Browsing by Author "Haskell, Thomas L."
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Item A search for unity in diversity: The "permanent Hegelian deposit" in the philosophy of John Dewey(2001) Good, James Allan; Haskell, Thomas L.This study demonstrates that Dewey did not reject Hegelianism during the 1890s, as scholars maintain, but developed a humanistic/historicist reading that was indebted to an American Hegelian tradition. Scholars have misunderstood the "permanent Hegelian deposit" in Dewey's thought because they have not fully appreciated this American Hegelian tradition and have assumed that his Hegelianism was based primarily on British neo-Hegelianism. The study examines the American reception of Hegel in the nineteenth-century by intellectuals as diverse as James Marsh and Frederic Henry Hedge and how it flowered in late nineteenth-century St. Louis. The St. Louis Hegelians read Hegel as a particularly practical and politically liberal philosopher whose social philosophy promoted both social diversity and unity. Led by W. T. Harris, they studied Hegel in German and published their own scholarship, as well as translations of German scholarship, in their Journal of Speculative Philosophy. Their efforts to make "Hegel talk English" and to base the St. Louis public schools on Hegel's philosophy of education won them national, and even, international attention. The St. Louis Hegelians sought to adapt Hegel's thought to their American context by assuaging elitist elements within it; Dewey's intellectual development was profoundly shaped by their appropriation of his philosophy. Dewey drew upon Hegel's argument that humans form societies because of their differences, not in spite of them. Hegel's rejection of the self-sufficient, atomistic individual entailed that the individual is dependent upon others for the satisfaction of material needs. Moreover, like Hegel, Dewey rejected the hedonistic basis of the British political tradition by arguing that humans seek recognition from their equals as well as satisfaction of material needs. Dewey believed Hegel's emphasis upon equality and diversity provided a model of society in which there was fertile ground for the individual to conceive and articulate cultural criticism. The study ends by comparing recent Hegel scholarship to Dewey's, demonstrating that American Hegelianism has returned, in important ways, to a Deweyan reading of Hegel.Item Fighting a New Deal: Intellectual origins of the Reagan Revolution, 1932--1952(2007) Eow, Gregory Teddy; Haskell, Thomas L.; McCann, Samuel G.; Matusow, Allen J.; Twyman, William Gaines; Sher, George; Autrey, Herbert S.This dissertation locates the origins of the modern conservative movement in the intellectual history of the 1930s and 1940s. I argue that it was during the years of the Great Depression, when laissez-faire capitalism was most discredited, that a group of conservative academics and intellectuals began to lay the foundations for its postwar resurgence. Angered by the New Deal, those intellectual activists honed their free market ideology and began to develop a network through which to distribute it. As a result, they began to lay the intellectual and institutional foundation for the conservative movement. This dissertation recovers a number of narratives that reveal the rudimentary makings of a movement. It was during the 1930s and 1940s that economist Henry Simons worked to turn the University of Chicago's economics department into a bastion of free market sentiment; Leonard Read, after a decade of free market advocacy, created the first libertarian think tank, the Foundation for Economic Education, in 1946; legal scholar Roscoe Pound, worried by the spread of legal realism in the academy and growth of government in Washington, dramatically moved to the political right to make common cause with conservatives; Albert Jay Nock, his protégé Frank Chodorov and Felix Morley created a network of conservative writers and publications that paved the way for William F. Buckley's National Review ; and writers such as Rose Wilder Lane and Isabel Paterson made the case for laissez-faire in the pages of popular publications such as the Saturday Evening Post and the New York Herald Tribune . Historians have generally attributed the rise of the modern right to the conservative political mobilization in response to the civil rights movement, campus agitation of the 1960s, and the campaign for women's rights. As a result, historians tend to view the modern conservative movement as a distinctly postwar social and political phenomenon. This dissertation enriches that account by revealing the ties the modern conservative movement has to the years of the Great Depression and the debate over the government's role in the economy.Item Improving mankind: Philanthropic foundations and the development of American university research between the world wars(2006) Biehn, Kersten Jacobson; Haskell, Thomas L.This dissertation examines efforts by the largest American philanthropic foundations, particularly those established by Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, to improve mankind by funding research in the fields of human behavior and