Herbert Feigl Bruce Aune PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Vol. 1988, Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers. (1988), pp. 23-24. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0270-8647%281988%291988%3C23%3AHF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association is currently published by The University of Chicago Press.
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Herbert Feigl Bruce Aune University of Massachusetts Herbert Feigl was one of the most admirable people I have known. I was fortunate to have him a a friend and as a teacher (he directed my PhD dissertation). H e was a very special friend and a very special teacher. To round out what is being said here, I want to share my impressions of him as a teacher and as a person. I don't think I ever took a course from Herbert; he taught me informally as a thesisdirector and as a helpful older friend. When he guided me through the writing of my thesis, I was almost unaware fo the teaching he was doing. It is only in recent years that I have come to appreciate how important it was for me. In comparison with other teachers, Herbert was extremely permissive-the opposite of coercive. For him, nothing was off-limits. As it happened, he disagreed with much of what I was saying, but he didn't trample me: he let me go my own way. He guided me, all right, but his guidance was indirect, and it brought out the best in me. "Such and such book (or article) has a bearing on this argument of yours; you ought to read it," he'd say. And then, after I'd read it, he'd ask "What did you think? Was the writer correct, or not? Tell me." In seeking my opinion as he did, he was rewarding me for my efforts, treating me as a serious philosopher and making me, in the process, more serious and more of a philosopher. This treatment continued after I had finished my degree and was out in the world. When I would see him on visits to Minneapolis (my home town), he would ask me what I was working on-and really be interested in hearing what I had to say. He did the same with other visitors, and his practice in this regard partially accounts, I believe, for his success as director of his Center. Instead of attacking a visitor's paper, trying to refute it (as philosophers commonly do), his aim was to make sense of what the speaker was saying-to see if any light was being shed on serious problems. His approach was encouraging, not daunting; and people were stimulated by it. The Center was an excltin&,gratifying place to visit. In my experience Herbert was a thoroughly positive person. He was always kind, never carping, captious, or unpleasant; always considerate, never superior or malicious; always encouraging, never destructive; always extremely modest (admitting to TuesdayThursday doubts about even his pet theories); and never hostile to those who did not agree with him about the most serious things in the world, science and philosophy. I never heard him refer to anyone as a dunderhead or fool.
PSA 1988, Volume 2, pp. 23-24 Copyright O 1989 by the Philosophy of Science Association
The image of him that I am left with is that of a real philosopher who, like a ruler in Plato's Republic, wants understanding rather than honor or power, and who is, in personal relations, kind and good and encouraging. Herbert was a serious, civilized, cultivated human being who will always be a role-model for me and, I am sure, for many others.
