Inside: Mccarthyism 50 Years Later, Page 21 Around the Country, Page 30 from the Archives, Page 36 Calendar

american academy of arts & sciences spring 2004 Bulletin vol. lvii, no. 3 Stated Meeting Report, Page 2 Beethoven and His Royal Disciple Lewis Lockwood

Stated Meeting Report, Page 8 What’s the Point of Democracy? Amartya Sen

Stated Meeting Report, Page 12 Are There Limits To Our Cosmic Arrogance? Michael S. Turner

Stated Meeting Report, Page 16 In Memory of Robert K. Merton Robert C. Merton and Robert M. Solow inside: McCarthyism 50 Years Later, Page 21 Around the Country, Page 30 From the Archives, Page 36 Calendar

Saturday, October 9, 2004 National Induction Ceremony and 1882nd Stated Meeting–Cambridge Location: Sanders Theatre, Harvard Contents University Time: 4:00 p.m. Academy News Saturday, Joint Meeting with the October 30, 2004 Cambridge Public Library 1 1883rd Stated Meeting, Western Center– Seattle Stated Meeting Reports Location: Seattle Art Museum Lewis Lockwood 2 Wednesday, Amartya Sen 8 November 10, 2004 Michael S. Turner 12 1884th Stated Meeting–Cambridge “Name Worshippers: Religion, Russian and French Robert C. Merton and Mathematics, 1900–1930” Robert M. Solow 16 Speakers: Loren Graham, mit, and Jean- Michel Kantor, University of Paris McCarthyism 50 Years Later Location: House of the Academy Nathan Glazer, Anthony Lewis, and Sam Tanenhaus 21 Saturday, November 13, 2004 Project Update 28 1885th Stated Meeting, Midwest Center– St. Louis Around the Country 30 Speaker: Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden Forthcoming Academy Location: Missouri Botanical Garden Publications 32 Wednesday, Noteworthy 34 December 15, 2004 1886th Stated Meeting–Cambridge From the Archives 36 “A Bach Cult” Speaker: Christoph Wolff, Harvard University Location: House of the Academy

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Academy Sponsors Joint Meeting with the Cambridge Public Library Ambassador Peter Galbraith Speaks on Iraq

