I 4 T 1c ciC Tl5I L ' $USD.AY, JANUARY 15, 1950 4i-®1"J IGOR & COSMIC SCOPE: Prof. Frankena Calls for Synthesis in Philosophy Prof. White Predicts An c - -- - By PROF. WILLIAM FRANKENA Philosophy Department PHILOSOPHY at the opening of the century was, on the whole, done or attempted in the grand manner which, one hopes, is its native genius. It, was, on the .one hand, speculative, seeking to work out an adequate and systematic conception of the universe as a whole in all its aspects; and it was, on the other hand, normative, seeking to discover or lay down some pattern, principle, or goal by which man, whether as an indi- vidual or as a group, may direct his conduct. Usually it took an ideal- istic form, as it did in the writings ofF. H. Bradley and Josiah Royce. To some extent, this sort of philo- sophizing was carried on into the century, though not always on idealistic lines, by the older gener- ation of philosophers, now gradu- ally and regrettably passing from the sene, for example, by Bergson, Santayana, and Whitehead. BUT THE main shift of twentieth century philosophy in Britain and America at any rate, has been in another direction. It was felt by some that philosophy must be more thoroughly subjected to the tests of empirical science and practical utility than it had been; and by others that it should be much more careful to avoid ob- scurity and unwarranted infer- ences. The first group, called prag- matists and led by John Dewey, proceeded to declare war on meta- physics and speculative philosophy and confined themselves essential- ly to the normative problem of guiding practice, especially social practice. The second group, called analytical philosophers and led by such Inen. as Moore, Russell, Witt- genstein, Lewis, and Carnap, vary- ing in opinion from realists to positivists, went, .in a way, even farther. Interested in clarity and rigor, and conceiving of the vari- ous sciences as our only sources of information about the universe, they sought to limit philosophy to methodology and the analysis of meaning. Thus they too condemn- ed or at least eschewed speculative philosophy. But, though some of them, like Russell and R .B. Perry, wrote normatively on the problems of conduct and society, most of them were of the opinion that, as philosophers, they should concern themselves with those topics in ethics and social philosophy only which come under the heading of analysis and methodology. These .men, therefore, including large ndmbers of the abler of our young philosophers, came to lay off also the normative role of guiding hu- man action. Their typical products have been studies in logic, seman- tics, analysis; occasionally a ven- turesome soul has published a book in the theory of knowledge or ev- en in ethical theory. There are, of course, various factors which have contributed to this development: a quite legiti- mate concern for greater clarity and rigor, stimulated by the re- markable advances made in logic and mathematics; the great im- pact of science, especially the phy- sical, but also the social sciences; a frank recognition of the difficulty, contingent upon the great progress made in science and technology, of knowing enough to do specu- lative and normative philosophy; the disillusion and uncertainty re- sulting from political and inter- national developments. These fac- tors presumably still operate and1 will continue to do so. However, if it is the native genius of philo- sophy to approximate the grand manner, one may hope that the pendulum will nevertheless swing back. ** * FOR ONE CANNOT but feel that the older sort of philosophy had an imaginativeness, a profun- dity, a richness-a greatness, if you will-which is wanting in the works of most of the pragmatists and analysts. Thus, as one of the latter himself admits, "in the case of nearly all (analysts) there is an unfortunate disparity between the richness of their technique and the increasing poverty of the ma- terial on which they are able to exercise it." At the same time, one must appreciate the analyses and the contributions to clarity, rigor, and practical application 'which have. been and are being made by the analysts and pragmatists, and pray that these gains may not be lost if the pendulum swings back. Whathis to be desired, then, is a synthesis-a philosophy in the grand manner which shall incor- porate the results of recent analy- tical and methodological studies, which shall have the clarity, rigor, and usefulness so much insisted on of late, but which shall also have the cosmic scope and normative wisdom sought for earlier in the century. Unhappily no new philosophy of this kind is as yet visible on the horizon. But perhaps there are some signs that it may come. There is, for one thing, a revival of interest in philosophy, conceiv- ed in the grand manner, in edu- cational circles, fostered by the events and developments of the last decade or two. These develop- ments have also convinced many philosophers of the need of the democraies for a world-and-life view to rival those of their foes and to serve as a guide to their policies. Accompanying t h e m, there has been something of a re- naissance of religious conviction; this may help to reawaken the im- pulse to build a comprehensive and systematic philosophy. But so too should the advances made by the sciences; in the past such ad- vances have stimulated cosmolo- gical speculation of a high order, and we may expect that they will again in the not distant future. Have not scientists themselves been driven lately to think more and more responsibly about the implications and the applications of their methods and of their dis- coveries? * * * HE GREAT BOOM which aes- thetics is experiencing at pre- sent among philosophers and lit- erary critics in this country is >ossibly a sign in the right