Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer | |
---|---|
Longshoreman | |
Genre | Social psychology, Political science |
Notable awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1983 |
Eric Hoffer (July 25, 1902 – May 21, 1983)[1] was an American moral and social conservative philosopher. He was the author of ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer (1951), was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen,[2] although Hoffer believed that The Ordeal of Change (1963) was his finest work.[3] The Eric Hoffer Book Award is an international literary prize established in his honor.[4] The University of California, Berkeley awards an annual literary prize named jointly for Hoffer.[5]
Early life
Many elements of Hoffer's early life are unverified,
Hoffer was a young man when he also lost his father. The
In 1931, he considered suicide by drinking a solution of oxalic acid, but he could not bring himself to do it.[13] He left Skid Row and became a migrant worker, following the harvests in California. He acquired a library card where he worked, dividing his time "between the books and the brothels." He also prospected for gold in the mountains. Snowed in for the winter, he read the Essays by Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne impressed Hoffer deeply, and Hoffer often made reference to him. He also developed a respect for America's underclass, which he said was "lumpy with talent."
Career
He wrote a novel, Four Years in Young Hank's Life, and a novella, Chance and Mr. Kunze, both partly autobiographical. He also penned a long article based on his experiences in a federal work camp, "Tramps and Pioneers." It was never published, but a truncated version appeared in Harper's Magazine after he became well known.[14]
Hoffer tried to enlist in the
Hoffer left the docks in 1964, and shortly after became an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley.[17] He later retired from public life in 1970.[18] “I'm going to crawl back into my hole where I started,” he said. “I don't want to be a public person or anybody's spokesman... Any man can ride a train. Only a wise man knows when to get off.”[12] In 1970, he endowed the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Laconic Essay Prize for students, faculty, and staff at the University of California, Berkeley.
Hoffer called himself an
He died at his home in San Francisco in 1983 at the age of 80.[20]
Working-class roots
Hoffer was influenced by his modest roots and working-class surroundings, seeing in it vast human potential. In a letter to
Personal life
Hoffer, who was an only child, never married. He fathered a child with Lili Fabilli Osborne, named Eric Osborne, who was born in 1955 and raised by Lili Osborne and her husband, Selden Osborne.[22] Lili Fabilli Osborne had become acquainted with Hoffer through her husband, a fellow longshoreman and acquaintance of Hoffer's. Despite this, Selden Osborne and Hoffer remained on good terms.[16]
Hoffer referred to Eric Osborne as his son or
In his 2012 book Eric Hoffer: The Longshoreman Philosopher, journalist
Books and opinions
The True Believer
Hoffer came to public attention with the 1951 publication of his first book, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, which consists of a preface and 125 sections, which are divided into 18 chapters. Hoffer analyzes the phenomenon of "mass movements," a general term that he applies to revolutionary parties, nationalistic movements, and religious movements. He summarizes his thesis in §113: "A movement is pioneered by men of words, materialized by fanatics and consolidated by men of actions."[24]
Hoffer argues that fanatical and extremist cultural movements, whether religious, social, or national, arise when large numbers of frustrated people, believing their own individual lives to be worthless or spoiled, join a movement demanding radical change. But the real attraction for this population is an escape from the self, not a realization of individual hopes: "A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation."[25]
Hoffer consequently argues that the appeal of mass movements is interchangeable: in the Germany of the 1920s and the 1930s, for example, the
Harvard historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. said of The True Believer: "This brilliant and original inquiry into the nature of mass movements is a genuine contribution to our social thought."[26]
Later works
Subsequent to the publication of The True Believer (1951), Eric Hoffer touched upon Asia and American interventionism in several of his essays. In "The Awakening of Asia" (1954), published in The Reporter and later his book The Ordeal of Change (1963), Hoffer discusses the reasons for unrest on the continent. In particular, he argues that the root cause of social discontent in Asia was not government corruption, "communist agitation," or the legacy of European colonial "oppression and exploitation," but rather that a "craving for pride" was the central problem in Asia, suggesting a problem that could not be relieved through typical American intervention.[27]
During the
In The Temper of Our Time (1967), Hoffer implies that the United States as a rule should avoid interventions in the first place: "the better part of statesmanship might be to know clearly and precisely what not to do, and leave action to the improvisation of chance." In fact, Hoffer indicates that "it might be wise to wait for enemies to defeat themselves," as they might fall upon each other with the United States out of the picture. The view was somewhat borne out with the
Papers
Hoffer's papers, including 131 of the notebooks he carried in his pockets, were acquired in 2000 by the
Published works
- 1951 ISBN 0-06-050591-5
- 1955 The Passionate State of Mind, and Other Aphorisms. ISBN 1-933435-09-7
- 1963 The Ordeal of Change. ISBN 1-933435-10-0
- 1967 The Temper of Our Time. ISBN 978-1-933435-22-0
- 1968 Nature and The City
- 1969 Working and Thinking on the Waterfront: A Journal, June 1958 to May 1959
- 1971 First Things, Last Things
- 1973 Reflections on the Human Condition. ISBN 1-933435-14-3
- 1976 In Our Time
- 1979 Before the Sabbath
- 1982 Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer. ISBN 0-06-014984-1
- 1983 Truth Imagined. ISBN 1-933435-01-1
Interviews
- Conversations with Eric Hoffer, twelve-part television interview by James Day of KQED, San Francisco, 1963.[30]
- "Eric Hoffer: The Passionate State of Mind" with Eric Sevareid, CBS, September 19, 1967[31] (re-broadcast on November 14, due to popular demand).