Addressing an audience at the House of the Academy on March 31, the day an Iraqi mob murdered and mutilated four Excerpt from the Inaugural John Kenneth Galbraith Honor Lec- ture, given by Ambassador Peter Galbraith at the House of the American civilian contractors, Peter W. Galbraith asserted Academy on March 31, 2004 that Iraq is “not salvageable as a unitary state.” The former Ambassador to Croatia, known for his work in brokering peace In my view, Iraq is not salvage- and the Shi’ite Arabs–would have in the Balkans during the 1990s, described a loose federation able as a unitary state. From my their own republics which would of self-governing republics as the only feasible solution to the experience in the Balkans, I feel be self-governing, ½nancially self- increasingly contentious situation in Iraq. In contrast with the strongly that it is impossible to sustaining, and with their own ter- Bush administration’s vision of a pluralistic, Western-style preserve the unity of a democratic ritorial military and police forces. state where people in a geograph- The central government’s role democracy uniting Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis, Galbraith’s ically de½ned region almost unan- would be limited to foreign affairs, plan would result in three distinct states founded on the dif- imously do not want to be part of monetary policy, and some coor- fering aspirations of Iraq’s major groups. that state. And I have never met dination of defense policy. I would an Iraqi Kurd who preferred mem- only add to this Yugoslav model Entitled “How to Get Out of Iraq: bership in Iraq if independence that there should be some sharing What Went Wrong and What it were a realistic option. of revenue, as an impoverished Sunni region is in neither the in- Means,” Galbraith’s talk inaugu- The best hope for holding Iraq terest of the other two regions rated the John Kenneth Galbraith together–and thereby avoiding nor of the international commu- civil war–is to let each of its ma- Honor Lectures, a series the Cam- nity.... bridge Public Library sponsored jor constituent communities have in collaboration with the Academy as much of what they want as pos- A loose federation will allow the to celebrate the contributions of sible. This too provides the only United States and its allies to dis- path that can get American forces engage from most of Iraq. The community residents to the wider out of Iraq.... outcome will not be optimal. The world. Janet Axelrod, Chairperson country will remain whole more The Iraq interim constitution de- of the Library’s Board of Trustees, in name than in reality. Western- ½nes the country as a federal state thanked the Academy for hosting style human rights are likely to but centralizes power in ways that the event, pointing out that the take root only in the Kurdish north cannot be implemented. Les Gelb, collaboration “reflects the shared (and there only partially). The le- the former president of the Coun- mission [of the Academy and the gal status of women is likely to be Peter W. Galbraith cil on Foreign Relations, wrote a set back in the south, even as com- Library] to promote knowledge piece in The New York Times last Out of Vietnam.” He asserted his pared to the Saddam Hussein re- and to stimulate discourse.” December proposing a three-state gime. But the alternative is an in- belief that the American experi- solution for Iraq, modeled on the John Kenneth Galbraith, longtime de½nite U.S. occupation of Iraq ence in Iraq, like that in Vietnam, constitution of the former Yugo- Academy Fellow, whom Academy in which we have fewer and fewer “may de½ne the United States’ slavia. Applying a Yugoslavia mod- allies. It is an occupation that we Vice President Louis Cabot intro- role in the world for much longer el (my understanding of how it cannot afford and that prevents duced as a distinguished econo- than the actual involvement in the would apply in Iraq, not Gelb’s), us from addressing more serious mist, proli½c author, advisor to country.” Unlike his father in the each of Iraq’s constituent peo- threats to our national security.... several presidents, recipient of Vietnam era, however, he did not ples–the Kurds, the Sunni Arabs, numerous honorary degrees, and oppose American intervention in “the tallest man in Cambridge,” the current war. ing Saddam’s genocide of the Kurd- war, Galbraith landed in Baghdad attended the event with his wife ish people in the 1980s, Galbraith in April 2003 just four days after Catherine. An international schol- Ranking Saddam’s reign with Pol had been among the ½rst to docu- the U.S. military took the city. “Al- ar and statesman, and a beloved Pot’s in Cambodia as “the two ment Saddam’s use of chemical ready,” he said, “it was apparent member of the Harvard and Cam- most cruel and inhumane regimes warfare against his own people. to me that things were going cata- bridge community, Galbraith re- in the second half of the twentieth strophically wrong.” Galbraith ceived a warm ovation from the century,” Galbraith told the Acad- It is not the Bush administration’s personally witnessed the looting audience. emy audience that “in a more law- decision to bring down Saddam of public buildings in the ensu- ful world, the international com- that Galbraith criticizes, but “the In the title of his speech, Ambassa- ing two months. He spoke with munity would have acted and horri½c mistakes” of the immedi- dor Galbraith intentionally paid marines stationed near the Iraqi should have acted to remove this ate postwar period. As part of the homage to his father’s tract of regime long before 2003.” An eye- abc news team reporting on the Continued on page 29 forty years ago called “How to Get witness to the devastation follow- Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 1 Reformation has yet to be superseded. He continued with a series of important articles on major ½gures such as Josquin, Willaert, and Palestrina, and on topics such as musica ½cta– traditions of performance in which musicians added sharps and flats that the composers had not written into the music–and imitation technique–the reworking by one composer of a composition by another composer. What seems less predictable in his career was the decision to undertake archival research on the Este court. His book Music in Renaissance Ferrara 1400–1505: The Creation of a Musical Center in the Fifteenth Century won the Kinkeldey Award for the best book in musicology. He also received an honorary degree from the University of Ferrara–surely a signal recognition for an American scholar.

Lewis’s other ½eld, the study of Beethoven, has been a lifelong passion, and not just because they share the same birthday! Lewis enter- tained himself on the long subway ride from the Bronx to the High School of Music and Art by memorizing Beethoven opus numbers. Starting in 1970, he published a series of articles about Beethoven’s compositional process that helped de½ne what has now become a standard sub½eld of musicology–working with autographs, sketches, and drafts to understand the stages through which a piece of music passes. His ½rst major article about Bee- thoven, devoted to the autograph of Opus 69– the A-major cello sonata–won the Einstein Award of the American Musicological Society

