Re: Joseph Campbell's antisemitism

[Jim Farmelant <farmelantj@xxxxxxxx>]

I remember the Bill Moyers' interviews with Joe Campbell,
in which Campbell asserted his admiration for Schopenhauer.
And of course, Campbell derived his methodology for the
interpretation of myths from Jung.  Like his hero
Schopenhauer, Campbell tended to be contemptous of
the Western religions (i.e. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam)
while being more admiring of Hinduism and Buddhism.

As far as his anti-Semitism and racism are concerned, in this
respect, he was hardly unique among the intellectuals of his
generation.  Many of the leading non-leftist intellectuals of
his day (and some of the leftists as well) were more or less
openly racist and anti-Semitic, ranging from the genteel
anti-Semitisms of people like T.S. Eliot or George Santayana,
to the avowed fascism of Ezra Pound and the Nazism of
Martin Heidegger.  Before WW II it was not uncommon
to see fairly blatant racist or anti-Semitic comments in
quite respectable publications.

Jim F.

On Wed, 25 Dec 2002 11:36:58 -0800 Michael Perelman
<michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> I had read quite a few of Campbell's books back way back in the
> 1950s, I
> believe.  I enjoyed them quite a bit.  The message I got at the time
> was
> that all sorts of cultures shared similar myths -- from Native
> Americans
> to ancient Egyptians and Christians.  It seemed a humanistic message
> at
> the time.  I saw him speak when he came to Chico and was thoroughly
> disappointed.  His message at the time seemed to be that nothing
> mattered.
> Just sit back and be spiritual and see that all is nothingness.
>
>  --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA 95929
>
> Tel. 530-898-5321
> E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>

________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com

~~~~~~~
PLEASE clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.