Ernest Nagel papers, 1930-1988

Ernest Nagel papers, 1930-1988

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.:
MS#0915
Bib ID:
4078453 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Nagel, Ernest, 1901-1985; Gödel, Kurt; Hempel, Carl G. (Carl Gustav), 1905-1997; Hook, Sidney, 1902-1989; Lazarsfeld, Paul F., 1901-1976; McGill, William J. (William James), 1922-1997; White, Morton, 1917-2016
Repository:
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Physical Description:
15 linear feet (37 boxes)
Language(s):
English .
Access:
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

The following boxes are located off-site: 2-37. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Description

Scope and Content

Correspondence, manuscripts, speeches, notebooks, notes, teaching materials, subject files, clippings, printed materials and books of Ernest Nagel. Included among the correspondence are William J. Bennett, Rudolph Carnap, Kurt Gödel, Adolph Grünbaum, C. G. Hemple, Paul Lazarsfeld, William J. McGill and Morton White. The collection's manuscripts include most of Nagel's essays and articles as well as drafts of his major works, including "The Structure of Science" (1961). The teaching materials contain syllabi, reading lists and lecture plans from the philosophy courses Nagel taught at Columbia. The collection also includes numerous manuscripts and printed materials by other authors which were inscribed to Nagel. In addition, there are printed materials and printed books by Nagel at the end of the collection.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 11 series.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

The following boxes are located off-site: 2-37. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ernest Nagel papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Ownership and Custodial History

Gift of Ernest Nagel, 1980; Alexander and Sidney Nagel, 1988.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Nagel, Ernest, 1980; Alexander and Sidney Nagel, 1988. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--07/25/88. Accession number--M-88-07-25.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Processed TC 11/01/88. HM 2/90 rev.

Revision Description

2010-02-18 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Biographical sketch

Ernest Nagel (1901-1985), philosopher and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University. Nagel received a B.S. (1923) from City College, and a M.A. (1925) and Ph.D. (1930) from Columbia. First appointed to Columbia's faculty in 1930, Nagel became John Dewey Professor of Philosophy in 1955 and University Professor in 1967.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Subject
Philosophers
Philosophy, Modern -- 20th century

Series I: Cataloged Correspondence


Box 1

Hook, Sidney


Box 1

Santayana, George


Box 1

Hu, Shi

Series II: Arranged Correspondence


Box 1

A - J


Box 1

K - W


Box 1

Bailey, Herbert S., Jr.


Box 1

Bennett, William J.


Box 1

Bentley, Arthur


Box 1

Berenda, Carlton W.


Box 1

Berkson, Joseph


Box 1

Black, Max


Box 1

Brandt, Richard


Box 1

Bryson, Lyman


Box 1

Carnap, Rudolf


Box 1

Chroust, Anton-Hermann


Box 1

Church, Alonzo


Box 1

Cumming, Robert D.


Box 1

Feigl, Herbert


Box 1

Fraenkel, George K.


Box 1

The Free Press


Box 1

Gödel, Kurt


Box 1

Grünbaum, Adolf


Box 1

Harcourt, Brace and World, 1) - (2)


Box 1

Hempel, C. G. ("Pete")


Box 1

International Institute for the Unity of Science


Box 1

Janus Books


Box 1

Katz, Leo


Box 1

Kolakowski, Leszek


Box 1

Laudan, Larry


Box 1

Lazarsfeld, Paul


Box 1

McGill, William J.


Box 1

Morgenbesser, Sidney


Box 1

Nagel, Ernest, (carbons, etc.


Box 1

New York University Press


Box 1

Parsons, Charles D.


Box 1

Phi Delta Kappa Society


Box 1

Purdom, Paul


Box 1

Reichenbach, Hans.


Box 1

Sovern, Michael


Box 1

Toulmin, Stephen


Box 1

White, Morton


Box 1

Zeisel, Hans


Box 2

Miscellaneous (1) - (3)

Series III: Arranged Manuscripts


Box 2

America Illustrated statement


Box 2

Assumptions in Economic Theory


Box 2

[Biographical portraits of philosophers]


Box 2

Biology [incomplete]


Box 2

Max Black (Encyclopedia of Philosophy)


Box 2

G. Spencer Brown Probability and Scientific Inference., Review


Box 2

A Budget of Problems in the Philosophy of Science


Box 2

[Business school seminar]


Box 2

Butler Gold Medal Speech, 1980


Box 2

Carnap's Theory of Induction (1) - (3)


