Much as he considered himself a philosopher, Morris Raphael Cohen was also immersed in the machinery of social life. From his first years of "engagement" as a volunteer teacher in Thomas Davidson's school for working-class people, to his last as professor of philosophy at New York's City College and at the University of Chicago, he constantly sought to understand the underlying assumptions of human behavior. The studies Cohen gathered together for Reflections of a Wondering Jew are an indication of representative (...) achievements of his life. He was deeply involved in the experience of the American Jewish community, and much of his work here consists of an inquiry into and analysis of specifically Jewish affairs. Some of his most valuable contributions to American thought and maturity are those that were never included in standard philosophical efforts. His work and scholarship provide foundations for the field of human problems and the history of ideas. These lectures illuminated the way forward in so many of our crisis years. There is a certain tragedy to the fact that for many decades Morris Raphael Cohen had hoped to organize and put into systematic form his literary reflections on Jewish problems and American liberalism. Towards the end of his life, he faced the realization that many of his intended writings would never reach fruition. Though this volume may not be quite what Cohen intended, it is a product of a mature giant in American intellectual history. (shrink)

There is an historical element throughout philosophy. As Edel notes, this is always in the context of problems, so emphasis will fall on the major objective of reflective analysis of ideas. The major objective of Edel's analysis in The Theory and Practice of Philosophy is the fundamental interrelatedness of problems of method, metaphysics, and value. Each part is an integral whole, complete in itself. That philosophy has this central role in human practice indicates that it should be neither discarded nor (...) deified. This is the explicit premise of the book. Students are likely to be faced increasingly with a demand for clarification on the fundamental issues of life and value. The expectation that philosophy will provide ready-made answers to these kinds of questions is as naive as the demand for any panacea, but this task cannot be turned over to any other department of human knowledge or any other branch of social activity. By placing emphasis on the importance of theory in matters of practice, the need for clear and systematic understanding of the world and man within it, and on the constant role of reflection in the management of human affairs, Edel seeks to shed light on the larger questions of philosophy by examining them in a systematic way. The result is a great text and tool for students and teachers that deals directly with the fundamental issues of our civilization. (shrink)

This volume, modeled after those published in The Library of Living Philosophers, attempts to provide a coherent statement of the work of Abraham Edel in moral and political theory, and on the impact of his work on such diverse areas as education, law, and social science. The methodological element of Edel's work is to see ethical and social theory in the full context of human life; specifically how twentieth-century modes of analysis impact classical concerns about right and wrong, good and (...) evil. The volume is tightly integrated from start to finish, and has the benefit of Edel's thoughtful and thoroughgoing response to critics. In short, while this work is a tribute to the work of a scholar, it aims to serve as a basic guide through the labyrinthian world of contemporary ethical theory and social practice. Contents: Beryl Harold Levy, "Reflective Culture as Philosophy of Law"; Betty A. Sichel, "Abraham Edel's Contribution to Philosophy of Education"; Gerald E. Myers, "Person and Personality--and Respect for Both"; Mihailo Markovic, "Abraham Edel on the Method of Ethical Theory"; Helen Block Lewis, "Consequences for Ethical Theory of a Focus on the Psychology of Shame and Guilt"; Edmund L. Pincoffs, "Ethics as an Explanatory Undertaking"; Standish Thayer, "The Network of Concepts: A New View of Aristotle"; Mortimer R. Kadish, "Abraham Edel and the Dream of Science"; Michael Levin, "Reflections on Non-Cognitivism"; Ralph W. Sleeper, "Naturalizing Legal Positivism"; Irving Louis Horowitz, "The Political Philosophy of Abraham Edel"; Finbarr W. O'Connor, "Network Analysis in Ethics"; Elizabeth Flower, "A Moral Agenda for Ethical Theory"; Abraham Edel, "Responses to Critics"; "An Edel Bibliography.". (shrink)

This is an excursion into the sociology of American sociology. It is an attempt to present a typology of the relationship between sociological empiricism as an ideology, and the pre?eminence and power of empiricist sociologists. Toward this end, such concrete factors as recruitment practices, educational orientations, status strivings of the social scientists, forms of financial subsidization, and the profes?sionalization of the field are taken into account. The article concludes by noting the limited field of investigations open to sociological empiricism, and (...) its general impoverishment as the leading ideology of the science of sociology. (shrink)

This essay explores several facets of current debates about globalization: especially the role of American national culture in defining the issue of international outreach; and the examination of specific dimensions of globalism—standardization of technology, rationalization of the international monetary system, evaluation and measurement of performance. Once issues are examined in empirical rather than ideological terms, it is clear that advantages accrue to those societies capable of product innovation and satisfaction of mass needs, rather than those that resort to threat, force (...) or coercion. The age of globalization, far from being an extension of the colonial and imperial systems that dominated most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, signifies closure to the old political economy. The essay ends with a coda on globalization as the latest stage of an egalitarianism that places the modernization-developmental process at loggerheads with most varieties of totalitarian rule. (shrink)

