Autobiographical Reflections is a window into the mind of a man whose reassessment of the nature of history and thought has overturned traditional approaches to, and appraisals of, the Western intellectual tradition. Here we encounter the motivations for Voegelin's work, the stages in the development of his unique philosophy of consciousness, his key intellectual breakthroughs, his theory of history, and his diagnosis of the political ills of the modern age.   Included in this revised volume is a glossary of terms used in Voegelin’s writings. The glossary lists, defines, and illustrates from the author’s writings many of the key terms employed, paying particular attention to the Greek terms. Together, the glossary and enlarged index systematically include names, subjects, ideas, writings, and terms, making this volume an indispensable help for any serious study of Eric Voegelin’s oeuvre. "We are indeed fortunate that one of the twentieth century's authentic titans in philosophy and history thought to set down his autobiographical reflections before his passing. It is hard to imagine a more lustrous and also engrossing memoir."—Robert Nisbet "A valuable introduction for any student of Voegelin, being, as it is, nothing less than Voegelin's own account of the intellectual influences that went into the making of his great work, Order and History . We are indebted to Ellis Sandoz."—Walker Percy   About the Author   Eric Voegelin (1901-1985) was one of the most original and influential philosophers of our time. Born in Cologne, Germany, he studied at the University of Vienna, where he became a professor of political science in the Faculty of Law. In 1938, he and his wife, fleeing Hitler, emigrated to the United States. They became American citizens in 1944. Voegelin spent much of his career at Louisiana State University, the University of Munich, and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. During his lifetime he published many books and more than one hundred articles. The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin will make available in a uniform edition all of Voegelin's major writings.   About the Editor   Ellis Sandoz, Hermann Moyse Jr. Distinguished Professor of Political Science, is Director of the Eric Voegelin Institute at Louisiana State University. He is the general editor of the Collected Works of Eric Voegelin and author or editor of numerous books, including Republicanism, Religion, and the Soul of America (University of Missouri Press). AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL REFLECTIONS By ERIC VOEGELIN UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI PRESS Copyright © 2011 The Curators of the University of Missouri All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8262-1930-5 Contents Introduction to the Revised Edition............................................................1Introduction...................................................................................151. University of Vienna........................................................................312. High School.................................................................................373. Max Weber...................................................................................394. Comparative Knowledge.......................................................................425. Stefan George and Karl Kraus................................................................446. The Pure Theory of Law: Neo-Kantian Methodology.............................................487. Political Stimuli...........................................................................528. Concerning My Dissertation..................................................................549. Concerning Oxford in 1921 or 1922...........................................................5510. American Influence.........................................................................5611. Concerning the Year in France..............................................................6212. Return to Vienna...........................................................................6613. Anschluss and Emigration...................................................................7014. Concerning Ideology, Personal Politics, and Publications...................................7315. Concerning Emigration in 1938..............................................................8216. Life in America: From Harvard to LSU.......................................................8417. From Political Ideas to Symbols of Experience..............................................8918. Alfred Schütz and the Theory of Consciousness.........................................9619. Order and Disorder.........................................................................10120. The Background of Order and History........................................................10421. Teaching Career............................................................................11022. Why Philosophize? To Recapture Reality!.................