Humanitas et ratio : reflections of Ludwig Edelstein's life and work in his extant epistolary network

Abstract

This thesis produces an in-depth study of Ludwig Edelstein’s life and work enabled by the use of his correspondence read in the light of his ample scholarly output. Ludwig Edelstein (1902-1965) was an important scholar in the fields of the history of ancient medicine and science, classics, and philosophy, yet his life has not been accorded the interest it merits. This thesis will be the first extensive exploration of the entanglement of Edelstein’s bion and ergon. It will demonstrate the importance of considering life and work within the same sphere. Furthermore, it will underline the value of using correspondence for historiography and the richness of information a biographical study can provide, strengthening the case for more investigations of this kind. The thesis adopts a thematic approach and each chapter will explore Edelstein in a different role; as a dissenter, friend, collaborator, scholar, and teacher. The combined study of Edelstein’s correspondence alongside his published work allows for a more complete understanding of Edelstein’s legacy than has been available thus far. However, Edelstein’s life cannot be separated from its context, and so the thesis will also provide valuable information on a number of other areas including, but not limited to, the history of the disciplines he worked in, the intellectual milieu he was a part of, the ‘red scare’ at American universities, humanist ideals of education, and, via the first portrayal of his wife ever written, the position of female scholars in the first half of the twentieth century.