Hannah Arendt: Eine Radikal-Konservative lenkt den Blick auf die Charakterzuge und wissenschaftlichen Leistungen einer ausserst komplexen Ikone. Das Schreiben uber Arendt zeigt exemplarisch, wie stark Leben und akademische Tatigkeit stets miteinander verwoben sind. Dieses Buch ist ein Versuch, den Kontext, in dem ihre Arbeiten entstanden, mit dem Gehalt ihres Denkens zusammen zu bringen. Es versteht sich primar als eine Antwort sowohl auf das anhaltende Interesse an Arendts Werk als auch auf die bitteren und manchmal emotionalen Angriffe von Seiten ihrer hartesten (...) Kritiker. Es konturiert Arendts einzigartigen Beitrag zur politischen Philosophie und ihre wissenschaftliche Leidenschaft sowie die Vielfalt ihrer Schriften uber Themen von offentlichem Interesse und uber philosophische Grundfragen. Arendt war eine Feministin, kampfte fur und schrieb uber judische Anliegen und wurde dafur von judischen Autoren verachtet und geschmaht. Sie stellte die deutsche Sprache und Tradition uber alle anderen, und doch ist sie als erbitterte Gegnerin der Nazis und ihres todlichen Totalitarismus bekannt. Hannah Arendts Entwicklung lehrt uns etwas uber die Beschaffenheit des menschlichen Geistes. Ihre Schriften befassen sich auf interessante und sogar spannende Weise mit unserem politischen Universum. Jene unter uns, die sich mit einer einzigen Tradition oder Kultur identifizieren, konnen das Problem des Relativismus vielleicht umgehen, nicht aber das des Absolutismus. Horowitz zeigt uns Lesern vor allem, was wir von Arendt uber diese uralte Spannung zwischen Traditionen, Kulturen und Systemen lernen konnen. Arendts Sinn fur Nuancen macht sie zu einer hochinteressanten Personlichkeit innerhalb der Ideengeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts und bietet Ansatzpunkte fur Kontroversen, die noch weit in das 21. Jahrhundert hinein reichen.". (shrink)

Assaulting Hannah Arendt: the banality of criticism -- Hannah and Heidegger: once more into the tangled web of emotions and politics -- Hannah Arendt: juridical critic of totalitarianism -- Totalitarian visions of the good society -- The revolutionary experience in France and America -- Making political philosophy -- Open societies and free minds -- Hannah's choice: social science or political philosophy -- Beyond totalitarianism: Hannah Arendt as radical conservative.

The European Legacy, Volume 16, Issue 5, Page 659-662, August 2011.

Inventing Human Science: Eighteenth Century Domains. Edited by Christopher Fox, Roy Porter, and Robert Wokler (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995) $45.00 and £24.00 cloth, xv + 357 pp.

This article examines the present bifurcation of policy-making into domestic and foreign components, and urges a theoretical effort aimed at unifying national policy by integrating its various components.

Publishing as a Vocation places publishing in its politicaland commercial setting. It addresses the political implications ofscholarly communication in an era of new computerized technology.Horowitz examines problems of political theory within the context ofproperty rights versus the presumed right to know and he explores thespecial strains involved in publishing as commerce versus informationas a public trust. This book offers a knowledgeable and insightful viewof publishing and makes an important contribution to the study ofmass culture in Western societies.

During the last decade, in 1958 to be precise, an organizational confrontation took place: the essential issue before its membership was this: should the American Sociological Society be rechristened the American Sociological Association. The results of the vote conclusively demonstrated that for a majority of the participants, it was preferable to be known as a group of ASA's rather than a bunch of ASS's.

Soziale Ideologien und Politische Systeme ist ein Versuch, den Bezug zwischen ideologischen Überzeugungen und bestimmten geschichtlichen Ereignissen herzustellen, wie etwa Entscheidungen, sich unter totalitären oder militärischen Zwängen zu widersetzen oder zu emigrieren. Die Aufsätze in diesem Band versuchen, Webers und Mannheims Weg zu folgen, um den Grad zu bestimmen, den politische, religiöse oder Klasseninteressen einnehmen oder, andererseits, durch stark verankerte soziale Ideologien untergraben werden. Die Erfahrungen von Krieg, Revolution und Genozid im Europa des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts bilden den Hintergrund für diese (...) Studien über persönliche Entscheidungen unter schwierigen Lebens- und Todesumständen. (shrink)