Archduke Rudolph photograph courtesy of the Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien. for the best article by a scholar in the early stages of his career. Beethoven and His Royal Disciple In the late 1980s, Lewis used his term as president of the American Musicological Society as Lewis Lockwood a bully pulpit to argue for the importance of Introduction by Jessie Ann Owens writing not just for other musicologists but more broadly for colleagues in other disciplines This presentation was given at the 1877th Stated Meeting, held in Cambridge on December 3, and indeed for the larger audience of music- 2003. lovers and concertgoers. His recent book, Bee- thoven: The Music and the Life, a ½nalist for the Lewis Lockwood, a Fellow of the American Academy seminal work in two quite different ½elds–Re- Pulitzer Prize, establishes a new model of mu- since 1984, is Fanny Peabody Professor of Music naissance music and Beethoven studies. Cer- sicological discourse with its sophisticated Emeritus at Harvard University. tain themes–or habits of mind–are clearly account of the complex relationship between distinguishable in his work in both areas. biography and the musical work. Those of us Jessie Ann Owens is the Louis, Frances and Jeffrey in the music business marvel that he has man- Sachar Professor of Music at Brandeis University. His earliest scholarship was on Renaissance aged to write an entire volume using little tech- She has been a Fellow of the American Academy music. He was a student of Edward Lowinsky nical language and only a few music examples, since 2003. at Queens College and of Oliver Strunk and and yet offer insights that can be appreciated Arthur Mendel at Princeton University. He by specialists as well as the literate public. wrote his dissertation about the masses of the Jessie Ann Owens sixteenth-century Italian composer, Vincenzo What brings the two halves of his professional Ruffo, who was grappling with how to respond life together, Renaissance and Beethoven, is It is an honor to introduce Lewis Lockwood, to changes in musical style that were part of precisely what we will hear tonight: a deeply one of the most distinguished musicologists of the Council of Trent and related reform initia- contextual analysis of the relationship between our time. Lockwood, the Fanny Peabody Pro- tives. Some thirty years after its publication, patronage and musical creativity. fessor Emeritus at Harvard University, has done his monograph on Ruffo and the Counter-

