Marcuse here returns to themes which he has discussed elsewhere: the prospects for revolution, the problem of generating liberatory sensual needs, and the subversive character of art. Of the book’s two principal essays, the first—"The Left under Counterrevolution"—attempts "only to focus the prospects for radical change in the United States." As a critique, the essay presents in highly schematic form the argument of One-Dimensional Man: the peculiar dialectic of expanding oppression and enlarged possibilities for liberation. Marcuse attempts to specify his (...) critique in a discussion of the New Left, a discussion which he admits to be "highly tentative and fragmentary." As in the insistence upon theory and upon the "essentially intellectual" character of the contemporary Left, the essay is often provocative; but its overall effect is too schematic and fragmentary, as questions calling for detailed analysis, such as the problematic relevance of Marxist "class" ideology, are dealt with in summary fashion. However, the other major essay "Art and Revolution," focusing upon the cultural revolution, provides a lucid and precise account of Marcuse’s aesthetic theory. Through his interpretation of "the aesthetic form," Marcuse can unpack the political dimension of the imagination, without reducing artistic relevance to propaganda. Retaining an essential alienation from the established order, "art can express its radical potential only as art." There is no question of art collapsing into reality, even the reality of a revolutionary epoch; rather, while maintaining the integrity of the aesthetic form, art acts as an imaginative lure towards social progress. Finally, Counterrevolution and Revolt may satisfy few readers, but should challenge many to raise new questions—which is, after all, a central function of critical theory.—D. F. D. (shrink)

The authors seek to bring clarity to the concepts of education and teaching. It is assumed throughout that a narrowly intellectualist interpretation of education will provide this conceptual clarity. The opening chapters focus on teaching as a role, an aim-activity and a set of skills. "The intrinsic aim of the teacher is education," which is in turn defined as "the cultivation of the mind, or theoretical reason, and the transmission of culture." Emphasis here falls on the distinction between knowing that (...) and knowing how, and on the educated man’s ability to give a critical account of his beliefs and aesthetic judgments. Succeeding chapters discuss the intrinsic and extrinsic aims of education. The authors give qualified assent to the intuitive claim that education is desirable in itself, and present a "redescription" of this claim in terms of "the realization of the theoretical aspect of the self." Among the extrinsic aims, relevance to moral conduct and the social good are emphasized. The concluding chapters discuss the "role" of the teacher as "a set of rights and duties," and trace the implications of this position for personal relations between teacher and pupil. Among the issues discussed here are the following: the teacher’s responsibilities to his employer, pupils, subject area, and society; a Kantian doctrine of personalism and tolerance; and the limits of friendship between teacher and student. A postscript and index complete the volume. (shrink)

The author describes his work as "an attempt to systematically re-think philosophy out of its original beginning and most fundamental perspective: the primordial phenomenon of wonder." Relying heavily upon the existential and phenomenological traditions, Boelen focusses upon wonder as the locus for the "dialectical self-manifestation of Being"; with this as his foundation, Boelen establishes the necessarily circular character of philosophical reflection, as rooted in wonder and recurring back upon its original data. The theory involved is further specified in analyses of (...) the aesthetic phenomenon, ethical existence, and existential loving. Throughout is evidenced a concern that philosophy and psychology work together in the reflective approach the primordial phenomena of human existence. Militantly anti-"scientistic." Although stylistically weak at times, Existential Thinking is nonetheless a useful and suggestive work; it is, to use one of the highest praises in Boelen's terminology, a beginning--and that in the two-fold sense of exploring the origins of philosophical reflection, and of indicating directions for fuller, more detailed reflection.--D. F. D. (shrink)

Hall seeks to develop "a theory of culture through the analogical extension of certain of Whitehead’s concepts and theories." His concern in this essay is not simply to systematize Whitehead’s remarks about cultural history, but rather to elaborate a comprehensive philosophy of culture in the light of his metaphysical structures. Hall accordingly presents a brief and adequate summary of Whitehead’s metaphysical scheme in terms of its "primary analogate" in the aesthetic event, and then proceeds to explicate the cultural theme throughout (...) Whitehead’s writings. By means of careful, detailed analyses, Hall establishes the coordination between metaphysical and cultural issues, such as that between an "actual occasion’s" subjective aim towards satisfaction and a civilization’s quest to achieve its characteristic "cultural aims" or values. He further argues for a nonreductive relation among the various "cultural interests" in terms of their divergent modes of abstraction from the concrete matrix of experience. (shrink)

In this "essay in systematic philosophy," Neville takes on an ambitious project: the integration of the personal and social dimensions of freedom in terms of an "axiological cosmology." The introductory chapters which sketch this cosmology and value theory owe much to a careful and critical reading of Whitehead and Plato. The succeeding discussion of personal freedom culminates in the pivotal notion of creativity: "Personal freedom is creative activity in the environment of the given world." Consequently, freedom can be limited neither (...) to external liberty, nor to intentional action, nor to free choice; rather, these modes of freedom find their actual unity in creative activity and its achievement of value. (shrink)

Theodore Parker was among the American Transcendentalists who flourished prior to the Civil War. A lecturer and Unitarian minister, Parker was also a social reformer and an articulate critic of American culture. Collins’ selections from Parker’s writings reflect the breadth of his concerns. The selections include the complete texts of "Transcendentalism," "A Discourse of the Transient and Permanent in Christianity," "The Position and Duties of the American Scholar," "The Political Destination of America and the Signs of the Times," "The Writings (...) of Ralph Waldo Emerson," and "A Sermon of War.". (shrink)

In contrast with Ford’s essay, David R. Griffin presents a catalogue of the differences between the two philosophers from a "Hartshornian" perspective. Strangely, perhaps the least helpful contribution comes from Hartshorne himself, whose "Ideas and Theses of Process Philosophers" is simply a highly schematic outline. Completing the volume are essays by William O’Meara on Hartshorne’s methodology, and by Frederic Frost on relativity theory and Hartshorne’s dipolar conception of God. In general, the book suffers from repetition; many of the same issues (...) recur in the essays, at times with significantly different interpretations, but frequently with only the slightest modification of accent. While its flaws cannot be ignored, Two Process Philosophers does possess the virtue of focusing upon the genuine diversity within the tradition of process philosophy.-D.F.D. (shrink)

The Unifying Moment provides a fine comparative study of Whitehead and James. Eisendrath expresses the presupposition of his effort in noting "a fruitful complementarity" between his subjects: "Whitehead is highly abstract and needs the exemplification which reference to James can provide. Conversely, Whitehead can be used to show the full sweep of general application implicit in James’s ideas." The core of Eisendrath’s analysis lies in creativity and in the ‘aesthetic’ bias shared by Whitehead and James; experience is feeling, appetition and (...) advance into novelty. There are indeed problems in the analogy between personality and atomic concrescence, since from a Whiteheadian perspective personality is a complex ’society', not a simple concrescence. Yet the analogy works, because Eisendrath is aware of the disparity, and because it serves to illuminate the anthropomorphic tendency in Whitehead. The book is at its strongest in dealing directly with issues of epistemology and psychology, where Eisendrath also displays a firm grasp of the early history of psychology. Less satisfying are some of the approaches to larger issues, such as the discussions of God and civilization. Throughout, there is the stylistic flaw, perhaps inevitable in a comparative study, of lengthy textual citation and explication; while thus documenting his position, Eisendrath at times lets the documentation obscure his argument. The notes and index are both extensive and helpful.—D. F. D. (shrink)