People > Notable Norkans > Karl Wilhelm Aschenbrenner
Karl Wilhelm Aschenbrenner
Karl Wilhelm Aschenbrenner was born on November 20, 1911, in Bison, Kansas the son of Johannes Aschenbrenner, born 1878 in Norka, and Nathalie Elisabeth Schnell who was also born in Norka on July 19, 1877.
Karl's parents were married and immigrated to the United States in 1899 and initially settled in Harvard, Nebraska and soon moved to Rush County, Kansas where they farmed. In 1913, the Aschenbrenner family moved west to Portland, Oregon. Karl received his undergraduate degree from Portland's Reed College in 1934 before being awarded his masters degree and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
Karl Aschenbrenner was an American philosopher, translator (into English of works in Latin and German) and prominent American specialist in analytic philosophy and aesthetics, author and editor of more than 48 publications including five monographs, 27 articles and 16 book reviews. His principal academic post was at the University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Philosophy. Aschenbrenner co-edited, with Arnold Isenberg, a collection of essays on the subject of aesthetic theory. As co-translator with William B. Holther, Aschenbrenner published the principal work of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten and, with Donald Nicholl, assisted in completing the second edition of an important work of the German philosopher Joseph M. Bocheński. He is particularly noted for his authoritative commentary on the Kritik der Reinen Vernunft of Immanuel Kant as well as the commentary he and Nicholl supplied in their translation of Baumgarten’s "Meditationes philosophicae de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibus" introducing that work. Except for his sabbaticals, Aschenbrenner resided in Berkeley, California from 1943 to 1986 and in Los Angeles from 1986 to 1988. During sabbatical leaves Aschenbrenner taught at the Universität Wien, University College London and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He remained Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley until his death in 1988. Aschenbrenner died in Budapest on July 4, 1988 while doing research and is buried in Farkasréti Cemetery in that city. The Aschenbrenner papers are held by the Doe Library of the University of California at Berkeley.
In 1964, Karl began searching for his family origins in Germany while teaching at the university in Munich. He used his knowledge of the Norka dialect to determine that his family had likely originated in the Vogelsberg area of Hessen near the city of Büdingen.
Karl's parents were married and immigrated to the United States in 1899 and initially settled in Harvard, Nebraska and soon moved to Rush County, Kansas where they farmed. In 1913, the Aschenbrenner family moved west to Portland, Oregon. Karl received his undergraduate degree from Portland's Reed College in 1934 before being awarded his masters degree and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
Karl Aschenbrenner was an American philosopher, translator (into English of works in Latin and German) and prominent American specialist in analytic philosophy and aesthetics, author and editor of more than 48 publications including five monographs, 27 articles and 16 book reviews. His principal academic post was at the University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Philosophy. Aschenbrenner co-edited, with Arnold Isenberg, a collection of essays on the subject of aesthetic theory. As co-translator with William B. Holther, Aschenbrenner published the principal work of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten and, with Donald Nicholl, assisted in completing the second edition of an important work of the German philosopher Joseph M. Bocheński. He is particularly noted for his authoritative commentary on the Kritik der Reinen Vernunft of Immanuel Kant as well as the commentary he and Nicholl supplied in their translation of Baumgarten’s "Meditationes philosophicae de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibus" introducing that work. Except for his sabbaticals, Aschenbrenner resided in Berkeley, California from 1943 to 1986 and in Los Angeles from 1986 to 1988. During sabbatical leaves Aschenbrenner taught at the Universität Wien, University College London and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He remained Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley until his death in 1988. Aschenbrenner died in Budapest on July 4, 1988 while doing research and is buried in Farkasréti Cemetery in that city. The Aschenbrenner papers are held by the Doe Library of the University of California at Berkeley.
In 1964, Karl began searching for his family origins in Germany while teaching at the university in Munich. He used his knowledge of the Norka dialect to determine that his family had likely originated in the Vogelsberg area of Hessen near the city of Büdingen.
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Last updated May 11, 2017.
