H.G. Stoker as student - die wysgerige denkklimaat en akademiese wisselwerking met Scheler en Buytendijk

Abstract

This article represents an indispensable part of the total corpus of this issue. It contains a transcription of the letters of H.G. Stoker to F.J.J. Buytendijk, annotated by Arnold Beijk and further illuminated and commented on by Theo van der Merwe. This kind of archival material is of immense value in developing a comprehensive vision and overview of H.G. Stoker’s work not only for the more casual reader, but more particularly for the serious scholar who can find solid academic support in these documents for assumptions made about Stoker's work. Stoker’s creative and illuminating personal style of thinking and writing is well demonstrated here. The letters reveal very strikingly the course o f the academic interaction between Stoker and Buytendijk about his study on conscience which he was conducting under the guidance of Max Scheler. The material also provides fascinating incidental material about Stoker's vision of the country and its universities, more particularly the University of Potchefstroom, at the time. His perspective on his own academic ideals comes out well and ties in with considerations drawn from the European milieu.