Box 2

Causal Inferences in the Social Sciences


Box 2

Certainty in Natural Science


Box 2

Changing Conceptions of Science


Box 2

Charles Peirce's Place in Philosophy


Box 2

The Cognitive Status of Theories


Box 2

Cohen Week Celebration Speech


Box 2

Columbia College Award Speech


Box 2

Comments on John Dewey, Logic


Box 2

Comment on Fuller, Human Purposes and Natural Law


Box 2

Comments on Papers by Dr. Crombie and Father Clark


Box 2

[Comments on Professor Holton]


Box 2

[Comments on Professor Toulmin]


Box 2

The Competence of Reason


Box 2

Conference on Scientific Spirit


Box 2

Creativity in Science


Box 2

Current Critiques of Science as a Cumulative Enterprise


Box 2

D'Amato on Law and Custom


Box 2

The Debt We Owe to G. E. Moore


Box 2

Definition and Specification of Meaning


Box 2

Determinism and Development


Box 3

Dewey Lecture , Brandeis, 1959


Box 3

Dewey's Lectures on Ethical Theory


Box 3

Dewey's Lectures on Logic


Box 3

Dewey's Logic of Inquiry


Box 3

Differentiation and Unification in the Natural Sciences


Box 3

Dispositional Concepts


Box 3

Do Life Processes Transcend Physics and Chemistry?


Box 3

Eighth International Congress of Philosophy. Address


Box 3

Encyclopedia Americana, 1954


Box 3

Encyclopedia Americana, 1958


Box 3

The Enforcement of Morals


Box 3

Evidence as Justification


Box 3

Experience and Probability., 1st Draft.; 2nd Draft; 3rd Draft; 4th Draft; 5th Draft; 6th Draft; Final Draft (1) - (2


Box 3

Explanation and Structure of Scientific Knowledge


Box 3

Fact, Value and Human Purpose


Box 3

Fair Play and Civil Disobedience


Box 3

The Formation of Modern Concepts of Formal Logic in the Development of Geometry (1) - (4)


Box 4

Freedom and Authority in Scientific Method


Box 4

Freedom and Civilization [Sakharov Conference]


Box 4

A Frequency Theory of Probability (1) - (3)


Box 4

Functionalism in the Social Sciences


Box 4

Gšdel's Proof. 1st Draft.; 2nd Draft.; 3rd Draft.; 4th Draft.; 5th Draft.; 6th Draft. (1) - (2); 7th Draft.; 7th Draft. Revisions.; Final Draft


Box 4

Ernest H. Hutten Language of Modern Physics., Review


Box 4

Impossible Numbers -- A Chapter in the History of Modern Logic


Box 4

Impressions of European Universities: The Nineteen-Thirties


Box 4

[Indefiniteness]


Box 4

Introduction to R. Condon, Probability.


Box 4

Introduction to A. DeMorgan, Budget.


Box 4

Introduction to Greenberg and Gershenson, Anaxagoras.


Box 4

Introduction to A. GrŸnbaum


Box 4

Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method., 1st Draft. (1) - (3


Box 5

Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method, 2nd Draft. (1) - (6); 3rd Draft.


Box 5

Introduction to J. S. Mill, Philosophy of Scientific Method.


Box 5

Introduction to Watson, Understanding Physics.


Box 5

Is Biology Different from Physics?


Box 5

Is the Laplacian Theory of Probability Tenable?


Box 5

Arnold Isenberg Tribute


Box 5

Issues in the Logic of Reductive Explanations.


Box 5

William James


Box 5

Journal of the History of Biology. Comment.


Box 5

The Judgment of Practise.


Box 5

Krikorian Party Comments


Box 5

Liberalism and Intelligence.


Box 5

A Limitation of the Axiomatic Method.


Box 5

Logic Without Metaphysics. Introduction.


Box 5

Logical Empiricism -- Its Achievements and Its Promise.


Box 5

Logical Positivism and A Priori Knowledge.


Box 5

Logical vs. Psychological Problems of Induction.


Box 5

Man's Right to Know and Free Use Thereof.


Box 5

Mathematics: An Indispensable Tool of Physical Inquiry, Review


Box 5

Mathematics: The Nature of Mathematics, television program


Box 5

Mathematics: Paradoxes, television program


Box 6

Meaning and Knowledge. (1) - (2)


Box 6

The Meaning of Probability.


Box 6

Memorandum on Philosophy in Relation to the Sciences.


Box 6

Method in Social and Natural Science.


Box 6

Methodological Issues in Psychoanalytic Theory.


Box 6

The Methods of Science.