biology. In this study I argue that during the period between the world wars foundation policies and practices revolved around three main themes: the formation of an "interlocking directorate" of foundation officers, scientific entrepreneurs, and university administrators; the promotion of the ideal of transcending disciplinary boundaries through "cooperation in research;" and the launching of a human engineering effort that was based on the premise that human problems could be investigated and attacked through scientific research. Throughout the interwar period, university research programs that were coordinated by well-connected scientific entrepreneurs, that pledged to cultivate interdisciplinary cooperation, and that fulfilled the goals of the human engineering effort received millions of foundation dollars. The case studies that form the centerpiece of this dissertation both exemplify the most successful grant applications of the interwar period and illustrate how the human engineering effort unfolded over time. The early phases of the human engineering effort were based on the idea that humans could be improved through the investigation and control of behavior and sexual reproduction. Exemplary case studies for the earlier phases of human engineering include a multi-million dollar grant package for Yale University behavioral sciences, initiatives related to the eugenics movement, and support for the National Research Council Committee for Research in Problems of Sex. Gradually, foundation-sponsored human engineering was transformed into an effort to investigate and control living beings on a structural, chemical, and molecular level. Case studies that epitomize this later phase include grants for biological science research at Stanford University and University of Chicago, and especially the cooperative bio-organic chemistry and molecular biology projects that foundations helped to launch at the California Institute of Technology. My analysis of these case studies, viewed through the lens of the interlocking directorate, the cooperation in research ideal and the human engineering effort, elucidates intersecting social, intellectual, political and economic factors that shaped knowledge production in the United States.Item Pioneer professional: General John M. Schofield and the development of a professional officer corps, 1888-1895(1982) Mixon, Robert Wilbur (b. 1952); Gruber, Ira D.; Haskell, Thomas L.; Hyman, Harold M.Historians have not given General John M. Schofield much credit for contributing to the development of professionalism in the Army officer corps, particularly during Schofield's tenure as Commanding General (1888-1895). Such assessments do not adequately describe his efforts. Schofield had a clear view of both the nature and the importance of professionalism by 1888. He had concluded that the officer corps should be composed of selfless, dedicated men who were experts in the theory and practice of war. As Commanding General he tried to create a corps of such men. Schofield instituted major reforms in officer education, ethics, and politics and legislation designed to make officership a rewarding profession for accomplished men. He worked also to establish an effective command system in the Army, where near chaos had existed before. The success of his program indicates that previous assessments of his contributions have been incomplete.Item The corrupting city: Environmentalism in the mystery and misery tales of the 1840s and 1850s (George Lippard, George Foster, Ned Buntline, George Thompson)(1994) LeBien, Thomas; Haskell, Thomas L.Several popular authors of antebellum urban fiction, particularly George Lippard, George Foster, Ned Buntline, and George Thompson, articulate in novels written in the 1840s and 1850s the argument that urban paupers and criminals are products of a corrupt society. The prostitute, pauper, and thief, rather than being depicted as depraved or lazy, are shown to be blameless laborers compelled into degradation on account of physical circumstances and economic exploitation. Having found the primary causes of poverty and crime to reside in society, these authors recommend solutions that entail changing society. The authors' secular conception of the causes of society's ills led them to recommend secular solutions, which several attempted to put into practice. The authors' "material environmentalism" differentiates them from the vast majority of antebellum reformers who were informed by Protestant, particularly evangelical, theology.Item The influence of S.-L.