speaking of USC

Speaking of USC (for non-Americans: that’s the University of Southern California, a significant private university located in South Central Los Angeles), some of you may not have heard the story that Edmund Husserl was offered a position there (after Hitler was already in power). He declined the offer due to advanced age and cultural unfamiliarity, which is easy to understood.

But aside from the fact that Husserl and Los Angeles are about as likely a match as Popeye and HAL, the scenario remains a great minor-to-medium “what if” of 20th century philosophy.

Just imagine it: Husserl comes over to L.A. and makes a splash, living another 5-7 years. The Archive ends up at USC, which continues hiring in the phenomenology area to capitalize on its unexpected possession of the Husserl Nachlass. Instead of everyone running off to Leuven all the time, they run off to USC to work on phenomenology.

It’s an interesting scenario, and I happen to think that despite Husserl’s good reasons for refusing, he missed a good opportunity here.