direc- tion. Then there is existentialism which has so caught the public eye. British and American philo- sophers find it difficult to believe that this is not a philosophy to end philosophy, but it may per- chance be that out of the eater shall come forth meat and out of the sour sweetness, if I may per- vert a Biblical text. It is, at any rate in part, a reaction or coun- terweight to analysis and pragma- tism, and it may work as an ir- ritant to spur philosophers on to elaborate something less extreme and one-sided than it offers on the one side and they on the other. Perhaps, then, if political con- ditions do not forbid, we may ex- pect that philosophy, having more professional practitioners than ev- er before and the tools, materials, and incentives for greater achieve- ments than it has yet known, will produce during the second half of this century such a synthesis as I have described. If so, then in addi- tion to the pontiffs and the jour- neymen somewhat disparagingly distinguished by the analyst al- ready quoted, we shall have-true wise men. But possibly I am being simply too speculative and norma- tive for words. E L By PROF. LESLIE A. WHITE Anthropology Department WHAT anthropology or any oth- er science will undertake and achieve during the next fifty years will depend upon a number of things. It will depend, in the first place, upon a continuation of civ- ilization in something like its present form. Whether cvilzatio will survive the series of world wars through which it is now pass- ing is an open question at the present time. We shave been as- sured repeatedly by eminent sci- entists that civilization now poss- esses means and techniques quite capable of destroying itself. Whe- ther this is a valid appraisal o the destructive and lethal power of atomic bombs, radioactive clouds, guided missiles, bacterio- logical warfare, or ot, remains o course to be seen. Many if not most of the significant facts, i.e. the details of techniques, measure- ments of numbers, magnitudes and velocities, etc., are closely guarded secrets today and hence are not available for purposes o prediction. Of two things, how- ever, we may be sure: that ano- ther war will come, and that it will be destructive beyond any- thing known thus far. All of the forces that brought the first twc world wars into being are at worl today, and, if anything, in accent- uated form; and no new factor has appeared to neutralize the war-making factors. To assume therefore, that another global conflict can somehow be avoided or averted is to abandon a realis- tic appraisal of facts for a refuge of desperate hope and illusion. The alternatives of the future are the destruction of civilizatior on the one hand, or the achieve- ment of a single socio-political or- ganization that would embrace the whole earth and the entire human race. At least, this esti- mate of the future seems reason- able on the basis of the knowledge and understanding of a millior years of cultural development thai anthropology has to offer. Whe- ther either of these alternative objectives will be achieved as a consequence of one more worl war or not remains to be seen The next conflict mnay end in a stalemate, to be followed by a period of recuperation and ano- ther war. But it seems more rea- sonable to suppose that one o these two objectives-world or- ganization or world desolation- will be reached eventually than t assume that international war- fare will continue indefinitely. * * * - WHATEVER happens during the next fifty years, the fate of anthropology, and of all science, its promise and achievement, are de- pendent upon war and its after- math. If civilization is destroyec then it will be destroyed; we know of no guarantee, cosmic orterres- trial, of man's security and wel- fare-or even permanence. Pend- ing the next test of strength ir the international military arena anthropology, like other sciences will be powerfully affected by the "magnetic field" of this Darwiniar struggle among nations. Within it own province science is a search for truth, a quest for understand- ing. But in the midst of a life anc death struggle among nations, sci- ence loses its independence; it be- comes an instrument of attack anc defense, a military weapon. We have seen science subordinated tc the exigencies of national survival in the past, and we may confi- dently expect it to be repeated ir the future. No nation can afforc not to avail itself of any means al its disposal when its life is a stake. The social sciences ar especially vulnerable in this res- pect, although biology and ever physics are not immune by any means. The "search for truth" be comes channelled along "part3 lines":--and every nation has, as of course it must, a "party line" ir the sense of a point of view and ar -1 ideology most consonant with its own success and survival in the struggle for existence. Social sci- ence tends to constitute a valida- tion of a particular "way of life," a particular kind of social system. In times of crisis this tendency be- comes a necessity, and science be- comes but a weapon in the arsen- al of democracy or some kind of -ism. Already the social science of the world is divided along na- tional or political lines, and we may expect the cleavage to grow as the world crisis deepens. Sci- ence has entered the service of Mars. * * * WHAT anthropology will under- take and achieve duringthe next fifty years depends upon the total world situation in which the overriding factor is War. To dis- cuss the future of anthropology apart from this context would be so unrealistic as to be all but meaningless. But anthropology as a field of scientific endeavor and inquiry does have a program and objectives. If it were allowed free- ly to pursue its own course during the next half-century its agenda would include the following: In