2 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Lewis Lockwood sonality underlies the diversity of styles in his when he was forging his career. In the 1790s in work, as well as the seemingly separate do- Vienna he had no more devoted friend than mains of “life” and “art”–but gaining access Prince Karl Lichnowsky, who gave Beethoven The Problem of Artistic Biography to that deeper person through sheer biograph- a matched set of Italian stringed instruments ical study is dif½cult. (still preserved at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn) The poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said of Ro- to encourage him to write quartets. Lichnow- I’d like to come at this issue by focusing on one din and Tolstoy, both of whom he knew per- sky housed Beethoven, took him to Prague in of the most important personal relationships sonally, that their artistic commitment was 1796 on a concert tour, and paid him an annu- of Beethoven’s later life, one that enables us to so intense that the other parts of their lives ity of six hundred florins from 1800 to about trace an unusually close connection between seemed simply to wither “like some organ they 1808. “He really is,” Beethoven wrote of Lich- the personal and the aesthetic. It emerges from no longer require.” Extravagant as it may seem, nowsky in 1805, “surely a rare example among Beethoven’s close attachment in his later years Rilke’s remark captures the most basic prob- persons of his social class–one of my most to Archduke Rudolph, a member of the Habs- lem of artistic biography–how to determine faithful friends and promoters of my art.” But burg ruling family, who became his patron and relevant connections between what happens if the tale is true, it was to Lichnowsky that he at the same time his pupil in composition. in the life and what happens in the work, how said, after an angry falling-out, “Prince, what to discover the ways in which these two dimen- you are, you are through an accident of birth. sions shed light on one another. To the consci- Beethoven and His Patrons What I am, I am through myself. There have entious biographer of a major artist, the art- been and will be thousands of princes; there is ist’s imaginative works themselves, in all their Beethoven’s patrons loom large in his biogra- only one Beethoven.” fullness of expression, occupy the foreground. phy. The names of Waldstein and Razumov- Beethoven’s ambivalence toward his support- sky need no introduction to music lovers, and ers and publishers was part of his innate resist- hardly less important are the other Viennese Beethoven’s behavior with ance to the blandishments of the outer world– aristocrats (along with some friends and ac- except when he gave way to flattery, as at the quaintances) to whom he dedicated composi- patrons, and with the world Congress of Vienna in 1815, where he met the tions or had close relations during his career. crowned heads of Europe, including Czar Al- in general, was erratic, un- His dedicatees included members of the high exander and Empress Elisabeth of Russia. In nobility, such as the Princes Karl Lichnowsky, view of his stubborn posture of rugged inde- predictable, demanding, Franz Joseph Lobkowitz, and Ferdinand Kinsky, pendence, his relationship to the Archduke Ru- along with others who bore lesser titles, and dolph was all the more remarkable. and hostile... also women such as the Countesses Josephine Deym, Marie von Erdödy, Babette von Keglev- Seen from this point of view, much of what we ics, and Giulietta Guicciardi. His situation was The Archduke Rudolph can know of the artist’s “life,” in the ordinary entirely different from that of Joseph Haydn (1788–1831) sense, is what seems to be left over from his or (1732–1809), who spent nearly thirty produc- her all-consuming concentration on the work. tive years in the service of a single family, the Born in 1788, the Archduke Rudolph was Bee- It forms part of the context in which we seek Esterházy, and lived on this patron’s landed thoven’s junior by seventeen years. He was the to understand the work, but only part of it. estates at Eisenstadt and Eszterháza. More like youngest son of the Austro-Hungarian Emper- Mozart, who spent his Viennese years (1781– There are many ways to approach this problem, or Leopold II, who had succeeded Joseph II in 1791) as a freelance pianist, composer, and without supposing that there is any universal 1790 but lived only two more years. So in 1792 teacher, Beethoven lived a precarious life as an formula for its solution. In my own recent bi- the Habsburg throne fell to Rudolph’s oldest independent artist through all his thirty-½ve ography of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) brother, Francis II, a quiet and cautious ruler years in Vienna, from 1792 to his death in 1827. I tried to subdue this problem by putting the who survived until 1835. He was the “Kaiser Since he never had a ½xed position with a reg- music ½rst, balancing it with extensive discus- Franz” for whom Haydn wrote his famous Aus- ular salary at any time, despite his hopes for sion of the composer’s life. I found it useful to trian national anthem in 1798. Francis lived one, he needed patrons to support him. His imagine a three-part division, in which Beetho- through the whirlwind set loose on Europe by livelihood depended on their ½nancial help ven’s “career,” that is, the part of his life de- Napoleonic France, and then through the ½rst and on what he could gain from publishers in voted to the production and dissemination of twenty years of the post-Napoleonic Restora- an age without copyright. His need to publish his works, might furnish traceable threads of tion. He went to war with France in 1792 and helps to account for the mixture of works, in- connection. Beethoven’s deafness, isolation, eventually had to watch his Austro-Hungarian cluding the arrangements and revisions, that lifelong physical suffering and irascible person- dominions fall piece by piece to the Napoleon- comprise his lifetime publications from Opus ality are the stuff of legend, and, indeed, some ic war machine. He presided over the formal 1 to Opus 135, plus the many works that he is- well-known commentators attribute the pow- demise of the traditional Holy Roman Empire sued without opus numbers. It also helps us erful and heroic aspects of his works to his will in 1806, thus ending a regime that had lasted understand why he spent so much time and to overcome his deafness and isolation. Attrac- for eight centuries. Having started as Francis II effort dealing with publishers and worrying tive as it seems, such a viewpoint tends to over- of the greater Austrian Empire, he now became about money. look or minimize his many important works, Francis I, Emperor of Austria. and styles within works, that don’t ½t the “he- Beethoven’s behavior with patrons, and with Most of the emperor’s younger brothers were roic” model, leaving us dissatis½ed with the the world in general, was erratic, unpredict- slated for military careers or high administra- narrowness of this or any single critical cate- able, demanding, and hostile, not only in later tive posts. The exception was Rudolph, the gory. We sense that, with Beethoven as with life when his deafness and isolation were be- dreamer of the group, who tried to become a other artists on his level, a uni½ed creative per- coming absolute, but even in his earlier years Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 3 Beethoven in an engraving At this point I want to pay tribute to the path- made by Lazarus Gottlieb breaking work of Susan Kagan, who carried Sichling between 1830 and out research on Rudolph’s life and works some 1863 after an 1823 portrait by years ago. Kagan has written an important book Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. on Rudolph, published some of his music, and, as pianist, has also recorded some of his keyboard works.