- "The Savage Heart: A Conversation with Eric Hoffer," with Eric Sevareid, CBS, January 28, 1969.[31]
Awards and recognition
- 1971, May – Honorary Doctorate; Stonehill College
- 1971, June – Honorary Doctorate; Michigan Technological University
- 1978 – Bust of Eric Hoffer by sculptor Jonathan Hirschfeld; commissioned by Charles Kittrell and placed in Bartlesville, Oklahoma
- 1983, February 13 – Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by Ronald Reagan
- 1985, September 17 – Skygate unveiling in San Francisco; dedication speech by Eric Sevareid
See also
References
- ^ "Eric Hoffer | American writer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 9, 2017 – via britannica.com.
- ^ "Hoffer, Eric". Encyclopædia Britannica (Ultimate Reference Suite CD-ROM ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2003.
- the Hoover Institute.
- ^ The Eric Hoffer Book Award was established in 2007 with permission from the Eric Hoffer Estate.
- ^ "Fabili Hoffer Prize". grad.berkeley.edu. University of California, Berkeley. November 14, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ a b "The Longshoreman Philosopher". hoover.org. Hoover Institution. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
- ^ "California > Monterey > Monterey Judicial Township > 27-34 Monterey Judicial Township outside Monterey City bounded by (N) township line; (E) township line; (S) Highway 117; (W) Monterey City Limits, Highway 56; also Seaside (part) > image 102 of 126; citing NARA digital publication of T627". United States Census. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration. 1940. Retrieved December 22, 2014 – via FamilySearch.org.
- ISBN 0-912289-07-4.
- ^ a b Truth Imagined
- ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 25, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Truth Imagined, p. 1
- ^ a b "The Longshoreman and the Masses". The Attic. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- ^ Truth Imagined, pp. 35–39
- ISBN 978-0817914158.
- ^ Hoover Digest – The Longshoreman Philosopher, Hoover Institution Archived May 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Bethell, Tom (May 26, 2013). "Eric Hoffer:Longshoreman Philosopher". AEI.org. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- The Hoover Institution. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ "Philosopher Hoffer dies". Star-News. May 22, 1983. Retrieved April 6, 2015. [dead link]
- ISBN 978-0817914165.
Hoffer's attitude toward religion was hard to pin down. He generally described himself as an atheist, yet during our interview he described religion as a significant source of leadership
- ^ "Death claims waterfront philosopher". Rome News-Tribune. May 22, 1983. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
- ^ Dirda, Michael (May 9, 2012). "Book World: Blue-collar intellectual by 'Eric Hoffer: The Longshoreman Philosopher'". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- ^ "Longshoreman philosopher".
- ^ Bethell, Tom (April 6, 2012). "Eric Hoffer, Genius – and Enigma". Hoover.org. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Eric Hoffer, The True Believer (New York: Harper & Row/Perennial Library, 1966), p. 134.
- ^ Eric Hoffer, The True Believer (New York: Harper & Row/Perennial Library, 1966), p. 21.
- ^ Eric Hoffer, The True Believer (Harper & Row/Perennial Library, 1966), back cover.
- ^ ""The Awakening of Asia", by Eric Hoffer, The Reporter, June 22, 1954, pp. 16–17".
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: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISBN 0-8057-7359-2. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
- ^ Tom Bethell, "Sparks: Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook", Harper's Magazine, July 2005, pp. 73–77 (complete article on scribd).
- ISBN 0520086597.
- ^ a b "Register of the Eric Hoffer papers". Online Archive of California. California Digital Library / Hoover Institution. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-8135-2346-0
Further reading
- American Iconoclast: The Life and Times of Eric Hoffer, Shachtman, Tom, Titusville, NJ, Hopewell Publications, 2011. ISBN 978-1-933435-38-1.
- Hoffer's America, Koerner, James D., La Salle, Ill., Library Press, 1973 ISBN 0-912050-45-4
- Eric Hoffer, Baker, James Thomas. Boston : Twayne, 1982 ISBN 0-8057-7359-2Twayne's United States authors series
- Eric Hoffer: The Longshoreman Philosopher, Bethell, Tom, Stanford, CA, Hoover Institution Press, 2012 ISBN 0-8179-1415-3
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Eric Hoffer at Find a Grave
- The Eric Hoffer Project, preserving the legacy of Eric Hoffer