Box 6

Mill's Logic.


Box 6

Mr. Wheelwright's Wisdom.


Box 6

National Teach-In, Washington D.C. Address.


Box 6

The Nature and Aim of Science.


Box 6

Nature and Convention.


Box 6

Nature, Man and Science.


Box 6

The Nature of Scientific Explanation.


Box 6

On the Origin of Dialectic and Syllogism in Greek Philosophy.


Box 6

On the Interpretation of Probability Calculi.


Box 6

On the Logic of Measurement. Chapter 3; Chapter 7.


Box 6

On the Method of Verstehen as the Sole Method of Philosophy.


Box 6

On Three Arguments in Support of Natural Law.


Box 6

[Oral History Interview Transcript]


Box 6

Peirce Review.


Box 6

The Philosopher Looks at Science.


Box 6

Philosophical Concepts of Atheism.


Box 6

Philosophical Interpretations of Contemporary Biology.


Box 6

Philosophical Problems in Biology.


Box 6

Philosophy in Educational Research.


Box 7

The Philosophy of Science.


Box 7

The Philosophy of Science, May 1932

[Radio Lecture]


Box 7

The Philosophy of Science, University of Delaware, 1961


Box 7

Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Education.


Box 7

Philosophy of Science -- Assessment of Evidence.


Box 7

The Place of Science in a Liberal Education.


Box 7

Predictability and Scientific Knowledge.


Box 7

Preference, Evaluation and Reflective Choice.


Box 7

Princeton Conference, 5 Nov. 1965


Box 7

Probability (Logic).


Box 7

Probability and Non-Demonstrative Inference.


Box 7

The Problem of Induction.


Box 7

The Quest for Uncertainty.


Box 7

Rationality in Judicial Decisions.


Box 7

Reduction and Autonomy of the Sciences.


Box 7

Reductive Explanations and Scientific Revolutions.


Box 7

A Rejoinder to Putnam.


Box 7

The Relation Between the Social and the Natural Sciences.


Box 7

The Relation of Sign to Object Signified.


Box 7

Relativism and the Problems of a Working Historian.


Box 7

Relativity and Twentieth-Century Intellectual Life.


Box 7

Reply to "An Objective Probabilism."


Box 7

The Rise of Modern Science.


Box 7

Rorty Talk. Comments, Spring 1973


Box 7

Science and Culture, Bard College


Box 7

Science and Culture

[Phi Beta Kappa Society]


Box 7

Science and Knowledge, 1st Draft and Notes (1) - (2); 2nd Draft.; Final Draft.


Box 8

[Science and Mechanics] (1) - (2)


Box 8

Science and Semantic Realism.


Box 8

Science and the Humanities.


Box 8

Science as a Way of Life.


Box 8

Scientific American, Reviews


Box 8

Scientific Laws and Theories.


Box 8

The Scientific Man.


Box 8

The Scientific Method, Jan. 1964


Box 8

Scientific Method, 1967


Box 8

The Scientific Revolution.


Box 8

Sense and Nonsense -- A Modern Critique of Language.


Box 8

The Social Import of Automatic Control.


Box 8

The Social Sciences.


Box 8

The Sociology of Knowledge and Philosophy of Science.


Box 8

Some Current Issues. Introduction.


Box 8

Some Issues in Teilhard's Theory of Cosmogenesis.


Box 8

Some Leading Principles of Dewey's Logical Theory.


Box 8

Some Notes on Determinism.


Box 8

Some Reflections on Myth and Symbols in Science.


Box 8

Some Reflections on the Use of Language in the Natural Sciences.


Box 8

Some Theses in the Philosophy of Logic.


Box 8

Sovereign Reason. Preliminary Introduction.


Box 8

Sovereign Reason. (1) - (3)


Box 8

State University Centennial Symposium., Speech.


Box 8

The Structure of Evolutionary Explanations.


Box 9

The Structure of Science., 1st Draft. (1) - (6); 2nd Draft (1) - (3


Box 10

The Structure of Science., 2nd Draft (4) - (8); 3rd Draft (1) - (8


Box 11

The Structure of Science., Publisher's Copy. (1) - (11


Box 12

The Structure of Science., Corrected Galleys.


Box 13

The Supremacy of Method


Box 13

Teleology Revisited. (1) - (4)


Box 13

Theory and Observation


Box 13

Truth and Certainty in Science


Box 13

Types of Causal Explanations in Science


Box 13

The Universe and the Paradox of Relevance


Box 13

Verifiability, Truth, Verification


Box 13

What Do Communists Understand by Marxism-Leninism?


