*** Welcome to piglix ***

Paul Edwards (philosopher)

Paul Edwards
Born (1923-09-02)September 2, 1923
Vienna, Austria
Died December 9, 2004(2004-12-09) (aged 81)
New York
Education BA, MA in philosophy (University of Melbourne, 1949)
PhD (Columbia University, 1951)
Occupation Philosopher
Employer New York University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research
Known for Editor-in-chief of MacMillan's Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Paul Edwards (September 2, 1923 – December 9, 2004) was an Austrian-American moral philosopher. He was the editor-in-chief of MacMillan's eight-volume Encyclopedia of Philosophy from 1967, and lectured at New York University, Brooklyn College and the New School for Social Research from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Edwards was born Paul Eisenstein in Vienna in 1923 to assimilated Jewish parents, the youngest of three brothers. According to Peter Singer, his upbringing was non-religious. He distinguished himself early on as a gifted student and was admitted to the Akademisches Gymnasium, a prestigious Viennese high school. When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Edwards was sent by his family to Scotland, later joining them in Melbourne, Australia, where the family name was changed to Edwards. He attended Melbourne High School, graduating as dux of the school, then studied philosophy at the University of Melbourne, completing a B.A. and M.A.

He was awarded a scholarship to study in England in 1947, but on his way there, he stopped in New York and ended up staying there for the rest of his life, apart from a brief period teaching at the University of California in Berkeley. He was awarded his doctorate by Columbia University in 1951. While writing his doctoral thesis he contacted Bertrand Russell because he shared Russell's scepticism about religious belief. This led to a lasting friendship and a number of joint projects. Edwards collected Russell's writings on religion and published them in 1957, with an appendix on "the Bertrand Russell case," under the title Why I am not a Christian. He taught at New York University until 1966, at Brooklyn College from then until 1986, and at the New School from the 1960s until 1999.


...
Wikipedia

...