Guide to the Moritz Geiger Papers, 1941-1969

Collection Summary

Biographical Note

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1880, Moritz Geiger was the son of Alfred and Adelheid Geiger and a nephew of Abraham Geiger, the founder of Reform Judaism. Geiger studied philosophy, mathematics, and other subjects, earning his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Munich in 1904. He then taught as a professor at the universities of Munich and Goettingen. An associate of Edumund Husserl, Geiger was one of the leading early proponents of the philosophical movement known as Realistic Phenomenology. His major contribution to that movement was the application of Husserl's objective "eidetical" method to aesthetics. With the rise of Nazism, Geiger left Germany in 1933 and moved to the United States. That year he accepted a position as Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College. He began taching in 1934 and later served as chair of the Philosphy Department. In 1935 he was named the James M. Taylor Professor of Philosophy. Active in the Vassar community, Geiger delivered lectures to faculty, students, and alumnae on topics ranging from threats to cultural values to the problem of anti-intellectualism. In 1918 Geiger married Elizabeth Muhl, an art historian and sculptor who also taught at Vassar. After a brief illness, Moritz Geiger died on September 9, 1937.

Scope and Content Note

This collection includes correspondence pertaining to the editing, translation into English, and publication of The Significance of Art: Foundations of an Aestheics of Value, a collection of Geiger's writings on aesthetics. Also included are four copies of the typescript of that collection.

Access and Use

Encoding Information

Encoded by Mark Seidl, November 2011.

Administrative Information