Box 13

Wittgenstein


Box 13

Unidentified Mss. (1) - (2)


Box 14

Unidentified Mss. (3) - (4)


Box 14

Miscellaneous Introductions


Box 14

Miscellaneous Book Reviews (1) - (10)

Series IV: Speeches and Lectures


Box 15

On index cards

Series V: Notebooks


Box 16

Algebra, vols


Box 16

Bolzano


Box 16

Cornford, F. M. From Religion to Philosophy.


Box 16

Logic 101-102, 1931-1932


Box 16

Logic 101-102, 1932-1933


Box 16

Logic 101-102, 1933-1934


Box 16

Mathematics, volumes


Box 16

Philosophy Review


Box 16

Tarski, vols


Box 16

Miscellaneous, spiral notebooks

Series VI: Notes


Box 17

Algebra (1) - (2)


Box 17

[City College]


Box 17

Civilization and Progress


Box 17

Cohen and Natural Law


Box 17

Concept Formation in the Social Sciences


Box 17

Dewey: Types of Logical Theory


Box 17

Ethics


Box 17

[Geometry]


Box 17

History and the Social Sciences


Box 17

C. J. KEYSE, Modern Geometry


Box 17

Logic (1) - (2)


Box 17

The Logic of Economic Analysis


Box 17

Mathematics (1) - (2)


Box 17

N. P. MEAD, The World War & Division and Reunion.


Box 17

[Organizations]


Box 17

Probability


Box 18

The Problems of Evolutionary Theory


Box 18

Salmon's "Statistical Relevance" Model


Box 18

Reichenbach, Hans.


Box 18

Richardson, Lewis F.


Box 18

Miscellaneous (1) - (3)

Series VII: Teaching Materials


Box 18

Anatomy of Biological Thought. (1) - (2)


Box 18

Conceptions and Critiques of Reason.


Box 18

Contemporary Philosophical Problems.


Box 18

Explanatory Methods of Empirical Science.


Box 18

Foundations of Modern Physical Science.


Box 18

Hebrew University of Jerusalem.


Box 18

History of Biology.


Box 18

Hull, C. L.


Box 18

Jurisprudence.


Box 18

Legal Philosophy Seminar. 1959-1969; Spring 1962


Box 19

Legal Philosophy Seminar, Autumn 1962; 963; Fall 1965; Fall 1967; Autumn 1968; Fall 1970; Fall 1971; Fall 1972


Box 19

Legal Philosophy Seminar Related Materials.


Box 19

Logic (1) - (4)


Box 19

Logic (1) - (5), 1937-1938


Box 19

Logic, 1941-1950


Box 20

Logic, 1943


Box 20

Logic, 1951-1952


Box 20

Logic. Examinations.


Box 20

Logic. Related Materials. (1) - (2)


Box 20

Logic in Practice.(1) - (2)


Box 20

Logic of Social Inquiry, 1953; 1954


Box 20

Related Materials.


Box 20

Logic of Social Research, 1955; 1956; 1957; 1959; 1961; 1964


Box 20

Logic of Social research. Related Materials


Box 21

Logical Theory (1) - (2), 1948-1949


Box 21

Logical Theory, 1952-1953.


Box 21

Nineteenth Century Philosophies of Science


Box 21

Philosophy Examinations. (1) - (3)


Box 21

Philosophy of Civilization.


Box 21

Philosophy of Language. (1) - (3)


Box 21

Philosophy of Law, Spring 1963; Spring 1978.


Box 21

Philosophy of Law. Examinations.


Box 22

Philosophy of Law, Reading Lists.


Box 22

Philosophy of Law. Related Materials (1) - (6)


Box 22

Philosophy of Mathematics. (1) - (5)


Box 23

Philosophy of Mathematics. (6) - (10)


Box 23

Philosophy of Mathematics (1) - (5), 1957


Box 24

Philosophy of Science.


Box 24

Philosophy of Science, 1943.; 1950.; 1954.; 1958.


Box 24

Philosophy of Science Seminar, 1961.


Box 24

Philosophy of Science Seminar (1) - (2), 1968; 1971.


Box 24

Philosophy of Science. Related Materials.


Box 24

Probability and Induction. (1) - (6)


Box 25

Reading Lists.


Box 25

Science and Imagination.


Box 25

Scientific Methods and Stages in Their Historical Development


Box 25

Swarthmore College Honors, Examinations.


Box 25

Theory of Knowledge, 1951.; 1954.


