThe Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers,"Weitz argued that postwar Oxford philosophy was not unified by any general meta-philosophical position but rather by a commitment to investigating the logic of concepts ". Meskin notes that this" was a significant publication in the United States as it served for many as an introduction to postwar Oxford philosophy ".Meskin suggests the work also "illuminates the course of Weitz’s career" - the "task of elucidating both ordinary and technical concepts" becoming central to his philosophical pursuits and his philosophical method becoming "one of conceptual analysis, so long as this pursuit is not understood to be predicated on the goal of providing necessary and sufficient conditions".

Weitz is perhaps best known for his "influential and frequently anthologized"1956 paper "The Role of Theory in Aesthetics"which was to win him a 1955 Matchette Prize(an award now replaced by theAmerican Philosophical Associationbook and article prizes). This essay explicitly modified the theory of art initially provided in his 1950 bookPhilosophy of the Artswhich had been "[s]ubject to devastating criticisms fromMargaret McDonaldamong others ".InThe Role of Theory in AestheticsWeitz "overturned his original claim.. that his empirical and organic theory could produce a closed or real definition of art" according toAili Bresnahanand it is "this revised version that many philosophers have considered thesine qua nonin support of the position that theories of art should be 'open' ".Supporters of Weitz's later view "for similar but non-identical reasons" includeW.B. Gallie,W. E. Kennick and Benjamin R. Tilghman and detractors includeM.H. Abrams,M.W. Beal, Lee Brown,George Dickie,andMaurice Mandelbaum.

Mandelbaum in his 1965 paperFamily Resemblances and Generalizations Concerning the Artsrefers to Weitz's paper and includes its author amongst those who, in support of the contention "that it is a mistake to attempt to discuss what art, or beauty, or the aesthetic, or a poem,essentiallyis "have made" explicit use ofWittgenstein's doctrine offamily resemblances".Mandelbaum claims that though he has" placed this at the forefront of his discussion.. Professor Weitz [has] made no attempt to analyze, clarify, or defend the doctrine itself ".

Weitz's 1956 paper has been, as Meskin notes, "one of the most influential works in contemporary philosophy of art, and... continues to generate debate and discussion".

In a 2021 monograph,Jason Josephson Stormargued that most attempts to answer Weitz's critique of a singular definition of art have failed, including those based onphenomenologyandaesthetic experience.Storm critiques Weitz's appeal to "family resemblance" as ultimately circular, and instead suggests that Weitz's criticism points to broader issues surrounding the nature ofsocialandnatural kinds.

Works

• Philosophy of the Arts,1950
• Weitz, Morris (1956)."The Role of Theory in Aesthetics"(PDF).Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.15(1): 27–35.doi:10.2307/427491.JSTOR427491.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on February 3, 2018.reprinted in P. Lamarque and S. H. Olsen (eds),Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art: The Analytic Tradition,(Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), pp. 12–18.
• Philosophy in literature(1963)
• Hamlet and the philosophy of literary criticism(1964)ISBN978-0226892399
• editor of"Problems in aesthetics"(1959,²1970)

See also

• American philosophy
• List of American philosophers
• Classificatory disputes about art

External links

• "Obituary:Dr. Morris Weitz, 64, a Professor Who Wrote Books on Philosophy".The New York Times.February 4, 1981.RetrievedDecember 20,2014.