Bio: (1901-1977) American philosopher. Herberg studied at City College in New York, but never finished his bachelor's degree.

His early writings supported the labor movement and advocated for Marxism and Leninism. Later, he rejected left ideology and embraced conservatism and the idea that human nature is innately sinful. His books The Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr (1950) and Judaism and Modern Man (1951) were theological studies. In Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology (1955), Herberg contends that successive waves of immigrants to the United States were incorporated into a broader national community—often described as “the American Way of Life.” This overarching framework supplied a shared value system within which the three major religions functioned as distinct branches. While they differentiated believers along denominational lines, they did not fracture the common moral foundation grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Main works

The Heritage of the Civil War (1932);

Dialectical Materialism (1933);

Historical Materialism (1933);

The NRA and American Labor (1933);

Theoretical System of Leninism (1934);

Outline for the Study of Dialectical Materialism and the Life of Man (1935);

Foundations of Marxism: Study Outline (1936);

Marxism and Modern Political Thought (1936);

The CIO, Labor's New Challenge (1937);

Bureaucracy and Democracy in Labor Unions (1947);

The Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr (1950);

Judaism and Modern Man (1951);

Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology (1955);

Jewish Labor in the US: Its History and Contributions to American Life (1955).