Box 25

Theory of Knowledge, 1955; 1956; 1966.


Box 25

Related Materials. (1) - (3)


Box 25

Theory of Meaning.


Box 25

Theory of Value. [University Seminar]


Box 25

The Thought of the Nineteenth Century. (1) - (3)


Box 25

Turning Points in the History of Science.


Box 25

University of Melbourne.


Box 25

Miscellaneous

Series VIII: Subject Files


Box 26

Academy of Humanism.


Box 26

Agriculture, Department of


Box 26

American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


Box 26

American Economic Association Conference.


Box 26

American Friends of Hebrew University.


Box 26

American Philosophical Society.


Box 26

American Philosophical Society. Annual Meeting, 1964


Box 26

American University. Hurst Philosophy Lecture.


Box 26

Bibliographic References.


Box 26

The British Academy.


Box 26

Carnap, Rudolf.


Box 26

Carus Lectures.


Box 26

Catholic University of America.


Box 26

Columbia University Lectures, 1973


Box 26

Conference for Federal Science Executives.


Box 26

Cooper Union.


Box 26

Descartes Tricentenary.


Box 26

John DEWEY Foundation. (1) - (3)


Box 27

John DEWEY Foundation. Essay Project; Minutes.


Box 27

Edel Festschrift.


Box 27

Educational Policies Commission.


Box 27

Einstein Centennial.


Box 27

Einstein College Colloquium.


Box 27

Encyclopedia of the Twentieth Century.


Box 27

Fordham University Conference, 1965


Box 27

Philipp FRANK Dinner.


Box 27

Freiss, Horace L.


Box 27

Gšdel, Kurt.


Box 27

Gšdel's Proof.


Box 27

Harvard Commencement, 1966.


Box 27

Haverford College Institute.


Box 27

KQED Computer Series. (1)


Box 28

KQED Computer Series. (2)


Box 28

Journal of Philosophy Notes on Tadeuxz KOTARBINSKI Translation.


Box 28

Paul F. LAZARSFELD Fund.


Box 28

Logic of Historical Explanation. Conference. (1) - (2)


Box 28

Logical Positivism. Conference.


Box 28

Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science.


Box 28

Morgenbesser Festschrift.


Box 28

Nagel Speech Announcements.


Box 28

National Academy of Sciences. National Research Council. (1) - (2)


Box 29

National Academy of Sciences National Research Council. (3)


Box 29

National Endowment for the Humanities.


Box 29

National Endowment for the Humanities. Interdisciplinary Institute.


Box 29

National Science Foundation.


Box 29

New School for Social Research.


Box 29

Charles PEIRCE Colloquium.


Box 29

Charles PEIRCE Colloquium. Related Items.


Box 29

Phi Delta Kappa Symposium on Educational Research.


Box 29

Philosophy of Education Society.


Box 29

Philosophy of Science Association (1) - (2)


Box 29

Princeton University.


Box 30

Randall, J. H.


Box 30

Reichenbach, Hans.


Box 30

Rockefeller Foundation Grant


Box 30

Andrei SAKHAROV Conference, 1981


Box 30

Science, Philosophy and Religion Symposium, 1965


Box 30

Scientific Frontiers and their Interaction with Society.


Box 30

Smith College. Science Committee.


Box 30

Solow, Herbert.


Box 30

Sterling Forest Conference Program.


Box 30

The Tamiment Institute (1) - (2)


Box 30

Teleology Revisited.


Box 30

University Center in Virginia


Box 30

University of Chicago. Conceptual Foundations of Science.


Box 30

Venuxem Lectures.


Box 30

Miscellaneous.


Box 30

Clippings.

Series IX: Manuscripts inscribed to E. Nagel


Box 31

A - M


Box 32

S - W

Series X: Printed Materials


Box 33

Printed Books inscribed to Nagel


Box 34

Printed Books inscribed to Nagel


Box 35

Printed Books inscribed to Nagel


Box 36

Printed Materials and Printed Books by Nagel

Series XI: 1989 Addition


Subseries XI.1: Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method


Box 37

Variant Draft-ver. 1, a.m.s. (1


Box 37

Variant Draft-ver. 2, t.m.s.(2


Box 37

Variant Draft-ver. 2, exercises and analytic, index t.m.s. (carbon) (3


Box 37

Variant Draft-ver. 2, carbon, t.m.s. (carbon) (4


Subseries XI.2: Notes


Box 37

Miscellaneous


Subseries XI.3: Teaching Materials


Box 37

Grade Book for Philosophy Courses