Felix Adler

Adler developed an original philosophy with a foundation in those of Immanuel Kant and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel that developed and transformed these roots. He considered philosophy not just a guide of life but a key to improving society and the human condition appropriate to respect for essential human dignity. Rejecting Kant's metaphysics, he embraced his stress on the intrinsic worth and dignity of the person. Combining a supreme moral principle similar to Kant's with his detailed ideas of self-realization, he emphasized the free development of the individual about societal concerns and fellowship. He preceded John Dewey in a concern for the "problems of men" instead of philosophical technicalities. While his ideas shared some aspects of pragmatism, he was better described as "an ethical idealist with great practical reforming zeal" he promoted an idealist version of moral perfectionism. He was, however, realistic and not sentimental, acknowledging that man has done evil knowingly and deliberately. Adler's ethics combined an appeal to universal principles with moral particularism, which holds that the unique circumstances of a particular case must be carefully considered to determine the ethical choice in that case. Adler believed that moral laws could not be applied similarly to varied and unique individuals but that moral principles applied to all. He saw a need to balance essential general principles with consideration of the particular specific circumstances. He developed his own version of what he called Kant's "formula," which was, "Treat every [person] as a spiritual means to thine own spiritual end and conversely." He proposed a "supreme ethical rule," which he stated as follows: "So act as to elicit the unique personality in others, and thereby in thyself," or "Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself." He thought by doing so, one would transcend both egoism and altruism. He believed that virtue is and must be its reward, or else it is not. He characterized a virtuous act as one "in which the ends of self and of the other are respected and promoted jointly," coordinating Kantian universalistic imperative ethics with a type of perfectionism. He took ethics seriously and felt it "must run like a golden thread through the whole of a [person's] life." He felt consequentialism, particularly utilitarianism, was inappropriate in ethics as it attempts to apply quantitative measures to something of a qualitative nature. Adler's social philosophy opposed commercialism. He claimed, "The root disease that afflicts the world at the present day is the supremacy of the commercial point of view." His thought prized public works and the use of reason to develop ultimate ethical standards. Adler published such works as Creed and Deed (1878), Moral Instruction of Children (1892), Life and Destiny (1905), The Religion of Duty (1906), Essentials of Spirituality (1908), An Ethical Philosophy of Life (1918), The Reconstruction of the Spiritual Ideal (1925), and Our Part in this World. He made use of ideas from Judaism, as well as the philosophies of Kant and Ralph Waldo Emerson, mixed with specific socialist ideas of his time. He believed that the concept of a personal god was unnecessary and thought that the human personality was the central force of religion. He believed that different people's interpretations of religions were to be respected as religious in themselves. The Ethical Culture movement was open to people of diverse beliefs. Ethical Culture societies were formed in the late nineteenth century in numerous cities in the United States, for instance, Philadelphia and St. Louis.

* * * • Updated in 1915 to include a third lecture. * * * * * * * *

In 1876, Adler, at age 26, was invited to give a lecture expanding upon his themes first presented in the sermon at Temple Emanu-El. On May 15, 1876, he reiterated the need for a religion that united all humankind in moral and social action without the trappings of ritual or creed. To do away with theology and to unite theists, atheists, agnostics and deists, all in the same religious cause, was a revolutionary idea at the time. A few weeks after the sermon, Adler started a series of weekly Sunday lectures. In February 1877, aided by Joseph Seligman, president of Temple Emanu-El, Adler incorporated the Society of Ethical Culture. Adler talked about "deed, not creed"; he believed good works were the basis of ethical culture. In 1877, the Society founded the District Nursing Department, which organized a team of nurses who visited the homebound sick in poor districts. A year later, in 1878, the Society established a free kindergarten for working people's children. Because it served the working poor, the kindergarten provided basic necessities for the children when needed, such as clothing and hot meals. It evolved into the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. Well-known as a lecturer and writer, Adler served as a rector for the Ethical Culture School until his death in 1933. Throughout his life, he always looked beyond the immediate concerns of family, labor, and race to the long-term challenge of reconstructing institutions, such as schools and government, to promote greater justice in human relations. Cooperation rather than competition was the higher social value. He gave a series of six lectures on "The Ethics of Marriage" for the Lowell Institute's 1896–1897 season. Adler was the founding chairman of the National Child Labor Committee in 1904. Lewis Hine was hired as the committee's photographer in 1908. In 1917, Adler served on the Civil Liberties Bureau, which later became the American Civil Liberties Bureau and then the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In 1928, he became president of the Eastern division of the American Philosophical Association. He served on the first executive board of the National Urban League.