Birth Name:

Sidney Morgenbesser

Male

Birth Date:

Thu, Sep 22, 1921

Time of Birth:

Unknown (using Noon)

Place of Birth:

New York, New York, United States

Age:

102

Zodiac Sign:

Virgo

Astrology Data:

Sun

29°

Vir

5'

About Sidney Morgenbesser

Sidney Morgenbesser (September 22, 1921 – August 1, 2004) was a Jewish American philosopher and professor at Columbia University. He wrote little but is remembered by many for his philosophical witticisms. One of the best known anecdotes has J. L. Austin claiming that, although a double negative often implies a positive meaning (as is the case with "he is not unlike his sister"), there is no language in which a double positive implies a negative. To which Morgenbesser retorts: "Yeah, yeah." Another concerns Heidegger's "Why is there something rather than nothing?" To this Morgenbesser's response was: "And if there were nothing? You'd still be complaining!"

Link to Wikipedia biography

External Links:

• The Witty Professor, NPR

• Columbia News death notice (archived)

• Columbia College Today: Remembering Sidney Morgenbesser - memoirs by David Albert, Arthur C. Danto and Mark Steiner (also archived here)

• Sidney Morgenbesser, Crooked Timber

• Sidney, by Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic

• Sidney Morgenbesser interviewed by Bryan Magee on American Pragmatism (Video).

Birth Chart and Planetary Positions of Sidney Morgenbesser

Astrological portrait of Sidney Morgenbesser

Current important phases/events in Sidney Morgenbesser’s life

Sidney Morgenbesser's relationships

Astrological aspects and planetary data / tags for Sidney Morgenbesser: Sun 29 Virgo, Moon 1 Gemini, Mercury 20 Libra, Venus 25 Leo, Mars 2 Virgo, Jupiter 29 Virgo, Saturn 28 Virgo, Uranus 6 Pisces, Neptune 15 Leo, Pluto 9 Cancer, Sun Conjunct Jupiter, Venus Conjunct Mars, Sun Conjunct Saturn, Sun Semi Square Neptune, Mercury Sesquiquadrate Uranus, Venus Semi Square Pluto, Mars Opposition Uranus, Jupiter Conjunct Saturn, Jupiter Semi Square Neptune, Saturn Semi Square Neptune, Uranus Trine Pluto

Categories related to Sidney Morgenbesser: Columbia University faculty, 2004 deaths, September 22 births, American male non-fiction writers, 20th-century American male writers, American political philosophers, 20th-century American philosophers, 21st-century American philosophers, 21st-century American male writers, 21st-century American non-fiction writers, American atheists, 20th-century American non-fiction writers, Jewish atheists, Jewish philosophers, Epistemologists, American anti–Vietnam War activists, Social critics, American social commentators, Historians of philosophy, Moral philosophers, American logicians, Humor researchers, Philosophers of logic, American ethicists, American cultural critics, Philosophers of culture, Social philosophers, Atheist philosophers, Metaphysicians, Philosophers of language, Philosophers of mind, Philosophers of history, Ontologists, Philosophers of ethics and morality, American philosophy academics, 1921 births, American tax resisters, Aphorists, Irony theorists, 21st-century American Jews, 20th-century American Jews, Trope theorists