Carl J. Friedrich

From Philosopedia

Friedrich, Carl J(achim) (5 June 1901 -19 September 1984)

Friedrich was the son of a German professor of medicine (who invented the surgical rubber glove) and a Prussian countess. When he was being naturalized as an American citizen, he listed his religion as "Homer."

Harvard on Friedrich

A biographical note appended to his papers at Harvard included the following:

Carl Joachim Friedrich (1901-1984) was a political scientist, political advisor, and educator. He was Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard from 1955 to 1971.

He first came to the United States in 1922 with a group of European students on a lecture tour to discuss the problems facing post-war European youth.

His Harvard career began in 1926 when he became a lecturer in the Government Department. He became an Associate Professor of Government in 1927 and a full professor in 1936. He became a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Public Administration in 1938. During World War II he helped to found the School of Overseas Administration at Harvard to train officers for work in military government abroad, and he was its Director from 1943-1946. He became professor emeritus at Harvard upon his retirement in 1971.

His academic and research career ranged beyond Harvard. He was educated at the Universities of Marburg, Frankfurt and Vienna. He studied philosophy and natural sciences and eventually took a Ph.D. in history and economics from the University of Heidelberg in 1925. He was Professor of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg from 1956 to 1966, where he founded and helped to develop the Institut für Politische Wissenschaft. He served as President of the American Political Science Association in 1962, the International Political Science Association from 1967-1970, and the Institut international de philosophie politique in 1969; he belonged to numerous professional organizations. He was made Emeritus in 1966 at the University of Heidelberg. Friedrich received honorary degrees from six institutions, and he was awarded the Knight Commander's Cross of the German Order of Merit by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1967 for his continuing efforts and assistance in the development of the West German Republic and its relations with the U.S.

His main areas of interest before World War II were the history of modern political thought, the problems of leadership and bureaucracy in government, public administration, comparative political institutions, and American foreign policy. Early works include Responsible Bureaucracy (1932), the introduction to a reprint of the Politica methodice digesta of Johannes Althusius (1932), Constitutional Government and Politics (1937) and Foreign Policy In the Making: The Search for a New Balance of Power (1938).

He also was interested in public opinion and propaganda. He was vice-president of the Radio Council of Greater Boston and the director of the Radio Broadcasting Project. He served on the Executive Committee of the Council For Democracy during World War II, whose aim was to convince the American people of the importance of fighting totalitarianism to preserve democratic institutions. In this capacity he directed the Committee of Correspondence which published pamphlets on aspects of democracy and was head of the New England Branch of the Council. In 1942 he published The New Belief In The Common Man.

After the war, he was involved in the reconstruction of Germany. From 1947 to 1948 he served as Constitutional and Governmental Affairs Advisor to the Military Governor of Germany, Lucius D. Clay. He participated in the work leading to the drafting of the German constitution of the Federal Republic.

His international political advising went beyond Germany. He he applied his knowledge of constitutional theory and practice and his belief in the virtues of federalism as constitutional advisor to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the European Ad Hoc Assembly, which was set up to draft a constitution for the European Political Community in the early 1950s.

His interests were diverse. In 1952 he published The Age of Baroque, a work which reflected his fascination with this period of history. In 1953 he published Philosophy of Kant and in 1954 Philosophy of Hegel.

Book Reviewer for The Humanist

Friedrich wrote reviews for The Humanist in the 1950s. He is author of New Image of the Common Man (1950). Asked about categories of humanism, he responded:

I wish I could clearly choose one of the seven categories, but are they really on a level? Do we not all use at times the word humanism in the general connotation the lexicographer gives it, do we not carry with it the lessons of ancient humanism, do we not all start from classical humanism? I would exclude from myself atheistic and communistic humanism, but I suspect that I am something of a combination of a theistic and a naturalistic humanist. But in contrast to the description of theistic humanism, I believe in man’s capability of working out a good part of his personal development (salvation seems to me a pre-judicial term, involving a petitio principii) apart from a supernaturalistic philosophy, but I do at the same time believe that he will be greatly aided in this struggle by the possession of a faith in supernatural powers, and more especially a faith in God. You seem to imply that only the naturalistic humanist acknowledges that he might be wrong; I think that this is equally true of others. Indeed, Thomas Aquinas’ famous dictum: Ignoramus, ignorabimus shows that intellectual humility is one of the main virtues of the true Christian.

But what I miss most in your categorical scheme is the recognition of humanism outside the tradition of Greece, Rome, and the Judeo-Christian religious faith, except for very recent phenomena. But what of the humanism in China, in India, and so on? It seems to me that our great problem today is the recognition of a pan-humanism which while fully recognizing the support it may receive from various religious faiths would stress the common core of all human beings in their striving for the higher forms of self. May I add one further thought which seems to me crucial for humanism today, and which is inadequately recognized by many, especially those whom you call classical neo-humanists. There has been in the past and there is in some humanist circles at present a strong tendency to think of humanism as an elitist doctrine for the few. It was so with the Stoics, with the Humanists of the sixteenth century, and with the Confucians. It is also true of the followers of Babbitt, T. S. Eliot, and Ortega y Gasset. It is my conviction that humanism today must be non-elitist. To put it affirmatively, humanism must be based upon a belief in the common man. This belief represents very serious difficulties but they must be faced. We do not longer accept the easy-going rationalism of the eighteenth century as expressed in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. And yet, humanism, pan-humanism calls for the recognition that man’s communal capacity is not the possession of an intellectual or cultural elite. The kind of belief I am talking about you can find in Dostoyevsky, more especially in 'The Brothers Karamazov. But you can also find it in Abraham Lincoln’s political philosophy and in Gandhi’s best thought.

You ask which writers most influenced me. This is hard to say. Kant, Thomas Aquinas, and Aristotle certainly are very important. But the common man himself, my country neighbors here and abroad, has taught me most.

Correspondence

Friedrich's correspondence with The Humanist mentions his pan-humanism.

{WAS, 17 May 1954, 4 September 1956}