Willy Moog

Willy Moog(also: Wilhelm or Willi Moog; 22 January 1888, inNeuengronau(community of Sinntal) – 24 October 1935, inBraunschweig) was a Germanphilosopherandeducator.

Life

Willy Moog studied from 1906 to 1909 inBerlin,MunichandGießen;his primary areas of focus were Germanic Studies and Philosophy. He was inspired by the Berlin lectures ofGeorg Simmeland studiedNeo-Kantianismwith the school aroundWilhelm Dilthey.1915-1918 he served, against his will, as soldier inWorld War I,at a customs office at the Prussian-Polish-Russian border. In 1919, Moog married Mathilde Buss (1884-1958), an artist, painter, and lyricist.The couple had one daughter, Marianne Moog-Hoff (1921-1999), who duringWorld War IIemigrated toOslo,Norway and married a Norwegian.

In the early 1930s, Moog faced severe problems with theNazigovernment, who ruled the federal state of Braunschweig, impersonated by presidentDietrich Klagges,beforeAdolf Hitlercame into power. He committed suicide in the fall of 1935.

Career

In 1909, he wrote a dissertation on the psychology of literature under the supervision ofKarl Groosat theUniversität Gießen,entitled "Natur und Ich in Goethes Lyrik" (Nature and I in Goethe's lyrics). During the First World War, Moog published his first bookKant's views on Peace and War(1917). He was a ferventpacifist.In 1919, he accomplished hishabilitationatUniversität Greifswaldwith the book onLogik, Psychologie und Psychologismus,a then well-known classic on the interdisciplinary debates ofpsychologism.In Greifswald, he also learned about the philosophy ofWilliam Jamesthrough one of his peers,Johannes Rehmke.

In 1924, Moog became Full Professor of Philosophy, Pedagogics, and Psychology atBraunschweig University of Technology.From 1927 to 1930, he was Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Studies. In 1930, his renowned bookHegel und die Hegelsche Schulewas published and received international attention. It was translated into Spanish byJosé Gaosin 1931. Moog extensively contributed to thehistory of philosophy,on which he wrote two textbooks, allied by a two-volume set on theHistory ofPedagogics(Vol. I, 1927; Vol. II 1933, 9th ed. 1991). With the help ofMax Frischeisen-Köhler,the co-edited Volume III ofFriedrich UeberwegGrundriß der Geschichte der Philosophie(on early modern philosophy), appeared in 1924. Moog was well connected to the philosophers of his time, among themMoritz Schlick,Ernst Cassirer,Arthur Liebert,Helmuth Plessner,Heinrich Scholz,andMax Wentscher.

Legacy

A long-term research project on Moog is located at the philosophy department ofTechnischen Universität Braunschweig The first biography on Moog, written by philosopherNicole C. Karafyllis,has been published in January 2015, at the German Karl Alber Verlag inFreiburg.During her biographical research, she found out that Willy Moog's relatives are directly related to the US-American pioneer of synthesizerRobert Moog(whose grandfather came from the region aroundMarburgin Germany).

Selected works

• Natur und Ich inGoethesLyrik(Dissertationsschrift, Darmstadt 1909)
• Kants Ansichten über Krieg und Frieden(Darmstadt 1917)
• Logik, Psychologie und Psychologismus (Habilitationsschrift)(1919), Leipzig: Niemeyer 1920.
• Philosophie(Gotha 1921, series: Wissenschaftliche Forschungsberichte, ed. by Karl Hönn)
• Philosophische und pädagogische Strömungen der Gegenwart in ihrem Zusammenhang(1926)
• Geschichte der Pädagogikin 3 Bänden (1928 - 1933, nur Bd. 2 und 3 erschienen)
• Hegel und die Hegelsche Schule(1930), Spanish translation 1931 byJosé Gaos(Madrid, Revista de occidente)
• Das Leben der Philosophen(1932)
• Die Pädagogik der Neuzeit vom 18. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart(two of three volumes publ. 1927–1933)

Sources

• Nicole C. Karafyllis:Willy Moog (1888-1935): Ein Philosophenleben.Freiburg: Karl Alber (2015).ISBN978-3495486979
• Uwe Lammers: "Zurück in die Welt der Lebenden. Das faszinierende, unbekannte Leben des Philosophen Willy Moog", in:Bergwinkel-Bote56. Heimatbuch des KreisesSchlüchtern(2004)
• Helmut Schneider (1997),"Moog, Willy (Wilhelm)",Neue Deutsche Biographie(in German), vol. 18, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 67–68;(full text online)

External links

• Literature by and about Willy Moogin theGerman National Librarycatalogue
• "Historie des Seminars @ TU Braunschweig".Tu-bs.de. 2011-12-15.Retrieved2013-05-17.