PHYSICAL ANTHROPOL- OGY-the study of man as an animal rather than as a human being and culture builder-there is an extensive program. Despite the great progress of recent dec- ades, much remains to be done in the quest of human origins, the search for fossil man. Many reg- ions of the world are still unex- plored from this point of view. The next fifty years could do much toward the completion of the fossil record 'of man's develop- ment. This has been a goal and aspiration of anthropology for a long time, and is still one of its chief objectives. Physical anthro- pology is engaged also in a variety of studies of living races. In this respect it closely resembles its sis- ter sciences of anatomy, phyiol- ogy, genetics, etc., but, a consider- ation of racial differences within the human species, as well as a recognition of man's anthropoid forebears and evolutionary devel- opment, give physical anthropol- ogy a distinct focus of its own. ARCHEOLOGY, the study of extinct cultures, is one of the principal subdivisions of anthro- pology. For many decades arche- ologists have been busily engaged in recoyering the fragments of by- gone cultures in all parts of the world and in trying to piece them together, like a gigantic three- dimensional jig-saw puzzle, to make a coherent and comprehen- sive story of human civilization or culture. Much exploration and ex- cavation is still needed in all of the large land areas of the world, and after excavation must come interpretation and synthesis. The culture history of the world is to- day like a book from which num- erous pages, or even chapters, have been torn at random. The next fifty years should do much to fill in these gaps and to complete the record of the past. * * * ETHNOLOGY, the study of liv- ing cultures, is another major subdivision of anthropology. In the past the ethnologist has been concerned amost exclusively with preliterate peoples and cultures, and much work in this area still remains to be done. There are many tribes in Melanesia, South America, Meso-America, Africa, and elsewhere that need to be thropology studied. And with the rapid ad- vance of western civilization these primitive cultures are either becoming extinct or are losing their identity. The need to send out, ethnologists to these primi- tive tribes to record their cultures before they disappear is very ur- gent indeed. But social anthropol- ogy is not limited to the study of preliterate cultures. More and more today the analysis and in- terpretation of modern, literate cultures is being undertaken. N THE BASIS of the findings of physical anthropology, ar- cheology, and ethnology, the an- thropologist is working out a gen- eral and comprehensive theory of man acid culture. He has as his ield of study the entire planet, all of the genera and species- both living and fossil-of mon - '.eys, apes, and men, and all of the cultures of mankind that have existed since their beginning, a million years or so ago. A great deal of information from all of these sources is available at the present time and much more will undoubtedly be added in the dec- ades to come. But it is not the mere facts that count, but rather their meaning and significance, and it is here that anthropologists will probably make their mrst significant contributions in the future. On the basis of what is al- ready known about the past and our understanding of the past and present, anthropologists have al- ready been able to make some generalizations of value and sig- nificance. Some of the funda- mental principles of cultural de- velopment have been discovered and some of its laws formulated. Even now some reasonable pre- dictions about the immediate fu- ture can be made. Anthropology has done much also to clarify the relationship be- tween man and culture, and to demonstrate that the latter changes and grows in terms of its own principles and laws rather than in response to man's wish and will. If anthropology is al- lored to develop freely and folly as a science in the next half cen- t'ury instead of being subordin- ated to the exigencies of national survival, it may be expected to produce much greater results than it has to date. It seems quite reasonable to believe that it will be able to make predictions of sufficient reliability so that they may be used as guides to conduct in all aspects of our life, philoso- phical as well as technological, *:thical 4s well as economic. -. Need 'Liberal World State,' Slosson Says Next 50 Years 'Up to Ourselves' By PROF. PRESTON SLOSSON History Department MANKIND is at the cross-roads. That is nothing new; it is true in each generation. The very tragic history of the last fifty years, for instance, might well have been a story of peace and progress if certain governments had made different decisions in 1914, 1939 and sundry other criti- cal moments. So the next fifty years, as men shall decide may be paradise, inferno or purgatory. But, if put to a guess, I would say purgaory. Things a r e seldom either the best or the worst pos- sible. The worst need not detain us long. I do not have to describe it; it has been done already by George Orwell in his book Nine- teen Eighty-Four, a nightmare of an omnipotent tyranny. Whether that tyranny calls itself com- munist, fascist or something new matters not; the essential evil is the chaining of the inquiring hu- man mind. Fortunately, as both world wars have shown, dictator- ship it not a strong form of gov- ernment but a very weak one; weak because it is lacking in self- criticism destroyed by censor- ship, and in personal initiative, destroyed by regimentation.. The next worst fate would be a series of destructive world wars, wreck- ing the health and wealth of the world and returning us to pover- ty and ignorance instead of the simpler backwardness and illiter- acy of 500 to 1100 