Talk:Louis Hartz

Original

The article states that Hartz present an original view of America's past. I don' think that his view of America's past as liberal was original, but what was original was relating this to America's political movements and lack of conservatism and socialism. Suggest deletion of the word "original".

I posted this comment 11:29, 6 April 2009 but forgot to sign. Will now edit text. The Four Deuces (talk) 19:38, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

What on earth does "Hartz rejected Marxism, indeed turned it upside down, finding in the power of an idea the explanation of that inexplicable nonevent for Marxists, the absence of socialism in America" mean? Maten4u (talk) 08:29, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

What Happened to Louis Hartz?

Elsewhere on the Internet you can read that he suffered from mental illness and left Harvard some time before he passed away in 1986. Does anyone have any reliable information about what became of Hartz? He made a big splash in the 1950s and then disappeared from view. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.162.253.101 (talk) 22:54, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

The "American National Biography" article by by Samuel H. Beer explains: In the early 1970s, Hartz's highly successful professional career and quite normal personal and family life was brought to an end by the sudden onset of a severe emotional disturbance. No exact medical diagnosis could be made since one symptom of his illness was a resolute denial that anything was so wrong as to require medical attention. This breakdown led to estrangement from his family, including divorce in 1972, alienation from old friends, and finally a senseless conflict with the students, administration, and faculty. In 1974 he resigned from Harvard. Still mentally keen, however, he continued his scholarly work until his death from an epileptic seizure in Istanbul in 1986. https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1401127 Rjensen (talk) 23:04, 2 May 2018 (UTC)