Faculty Profile: Karsten Harries
Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor in Philosophy
Professor Karsten Harries is a noted scholar of Heidegger, early modern philosophy, and the philosophy of art and architecture. A member of Yale's faculty since 1961, he was named in 2006 as the first incumbent of the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professorship in Philosophy, which was generously established by Brooks G. Ragen ’55 and his wife, Suzanne, as a part of the Yale Tomorrow campaign.
Professor Harries
Below he shares his thoughts on the Yale of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Q: This semester you are teaching both graduate- and undergraduate-level courses, as well as continuing your work as the director of graduate studies in philosophy. What do you enjoy most about teaching and working with students?
A: The fact that I am not yet thinking of retiring, although I taught my first class at Yale in 1961—a child was on the way, and that was an incentive to finish my dissertation in a hurry—shows how much I enjoy teaching, as does the fact that in my many years as a chairman and director of graduate studies, I have never reduced my teaching load. Sometimes I do ask myself: isn’t enough enough? But I enjoy teaching too much. I am thinking of making my by now rather elaborate notes for all these courses available on the Internet. There are at least twenty. That should keep me going for a few more years.
But what is it that I enjoy about teaching and working with students? First of all, helping young persons find their way, discovering what they are capable of and able to contribute to their society. I am especially proud of the many students whose dissertations I have supervised: if all those currently working with me finish, I will have directed—if I am to believe the “philosophy family tree” put on the Internet by someone at the University of Texas—more dissertations than any philosopher who ever lived. It is a bit hard to believe. I fear that more diligent research may some day dig up some 19th-century Doktorvater who will claim this somewhat dubious honor. But these students have become something like a worldwide family.
Q: In recent years, your research has focused on the philosophy of art and architecture, but you are also a scholar of Heidegger and early modern philosophy. What overarching questions have guided your research in these areas, and are there any new topics you might pursue?
A: If there is one overarching question that has guided my research, it is the question of the legitimacy and limits of that objectifying reason that presides over our science and technology and thus over the world we live in. That question informs my interest in the Renaissance, which led to my book Infinity and Perspective, and in the 18th century, which led to my book on the Bavarian Rococo Church, now scheduled to appear also in a German edition. Both are important thresholds that cast light on the world we live in today. That question also informs my interest in art. My often critical but also appreciative confrontation with Heidegger has helped me to see more clearly the central issues. In recent years more and more of my teaching and writing has been directed to architects. As an intersection of art and technology, architecture has given me the possibility of exploring very concretely the questions that today most interest me.
Q: During your time at Yale, you have been a prolific scholar, authoring many articles and several books. How do you balance an accomplished research career with both teaching and your administrative responsibilities as the director of graduate studies?
A: My research requires contact with students, so that I experience no significant tension between my teaching and my own work. My articles and books have, with a few exceptions, all grown out of my teaching. The interaction with students has been indispensable.
Q: As an alumnus and a professor, you offer a unique perspective. How have things changed since you first came to the University?
A: When I first came to this University, Yale College and the humanities were very much at the center, in keeping with the educational vision of Dean William Clyde De Vane and President A. Whitney Griswold. Philosophy profited from this vision, which allowed Charles W. Hendel, then chairman of the philosophy department, to make it the premier department in the country. In the intervening years, the social sciences and especially the natural sciences have gained in importance, and the philosophy department has had to evolve. I am pleased that under the leadership of its current chairman, Michael della Rocca, philosophy is gaining a new eminence.
Coeducation has had a profoundly positive impact on Yale College, as has the increasing heterogeneity of the student body. I find today’s undergraduates even more extraordinary than the extraordinary students I taught in 1961.
Q: Change is all around us at Yale today. As you look ahead to tomorrow, what are you most enthusiastic about?
A: I am most enthusiastic about the way the University is attracting the brightest students, and, especially on the graduate level, students increasingly from all over the world. These young people deserve inspiring teaching. The University today has a global responsibility, and I am confident that this University will meet this challenge.
About Karsten Harries
A member of the Yale faculty and currently serving as the director of graduate studies in philosophy, Professor Harries is also an alumnus. He graduated from Yale College in 1958 and received his doctoral degree from the University in 1962. He first joined the Yale faculty as an instructor in 1961, and with the exception of a brief tenure as assistant professor at the University of Texas in Austin (1963–1965), he has taught at Yale ever since.
A distinguished scholar and author, Professor Harries has published more than 180 articles and five books, two of which received international commendation. The Bavarian Rococo Church: Between Faith and Aestheticism was runner-up for the prestigious Conféderation Internationale de Négociants en Oeuvres d’Art Award, and The Ethical Function of Architecture won the American Institute of Architects 8th Annual International Architecture Book Award for Criticism. Born in Jena, Germany, Professor Harries has twice returned to his home country to serve as a visiting professor at the University of Bonn. He has also earned several honors and awards throughout his career, including Morse and Guggenheim fellowships, the Association of Yale Alumni Class Leadership Award for Distinguished Service in 2003, and a distinguished teaching award from the University of Texas.
(March 3, 2008)
