Conversations with Eric Hoffer; The Mysterious Occident

Item Information

Title:
Conversations with Eric Hoffer; The Mysterious Occident
Description:
James Day interviews longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer. Mr. Hoffer believes it is the West, not the East, that demonstrates mysterious and unnatural behavior in times of stress and change. In this program, Mr. Hoffer explains why he believes it is the West and not the East that demonstrates mysterious and unnatural behavior in times of stress and change. His interest in the East and Middle East began in 1955 with the emergence of the new nations of Africa and the East. Their desire for self-rule, for modernization, was, and still is, being accompanied by terrorism, riots and violence. The west, on the other hand, finds that it does not have to resort to these tactics of violence because change has taken place in an orderly way. Mr. Hoffer's conclusion is that this was the unnatural way this was not normal human behavior. This orderliness and practical sense that keeps us going is due, he feels, to the rise of the autonomous individual who has the ability to make his own decisions and who must save his soul by his own efforts. This individual did not rise in the Eastern societies mainly because the secular and political powers were one in much the same manner as communism is today. In this way, a man's religion and political faith were one, and therefore, there was never a conflict. In our society, these faiths are "fighting each other." It is this struggle within Western man to reconcile these forces that has given rise to the autonomous individual capable of controlling his destiny in an orderly and practical manner. Mr. Hoffer then discusses this practical streak in the Westerner and the antagonism between the practical and the intellectual. Our society, unlike that of the Greeks, is dominated by the masses or the practical man, not by the intellectual as is the general belief. "Any society shaped and dominated by the intellectual," Mr. Hoffer concludes, "Will not allow practical actions to be a gateway to man's feeling of a sense of worth. Since our society is governed by practical considerations, it is dominated by the masses and not by the intellectuals." (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) Eric Hoffer, philosopher and longshoreman, is interviewed in by James Day, general manager of KQED in San Francisco. In the first season of six episodes, the conversations are based on Mr. Hoffers latest book, The Ordeal of Change, published in March of 1963 by Harper and Row. Eric Hoffer works four days a week as a San Francisco longshoreman just enough to pay bills for his furnished room and meals. His main concerns are reading, thinking and writing. Mr. Hoffer has produced three books, The True Believer, The Passionate State of Mind, which is a collection of 280 aphorisms on man, and The Ordeal of Change, which states his philosophy on what history teaches us. Eric Hoffer was born in the Bronx, N.Y., in 1902, the song of a German cabinetmaker. His Mother died when he was seven-years-old, and shortly thereafter, he lost his eyesight. Nine years later, Mr. Hoffers sight was restored and he began to read voraciously. In the early 1920s, he moved to the West Coast where he worked at different types of laboring jobs while continuing his main preoccupation reading. In the late 1930s, Mr. Hoffer began writing and by the early 1940s, he was sending his efforts to publishers. The True Believer, published in 1951 was his first success. Mr. Hoffer is interviewed by James Day, general manager of station KQED, San Francisco. Mr. Day is host for the stations popular interview series Kaleidoscope. He is a former deputy director of Radio Free Asia and former public affairs director of KNBC in San Francisco. He was graduated from the University of California in 1941. Conversations with Eric Hoffer is a 1963 production of KQED, San Francisco.The 12 half-hour episodes that comprise the series were originally recorded on videotape. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Production company:
KQED-TV (Television station : San Francisco, Calif.)
Host:
Day, James
Creator:
Hoffer, Eric
Date:
1964
Format:
Film/Video
Genre:
Talk Show
Location:
Library of Congress
Collection (local):
American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
Series:
Library of Congress > Conversations with Eric Hoffer
Subjects:
Philosophy
Extent:
00:30:29
Link to Item:
http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-75-214mwbmq
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Notes:
Episode Number: 10