โ Scribed by Richard M. Owsley
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
As the members of this society demonstrate, there are multiple ways to investigate human beings. Each of us may choose the goals, methods, and perspective of one particular discipline such as sociology, history, philosophy or political science. Professor Helmut Wagner has chosen to relate his own work to the life, recommendations, and accomplishments of Alfred Schutz. Wagner has on several occasions written about Schutz (1983aSchutz ( , 1984aSchutz ( , 1984b)), translated his works, and interpreted his importance for the general reader and the philosopher, as well as the sociological specialist. Wagner's pursuit in this direction has been climaxed by the publication of Alfred Schutz." An Intellectual Biography, University of Chicago Press, 1983. It is this book which has served as the basis for the following comments.
"The biography of Schutz is relevant for the comprehension of his scholarly life work" (Wagner, 1984b:107). An intellectual biography, however, as Wagner sees it, differs from most other life stories. The adjective, intellectual, does more than typify the subject. Wagner does not attempt to give a complete picture of Schutz's years on earth. The original manuscript which Wagner tells us had 38 chapters and 2,600 pages was a more complete account. The present volume, a shorter version, is largely confined to a consideration of Schutz's main ideas. Wagner not only summarizes but explores the possible sources of these ideas, their development and influences on Schutz's contemporaries. To forestall misinterpretation, Wagner says in a concluding remark, This intellectual biography was not meant to convey a picture of Alfred Schutz the human being, in the richness and generosity of his personality. Its purpose is fulfilled if it has helped to show the contours and the main features of Schutz, the restless
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