German-born American philosopher, professor, and scholar, known for his book, Symbol and Metaphor in Human Experience (1949). His work has been cited as “far-reaching,” “seminal,” and “ahead of its time.” In the academic treatise, The Faces of Reason: An Essay on Philosophy and Culture in English Canada, 1850-1950, authors Leslie Armour and Elizabeth Trott state that Martin Foss may be considered a greater philosopher than Martin Heidegger. Although Heidegger has clearly had far greater recognition and impact, Martin Foss’s work deserves renewed attention.
Foss was considered to be an Aristotelian philosopher. He was a student of Max Scheler, whose works had a significant influence on his ideas about ethics, value and love. Martin Foss’s work deals with the “large” issues of life—love, death, and creative rebirth. His writings on art and creative process are particularly noteworthy, offering a missing perspective in that genre. Foss’s perspective on Greek tragedy is important and unprecedented. His views on tragedy as religious drama give new meaning to the word “religion.”
In Berlin, he married Hilde Schindler, and they had two children, Oliver Foss, a painter, and the composer Lukas Foss. The Jewish family left Germany in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came into power, and for the next four years Martin Fuchs commuted secretly between Paris and Berlin. With the help of the Quaker community in the United States, the family was able to immigrate to the USA in 1937. The Quakers provided initial shelter for the family and advised Martin to change the family name from Fuchs to Foss. He subsequently became an American citizen. He taught philosophy at Haverford College, where he retired as professor emeritus, as well as at Temple University. He died of a heart attack on 11 June 1969 at the age of 80, while he was running to catch a plane at Heathrow Airport.

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