Alfred Schutz: An Intellectual Biography

by Helmut R. Wagner

372 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I'm writing a book on Peter L. Berger, who studied under Schutz in the New School in the 50s. Berger is mentioned only once in passing (he's not even in the index) despite his popularity, and the way in which he popularised Schutz's sociological ideas. But this is just a symptom of the broader 'problem': although published in the Heritage of Sociology series, this really is a work on Schutz's phenomenological philosophy. One can also tell that it is a condensation of an original 2600-page (!) manuscript. The beginning was promising, the middle slumps with too detailed descriptions of correspondence with colleagues, and the last section is simply painful. Shame, because Schutz would deserve a proper biography about his sociological impact.