Autobiographical Reflections

Autobiographical Reflections

Recorded with Ellis Sandoz in 1973, Eric Voegelin reflects on his education in Vienna, escape from Nazi Austria, and search for an understanding of political order grounded in human experience. He discusses Marx, modern ideology, Gnosticism, and the development of Order and History and his philosophy of consciousness.

1. 0:00 — Vienna’s intellectual world
2. 13:04 — Hans Kelsen, Ludwig von Mises and the Vienna seminars
3. 27:26 — Max Weber and the rejection of ideology
4. 42:55 — Karl Kraus and the corruption of language
5. 58:54 — The Anschluss and escape from Nazi Austria
6. 1:06:45 — France, literature and philosophy
7. 1:17:57 — Oxford and the American experience
8. 1:29:22 — Hegel, Marx and intellectual dishonesty
9. 1:39:57 — Political religions and the authoritarian state
10. 2:01:28 — Existential representation and The New Science of Politics
11. 2:15:35 — Consciousness, Alfred Schütz and Anamnesis
12. 2:25:00 — Alienation and the construction of philosophical systems
13. 2:30:59 — From a history of ideas to Order and History
14. 2:49:57 — Teaching in Vienna and Munich
15. 3:13:11 — The motivations for Voegelin’s work
16. 3:26:51 — Recovering reality and questioning ideology
17. 3:47:21 — Civilization, empire and The Ecumenic Age
18. 4:02:31 — Aristotle, myth and the divine ground
19. 4:12:29 — Consciousness and the divine presence
20. 4:30:30 — History, transcendence and eschatology

Eric Voegelin — 5 recordings in the archive.

Related reading: Autobiographical Reflections by Eric Voegelin.

I attended the University of Vienna in the law faculty from 1919 to the completion of my doctorate in 1922. The atmosphere of the university at the time was determined by the breakdown of the Austrohungarian Empire after the end of the first world war. The university as its composition was still the university of the capital of the empire and reflected in its scholarship and the personal attitude of the professors this metropolitan atmosphere. at the time when I was a student and throughout the 1920s or rather until the effects of national socialism made themselves felt in the early 30s. Vienna still had an enormous intellectual horizon and was leading in science internationally in a number of fields. There was now comes an enumeration first Kelsen's theory of pure law represented by Kelsen himself and the growing number of younger men whom he had educated especially ferros for e and then there was the Austrian school of marginal utility. Vimbar had already died but Leopold from Visa was still the grand old man who gave the principal course in economic theory. Among the younger economists there was Ludik from Misesus famous by his development of money theory. Ysef Jupiter was in grats at the time but his work of course was read. Among the further intellectual and spiritual component that would impress themselves on a young man at the time was the school of theoretical physics going back to Mah and represented at the time by click. An important intellectual force in this circle was Vitkinstein who by that time already had left for England. There further must be mentioned the Austrian institute figure represented by Dosant Dos who at that time had attained international fame through his work on the Carolindian history of economics in Tind. Among the younger men there was the rising force of Otto Bruma who later became famous by and then I give you the titles of the books. >> A further glory of the University of Vienna at the time was the history of art represented by Darjak and Striski. Djak himself had was had already died at the time when I came to the university butski was active. I had with him causes the Renaissance history of art and what especially was attractive about him was his interest in near eastern art of which his great work about Armenia volume on…