-A. Marshall of the United States Army(1984) Williams, Frederick Deane G.; Gruber, Ira D.; Haskell, Thomas L.; Guilmartin, John F.Samuel Lyman Atwood Marshall, a journalist, influenced the United States Army in several ways beginning in 1943. First as a combat historian in World War II, then as a military critic, writer, lecturer, operations analyst, and consultant, he presented several practical and innovative ideas to the army. He pioneered the group after action interview technique for clearing up the confusing, often conflicting stories of participants in combat. As a result of his interviewing over 5 units in World War II, Marshall came to certain conclusions about what motivated Americans to fight. His subsequent experiences in other wars reinforced his theories. His ideas reached many soldiers and caused great controversy. Although he had great initial success in his efforts to reform the army, he spent his last years in a repetitious re-education process caused by such factors as institutional resistance to change. While some of his ideas have been incorporated into army policy, the most lasting influence has been through the education of the post World War II generation of junior officers who were stirred to articulate their ideas and experiences by their exposure to Marshall. These men are the key policy-makers of today's army.Item The role of Confucius in modern China, 1950 to the present(1982) Devens, Eleanor; Smith, Richard T.; Hyland, Richard P.; Haskell, Thomas L.The role of Confucius and Confucianism in Chinese culture has been an important question in contemporary Chinese historiography. From the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to the present, Chinese scholars have sought to determine the relevance of Confucianism to the Marxist-Maoist values of the modern Chinese state. The Communist historians’ approach to this issue sheds much light on the perceptions, values, and political considerations which have shaped Chinese historiography over the past three decades. In his recent book, Critiques of Confucius in Contemporary China, Kam Louie traces the course of the "Confucian debate" in twentieth-century China. The social and political implications of this debate, however, are a surprisingly little-studied phenomenon in either Chinese or Western scholarship. This study of the changing interpretations of Confucius in Communist China has led to several conclusions concerning modern Chinese historiography. First, modern historiography reflects the central dilemma of twentieth-century intellectuals in China -- how to create a modern culture and yet retain the unique "spirit" of China’s glorious heritage. This tension between traditionalism and modernity pervades all realms of political, intellectual, and artistic life in contemporary China. Secondly, this study indicates the persistence of traditional attitudes and cognitive patterns in contemporary Chinese historiography* The use of formalism, stereotypes, and numerical configurations, for example, links historical writing of the past with the present, despite changes in ideology. Furthermore, the traditional perception of history as a chronicle of moral judgments is shared by modern historians, and, as in the past, current scholarship is manipulated by the state to serve political purposes. During most of the period from 195 to the present, traditional historiographical patterns have prevailed in Chinese scholarship on Confucianism. The Confucian debates of the late 195s and early 196s, however, represent a distinctly non-traditional approach to historical writing. At this time the dramatic liberalization of the state's academic policies allowed more freedom and experimentation in interpretations of the past. Most appraisals of Confucius during this interlude were relatively apolitical, reflecting the skepticism and critical scholarship of the New Culture Movement of the late teens and early 192s in China. Finally, we see that Chinese intellectuals have responded tentatively to the current regime's new policy of academic liberalization. Inherited social attitudes of fear toward authority, as well as the memory of the previous "rectification campaigns" that followed periods of "academic freedom,” have created tension and suspicion of the state on the part of China's much-maligned intellectuals. Contemporary philosophers and historians are now re-evaluating Confucius with one eye on "objective,” critical scholarship and another on state orthodoxy. The current orthodoxy, as expressed in the 198 catalog of Peking Museum of Chinese History is that: Confucius was the initiator of the philosophical school known as Confucianism. He stood for maintaining the order of slave society. In his late years, he mainly engaged in compiling ancient books and tutoring private students, thus becoming influential in the development of China's ancient culture and education. Confucius is thus stigmatized for his political conservatism, but praised for his enduring cultural contributions.Item The world history textbook in secondary education: Religious content and the ideology of progress, 1800-1900(1990) Chilton, David L.; Haskell, Thomas L.Recent textbook studies find the human religious heritage curiously absent from public school history textbooks, an absence perhaps explainable through the development of an ideology of progress, lying at the heart of the modern public educational establishment. This ideology achieves dominance after the Civil War. Antebellum texts, containing a fusion of classical and Judeo-Christian historical outlooks, show no consensus upon overarching historical notions of progress. These texts contain strong Biblical content, including miraculous and supernatural elements, and serve to impress upon the reader moral values of the classical/Judeo-Christian heritage, while justifying the Protestant