Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Kaplan, Abraham, 1918-1993
- Abstract:
- Abraham Kaplan (1918-1993) was a philosopher, an author and an educator. His collection contains correspondence, articles, lectures, speeches, book manuscripts, subject files, notes, and printed matter pertaining to his writings and academic career.
- Extent:
- 19.17 Linear Feet (35 boxes)
- Language:
- English Hebrew
- Preferred citation:
-
[Box/folder# or item name], Abraham Kaplan Papers, Collection no. 0054, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Abraham Kaplan Papers contain subject files related to Kaplan's research, lectures, professional activities, personal correspondence, travel, and hobbies; Kaplan's manuscripts and published writings; audio of his lectures and an oral history interview with Kaplan, and other assorted personal materials. Additionally, there are materials relating to other philosophers, including Bertrand Russell, Rudolf Carnap, and Martin Buber.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Abraham Kaplan (1918-1993) was an American philosopher with a long and distinguished career. He was born June 11, 1918 to parents Joseph J. and Chava (Lerner) Kaplan in Odessa, Ukraine. Kaplan and his family immigrated to the United States in 1923 and he became a naturalized citizen in 1930.
Kaplan graduated from the College of St. Thomas in 1937 and then attended the University of Chicago from 1937-40, where he studied under philosophers Bertrand Russell and Rudolf Carnap. Kaplan eventually followed Russell to the University of California, Los Angeles, where Kaplan received his Ph.D. in 1942.
After earning his doctorate, Kaplan began his teaching career at New York University. He then returned to UCLA as a faculty member, teaching there from 1946 to 1963 and serving as chair of the philosophy department from 1952-1956.
Kaplan also taught at the University of Michigan from 1963 to 1972 and then moved to Israel, where he taught at the University of Haifa.
Besides giving many lectures across the globe, Kaplan held visiting distinguished professorships at over twelve universities including the California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He devoted much of his time to organizations such as the American Philosophical Association (president of Pacific Division 1947-58) and the Association for Jewish Philosophy.
Kaplan was widely recognized for his endeavors — he was named one of the top ten teachers in the United States by Time magazine in 1966 and was a Guggenheim Fellow (1945-46). In 1956, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded Kaplan a grant to study philosophical developments in India, Japan, and Israel.
Kaplan's published books included Power and Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry, which he co-authored with political scientist Harold Lasswell; The Conduct of Inquiry; In Pursuit of Wisdom: The Scope of Philosophy; and Freedom and Terror: Reason and Unreason in Politics, which he co-authored with Gabriel Weimann.
In 1939, Kaplan married Iona Judith Wax, a child psychologist, and they had two children: Karen Eva Kaplan Diskin and Jessica Aryia Kaplan Symonds.
Kaplan died of a heart attack at the age of 75 on June 19, 1993 in Los Angeles.
- Acquisition information:
- The collection was donated by Kaplan's wife Iona in 1995 and transferred to the University Archives by Cal Poly Pomona Professor of Philosophy James Manley in 2001.
- Processing information:
-
The collection was processed by Special Collections and Archives staff in 2001. The collection number was changed from SC2001.1 to 0054 and the collection title changed from Abraham Kaplan Collection to Abraham Kaplan Papers in 2020. From 2024-2025, the collection was reprocessed by Rob Strauss, with the help of student assistants Radhika Epps, Cecilia Ulloa, and Carmen Colacino.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection is arranged into the following series: Series 1. Subject Files; Series 2. Writings and Research Materials; Series 3. Publications; and Series 4. Audiovisual Materials.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Philosophers
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Advance notice required for access.
- Terms of access:
-
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Box/folder# or item name], Abraham Kaplan Papers, Collection no. 0054, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
- Location of this collection:
-
3801 West Temple Ave.Pomona, CA 91768, US
- Contact:
- (909) 869-3775