Felix Leopold Oswald

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Felix Leopold Oswald
Namur, Belgium
DiedSeptember 27, 1906(1906-09-27) (aged 60)
Syracuse, New York
Occupation(s)Physician, writer

Felix Leopold Oswald (December 6, 1845 – September 27, 1906) was a Belgian American physician, naturalist, secularist and freethought writer.

Biography

Oswald was born in

M.D. degrees.[1] In 1866, as a military doctor he joined a corps of Belgian volunteers in support of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. He travelled in Mexico and later settled in the United States.[2]

Oswald was a conservationist.[3] He was concerned about the negative effects of deforestation. He urged a legislative act to protect "the woods of all the upper ridges in hill countries."[4] His writings on natural history experienced an extensive international readership.[5]

He wrote many scientific articles.

The Open Court journal and the North American Review
.

Oswald lived as a hermit and traveller, cooking his meals over an open fire.[6] He was dubbed "the monkey man" as he had two or three pet monkeys that he allowed to move freely in his house. In 1905, his house including his monkeys were set on fire and destroyed.[2]

Natural hygiene

Oswald was supportive of

anti-vaccinationist and associated with Bernarr Macfadden. In 1901, Macfadden's publishing company released Oswald's book Vaccination a Crime.[9]

Oswald was influenced by Sylvester Graham, he referred to fasting as "the Graham starvation cure."[10]

Religion

Oswald was a freethought writer and naturalist who did not believe in the supernatural.[11] Oswald has been described as an outspoken freethinker and one of the greatest advocates of the American freethought world.[2][11]

He authored the book The Secret of the East in 1883 and an article in 1891 that argued Christianity was of Buddhist origin.[12] Lewis G. Janes suggested that this idea was "discredited at the outset by the totally different conceptions of the God idea and the destiny of man after death in the two religions."[13] James Thompson Bixby wrote a rebuttal to Oswald's article. He argued that "the resemblances alleged by Dr. Oswald, even if granted, would be insufficient to prove his case... the differences between the Gospel and Buddhism run deeper and are more positive than the like-nesses."[14]

Edwin Arnold wrote that Oswald rejected the myths of Buddha and Christ for secular humanism, and that writers such as Oswald who wanted to "prove that Christianity was derived from Buddhism was a way of undermining its authority."[15] Biblical scholars have rejected the theory that Christianity originated from Buddhism.[16][17]

Oswald was influenced by the research of

Friedrich Max Müller rejected Oswald's thesis but respected his dedication to the subject. Müller commented that Oswald was "one of the more conscientious and fair-minded students of Buddhism."[18]

Death

Oswald died from a train crash at Syracuse, New York on September 27, 1906.[2][19] Obituaries have described it as a tragic accident,[11] whilst railway employees reported that he had committed suicide.[2]

Selected publications

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Felix Leopold Oswald

References

  1. The Publishers' Weekly
    70 (2): 985.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-9050115964
  3. ISBN 0-8108-3554-1
  4. ISBN 1-55963-848-6
  5. ISBN 1-56037-024-6
  6. ^ Hermit, Scientist, Philosopher. The Topeka State Journal. February 10, 1896. p. 4
  7. ISBN 978-1-4377-2333-5
  8. ^ Good Health for 1889. Good Health 24 (1).
  9. ^ Colgrove, James. (2005). “Science in a Democracy”: The Contested Status of Vaccination in the Progressive Era and the 1920s. Isis 96 (2): 167–191.
  10. ^ Oswald, Felix L. (1881). Physical Education. Popular Science Monthly. p. 723
  11. ^ a b c "Dr. Felix Leopold Oswald". Blue-Grass Blade. March 21, 1909. p. 2
  12. ^ Oswald, Felix. (1891). Was Christ a Buddhist?. The Arena 3 (1): 193–201.
  13. ^ Janes, Lewis G. (1899). The Comparative Study of Religions: Its Pitfalls and Its Promise. The Sewanee Review 7 (1): 1–20.
  14. ^ Bixby, James T. (1891). Buddhism in the New Testament. The Arena 3 (2): 555–566.
  15. ^ Arnold, Edwin. (1957). Interpreter of Buddhism to the West. New York: Bookman Associates. p. 101
  16. ^ Aiken, Charles Francis. (1900). The Dhamma of Gotama the Buddha and the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Boston: Marlier and Company.
  17. ISBN 978-0826480118
  18. ISBN 81-206-1226-4
  19. ^ Scientific Notes and News. (1906). Science 24 (614): 446–448.
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