Reformation. Progressive notions, when present, are usually derived from Christian, post-millennial outlooks. Post-bellum textbooks adopt increasingly secular notions of progress. Biblical and moral content diminish; the miraculous and supernatural virtually disappear. The theme of progress becomes the prime determinant for selecting historical content, a theme increasingly separated from religious development and increasingly linked to political and especially technological advancement.Item Theoretical inertia in American sociology: The plausibility of William F. Ogburn's hypothesis of "cultural lag"(1988) Alter, Stephen G.; Haskell, Thomas L.Sociologist William Fielding Ogburn's hypothesis of "cultural lag" was popular from the 1920's through the 1950's. The cultural lag hypothesis holds that an innovation in one part of culture, usually in science or technology, creates the need for adjustment in another part. The period between the innovation and subsequent adjustment is known as a cultural lag. Ogburn used lag analysis to explain a variety of problems in modern industrial society. Although the lag concept was soundly criticized for its subjectivity, many intellectuals continued to regard it as a valid form of social analysis. This continued plausibility of "cultural lag" was due to its ability to express both historicist social critique and an image of objective social measurement. Ogburn's hypothesis thus fulfilled the desire of many social scientists to appear ideologically impartial while actually taking sides on many social issues. The decline of progressivist social theory, however, eventually exposed the theoretical weaknesses of "cultural lag"--except for a brief revival of the concept which accompanied the advent of atomic power.Item When Worlds Collide: Methodism and the Southern Mind, 1770-1810(1995) Lyerly, Cynthia Lynn; Boles, John B.; Cline, Allyn R.; Cline, Gladys M.; Haskell, Thomas L.; McCann, Samuel G.; McKenny, GeraldWhen Methodists first arrived in the South, they were critics of the social order. They preached in public against slavery and counselled in private against slaveholding. They condemned the code of honor and supported pious women and children who defied irreligious patriarchs. In Methodist churches white women played vocal and leading roles, and in service of their religion, they often defied southern gender conventions. African Americans were also prominent and vocal in early Methodist services, and through Methodism they contested racist assumptions and critiqued their masters. Many free black and slave men exhorted, preached, and led classes and congregations. Methodists condemned the lifestyles and mores of southern elites and promoted an ethic that prized piety over property. By advocating virtues traditionally deemed feminine, opposing slavery, and preaching against wealth, Methodists challenged southern secular values. In their churches, Methodists created a public space where secular rankings of class, gender and, to a lesser extent, race, were set aside and where southerners who were considered by secular society inferior advanced an oppositional world view. Opponents of the church, especially elite white men, believed their values, ways, and ideals were under assault by the Methodists. Opposition, including denunciations of Methodist doctrine and enthusiasm, patriarchs' physical assaults of Methodist women and children, and mob violence against slave and free black Methodists, bound Methodists more closely to one another. The church's beliefs that suffering was salutary and that persecution was evidence of true faith sustained its members in a hostile world. As Methodism evolved from an outcast sect to a respectable denomination, its opposition to gentry custom, gender conventions, and slavery weakened. Because of the church's intensely individualistic focus, its naive optimism about the ability to change hearts and minds, and its failure to see social evils in other than religious terms, Methodists could not sustain their critique of southern society. Nonetheless, for a few brief decades, Methodists promoted a genuinely alternative world view, and their experience illustrates the possibilities and limits of dissent in the Revolutionary and early national South.Item Women in the Texas Populist movement: Their letters to the "Southern Mercury"(1994) Barthelme, Marion Knox; Haskell, Thomas L.Many rural Texas women joined the Farmers' Alliance and Populist Party, components of the agrarian reform movement in America in the 1880's and 1890's. Some expressed their interest in the movement by writing letters to the Southern Mercury, a Dallas-based newspaper that became the official organ of the Farmers' State Alliance and Populist Party. These letters, over one hundred in number, give some idea of the concerns, thoughts and daily lives of ordinary women in the movement. They provide a view of women's perceptions of their domestic sphere and their hopes and expectations for the Alliance and Populist Party. They suggest that many women found community, mutuality and a stronger sense of self through participation in the movement and in writing and reading each others' letters to the Southern Mercury.