Peter L. Berger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Peter L. Berger
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Berger in 2010
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| Born |
Peter Ludwig Berger
March 17, 1929 Vienna, Austria
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| Died | June 27, 2017 (aged 88) Brookline, Massachusetts, US
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| Alma mater |
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Notable work
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The Social Construction of Reality (1966) Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective (1963) A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural (1969) |
| Spouse(s) |
Brigitte Kellner
(m. 1959; died 2015) |
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| Doctoral students |
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| Other notable students | Chaim I. Waxman |
| Influences |
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Peter Ludwig Berger (born March 17, 1929 – died June 27, 2017) was an important thinker from Austria who later became an American citizen. He was a sociologist, which means he studied how people live together in groups and societies. He was also a Protestant theologian, someone who studies religion.
Berger was especially known for his work on the "sociology of knowledge". This field looks at how our ideas and beliefs are shaped by the society we live in. He also studied the sociology of religion, how societies change over time (modernization), and contributed to big ideas in sociology.
One of his most famous books is The Social Construction of Reality, which he wrote with Thomas Luckmann in 1966. This book is considered very important in understanding how our shared ideas and beliefs are built by society. In fact, in 1998, a big group of sociologists called it one of the most important sociology books of the 20th century.
Other books by Berger include Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective (1963) and A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural (1969). He taught at several universities, including The New School for Social Research, Rutgers University, and Boston University.
Contents
Peter Berger's Life Story
Early Life and Family
Peter Ludwig Berger was born in Vienna, Austria, on March 17, 1929. His parents, George William and Jelka (Loew) Berger, were Jewish but had converted to Christianity. After World War II, in 1946, Peter moved to the United States when he was 17. He became an American citizen in 1952.
Peter Berger passed away on June 27, 2017, at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, after being ill for a while.
On September 28, 1959, he married Brigitte Kellner. She was also a well-known sociologist. Brigitte taught at Wellesley College and Boston University. She focused on how families change in modern society. Brigitte Kellner Berger died on May 28, 2015.
Peter and Brigitte had two sons. Their son, Thomas Ulrich Berger, is also a scholar. He studies international relations at Boston University.
Education and Career Path
After the Nazis took over Austria in 1938, Peter and his family moved to Palestine, which was then controlled by the British. He went to a British high school there. During German bombings, he was moved to Mount Carmel, where he became very interested in religion.
In 1947, Berger and his family moved again, this time to New York City in the United States. He went to Wagner College for his first degree. Then, he earned his master's and PhD degrees from The New School for Social Research in New York in 1954.
Berger once called himself an "accidental sociologist." He first enrolled in sociology classes to learn about American society and to help him become a Lutheran minister. He learned from a famous teacher named Alfred Schütz.
After his studies, Berger worked at a place called Evangelische Akademie in West Germany. He then became a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Hartford Theological Seminary. Later, he taught at the New School for Social Research, Rutgers University, and Boston College. From 1981 until he retired in 2009, he was a professor at Boston University.
In 1985, he started an institute called the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture. This institute later became the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA). It is now part of the Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies. Berger was the director of CURA from 1985 to 2010.
About CURA: Culture, Religion, and World Affairs
The Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA) was founded by Peter Berger in 1985. It is a major center for studying how religion and culture affect the world.
CURA explores big questions like:
- How do religious beliefs and values influence politics, money, and public behavior around the globe?
- Why have religious groups become more powerful worldwide, even though some people thought they would become less important?
- In a world with many different religions, how does the rise of public religion affect how people live together, democracy, and being a good citizen?
CURA works on many projects in different countries, trying to find answers to these important questions.
Peter Berger's Religious Views
Peter Berger was a moderate Christian who followed the Lutheran faith. His work often explored how religion, the idea of a less religious society (secularization), and modern life connect. He believed in studying society in a "value-free" way. This means trying to understand things as they are, without letting personal opinions or beliefs get in the way.
Key Ideas and Influences
Max Weber's Impact on Berger's Thinking
Peter Berger was greatly influenced by the ideas of another famous sociologist named Max Weber. Weber studied how people act and how societies become more organized and logical (rationalization).
Berger also looked at how modern societies become more rational. He explored how this affects the choices people have in their lives. Weber believed that capitalism, our economic system, grew partly from the Protestant work ethic. This idea suggested that hard work and saving money were good things. Berger built on this by studying how losing religious foundations can change how people see the meaning of life.
Humanistic Perspective
Berger's own experiences also shaped his views. When he taught in North Carolina in the 1950s, he saw how much prejudice existed in the Southern culture of that time. This experience helped him develop his "humanistic perspective." This way of thinking aims to understand how certain ideas and beliefs can lead to unfairness or discrimination.
Awards and Recognitions
Peter Berger received many honors for his important work.
- In 1982, he was chosen as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- He received honorary doctorates from several universities, including Loyola University, Wagner College, and the University of Notre Dame.
- He was also an honorary member of many scientific groups.
- In 2010, he was given the Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize by the University of Tübingen in Germany.
Major Books by Peter Berger
- The Precarious Vision: A Sociologist Looks at Social Fictions and Christian Faith (1961)
- The Noise of Solemn Assemblies (1961)
- Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective (1963)
- The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (1966) with Thomas Luckmann
- The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (1967)
- A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural (1969)
- Movement and Revolution (1970) with Richard John Neuhaus
- Sociology (1972) with Brigitte Berger
- The Homeless Mind: Modernization and Consciousness (1973) with Brigitte Berger and Hansfried Kellner
- Pyramids of Sacrifice: Political Ethics and Social Change (1974)
- Facing Up to Modernity: Excursions in Society, Politics and Religion (1979)
- The Heretical Imperative: Contemporary Possibilities of Religious Affirmation (1979)
- Sociology Reinterpreted (1981) with Hansfried Kellner
- The Other Side of God: A Polarity in World Religions (editor, 1981)
- The War Over the Family: Capturing the Middle Ground (1983) with Brigitte Berger
- The Capitalist Revolution (1986)
- The Capitalist Spirit: Toward a Religious Ethic of Wealth Creation (editor, 1990)
- A Far Glory: The Quest for Faith in an Age of Credulity (1992)
- Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience (1997)
- Four Faces of Global Culture (1997)
- The Limits of Social Cohesion: Conflict and Mediation in Pluralist Societies (1998)
- The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics (editor, 1999)
- Peter Berger and the Study of Religion (edited by Linda Woodhead et al., 2001)
- Many Globalizations: Cultural Diversity in the Contemporary World (2002) with Samuel P. Huntington
- Questions of Faith: A Skeptical Affirmation of Christianity (2003)
- Religious America, Secular Europe? (2008) with Grace Davie and Effie Fokas
- In Praise of Doubt: How to Have Convictions Without Becoming a Fanatic (2009) with Anton Zijderveld
- Dialogue Between Religious Traditions in an Age of Relativity (2011)
- The Many Altars of Modernity. Towards a Paradigm for Religion in a Pluralist Age (2014)
- Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore (2011)
See also
In Spanish: Peter L. Berger para niños