A. D. The best would be a liberal world state It is an exasperating fact that nothing whatever stands between us and that, possibility except lack of will. All problems of organizing a world government, granted good will, are easily sol- uble. Switzerland has shown that differences in language and reli- gious faith do not necessarily hamper the growth of a federal union. Even great differences of race and culture need not pre- vent union, as is proved by the wide variety of peoples now liv- ing with in the British Common- wealth of Nations. Practical prob- lems, such as representation, im- migration, trade, and differing local economic systems (capital- ism in America, socialism in Bri- tain, communism in Russia) can (Continued on Page 3) By PROF. KENNETH ROWE English Department MID-CENTURY might have ar- rived without any apparent new trend for drama in the Unit- ed States. Actually certain new directions or increased impetus to old directions seem, within my observation, to have been mani- fest in the theatre during the past five years since the war to a de- gree that gives some basis for prediction. The future of American drama will be determined by the general public, by the educated and thea- tre-interested people who consti- tute the governing boards and play-reading committees of com- munity theatres, and by the uni- versities which furnish the back- ground of community theatre in- terest and training for these peo- ple. In the twenty years preced- ing the war there were three fresh creative impulses in American drama, in the twenties^theart drama, often somewhat esoteric and precious, of the Little Thea- tre movement, and the folk-drama movement; and in the thirties, the proletarian drama. All of these movements arose outside the commercial theatre and all have flowed into the commercial theatre, both broadening that theatre and being broadened by it. The new movement is less spe- cialized, less theoretical, general- ly more varied and representative of the American people, than the earlier movements, and has aris- en out of again a constriction of the commercial theatre together with some dynamic impulse in our time harmonious with drama as a form. As the vitality of dramat- ic writing in this counry in num- ber and varied character of plays has become increasingly dispro- portionate to the.scope of produc- tion offered by the commercial theatre in New York, community and university theatres are turn- ing increasingly to the production of new plays. While the number of new plays other than musicals opening on Broadway in a season has declined from a peak of around two hundred in the twen- ties to well under fifty since the war, the productions of new *cripts by community and university theatres listed for last year in the news bulletins of the American National Theatre and Academy, American Educational Theatre As- sociation, and National Theatre Conference has run into the hun- dreds. The demand of the present growing into the future of Ameri- can theatre is for creative direc- tors, stage designers, and actors who can not only reproduce the plays of previous production, re- putation, and critical. analysis, but can' effectively approach a new script. What this trend may do for the interest and character of non-commercial theatre programs and the significant development of American drama in stimulus and experience for writers de- pends not only upon the growing creative spirit of audiences who would rather venture upon the untried merits of new plays than go relaxedly to the supposedly predetermined success, but upon the training of an adequate num- ber of people who can read a manuscript play with sound judg- ment and confidence for selec- tion for production. THE TWENTIETH century las been characterized by a pro- gression toward a theatre of vari- ety and freedom of form and con- tent. Successive modern move- ments, realism, naturalism, sym- bolism, expressionism, construc- tivism, and the - conventions of theatres of past times and remote places have been absorbed into the stream of drama. Even with our old playhouses inherited in design from the rigid and limited theatre of nineteenth-century realism, the twentieth-century theatre has already become by modern staging and lighting the most flexible and varied theatre as a physical medium that has ever existed. The result is a grow- ing theatre of interaction between release of new content by flexi- bility of means of expression, and creation of new form out of new content to be expressed. The pro- cess is currently active with every indication that the present char- acter of a drama of variety and freedom will be realized more fully in the theatre of the future.In the past season in New York what could have appeared to be im- practicably cumbersome historical dramas, Maxwell Anderson's Anne of the Thousand Days (fiftkun (Continued on Page 3) RILEY'S CAPITOL F MARKET Your One-Stop Shopping Center B Beer -- Wine -- Liquor Mixers - Soft Drinks Groceries - Meats Fruits - Vegetables Drug Sundries 0 Open 9 A.M. - 1 A.M. Delivery Phone 2-31 11 Rowe Sees Decentralized Theatre in Next 50 Years I ?t Religion. ® " (Continued from Page 1) Religion is significant in the life of a community or nation, he said, "when it permeates activi- ties of importance to these groups." "Judging from indirect evidence neither among Protestants nor Catholics has religion become more significant in this country since 1900." Prof. Newcomb thought that "one issue of importance in hte next 50 years is whether religious influences are to provide support for or opposition to our democratic institutions." * * * IN RUSSIA, religion, which ac- cording to Prof. Lobanov-Rostov- (Continued on Page 4) Glamorous for you Very, Very New 1950 J-Hop Formal " r ' 113s li. 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