The Composer and his Royal Pupil

What was the nature of Beethoven’s relationship to Rudolph? First and foremost, that of grateful artist to generous patron, a patron whose status in the top rank of the nobility con- ferred undeniable prestige. As much as Beetho- ven scorned other aristocrats, he was deferen- tial to the Archduke, and he took pride in this high social connection. He once told his friend Gleichenstein that it was a shame that Gleich- enstein hadn’t come to a certain soiree, because he would have met the Archduke there, and, “as the friend of his friend, you would not have Image © akg-images been made to feel his high rank.” The relation- cadet but turned instead to music and eventu- tron: nine major works, including the Fourth ship plays strongly into Maynard Solomon’s ally to the church. Rudolph’s portraits show a and Fifth Piano Concertos; the Piano Sonata biographical theme of Beethoven’s lifelong delicacy of features and demeanor unlike the in E-flat Major, “Lebewohl,” Opus 81a; the “nobility pretense.” In 1818, when Beethoven’s masculinity of his brothers. Rudolph had seri- Violin Sonata in G Major, Opus 96; the Piano legal case against his sister-in-law for custody ous aspirations as a pianist, and all indications Trio in B-flat Major, Opus 97 (the “Archduke”); of his nephew Karl was transferred from the are that, until epilepsy and gout caught up with the Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, Opus 106 court of the nobility to one for commoners, he him, he could play extremely well. He also (“Hammerklavier”): the Piano Sonata in C was outraged, and the great democrat com- turned out later, under Beethoven’s tutelage, plained to his lawyer that he was now being to be a surprisingly competent professional bracketed with “innkeepers, shoemakers, and composer. Mixed with his beliefs in the tailors.” As Solomon points out, for some years Beethoven let the Austrian-German world Beethoven may have met Rudolph as early as egalitarian ideals of the think that the “van” in his name, derived from 1803, but by 1808 they were in contact and from his Flemish ancestors and having no implica- then on to the end of Beethoven’s life Rudolph French Revolution and the tion of rank, was the equivalent of the German was his principal benefactor. In 1809, when Bee- “von,” a token of nobility. thoven was threatening to take a position with rights of man was Beetho- Jerome Bonaparte in Westphalia, Rudolph set ven’s urgent desire that the Mixed with his beliefs in the egalitarian ideals up a contract along with Princes Lobkowitz of the French Revolution and the rights of man and Kinsky to pay him a handsome annuity of world should recognize his was Beethoven’s urgent desire that the world four thousand florins, as long as Beethoven should recognize his superiority as an artist agreed to stay in the Austrian dominions. When superiority as an artist. and admit him into the higher echelons of so- the other two partners or their estates stopped ciety. As Solomon puts it, “Beethoven, through paying by reason of bankruptcy or death, Ru- his nobility pretense, was able to put himself Minor, Opus 111; the Missa Solemnis, Opus dolph continued to pay his share scrupulously, in the place of the mighty, to partake of aristo- 123; the Grand Fugue in B-flat Major, Opus and in 1811 he even raised the nominal amount cratic power, to share the insignia of social su- 133; and some other lesser works and canons. to make up for the loss in revenue brought on premacy, and to ‘conquer’ the nobility by pre- From 1809 on Rudolph became Beethoven’s by the Austrian ½nancial debacle. This annuity tending to be of it.” His close relationship to devoted composition pupil, the only such pupil remained Beethoven’s only regular source of Rudolph must have seemed to confer an aura of Beethoven’s later years. income over the years. of reality on his dreams of exerting power and It was clear from early on that Rudolph would influence in the world. And he cultivated this Despite the suffering of the royal family and eventually go into the church. As early as 1805, relationship with an apparent depth of feeling all of Austria from the incessant wars and in- at age seventeen, he took minor vows as a priest that forces us to take it very seriously. vasions that lasted until Waterloo in 1815, Ru- and became coadjutor to the Archbishop of dolph never wavered in his support of the Beginning in 1808 he began to dedicate ma- Olmütz in Moravia; thus his succession as composer who had come to be the central jor works to Rudolph. The dedications of the archbishop was assured ½fteen years before ½gure in the musical world of his time. And so, Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos broadly his installation in 1820. It was for this event ½ttingly, he received the dedications of more reflected the Archduke’s pianistic ability in that Beethoven composed his Missa Solemnis Beethoven compositions than any other pa- big works intended for public concerts. But (actually ½nished in 1823). 4 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 plained to Ries in 1823 that while the Archbish- have hitherto been lacking.” Thereafter Bee- Beethoven sustained his work op was to be back in Vienna for four weeks he thoven declares that, eventually, when “a High through all the vicissitudes expected Beethoven to give him a lesson every Mass composed by me will be performed dur- day, of two and a half to three hours each. It’s ing the ceremonies solemnized for Your Impe- of physical illness, deafness, hardly surprising that Beethoven’s intense con- rial Highness [it] will be the most glorious day centration on his own work made him angry of my life.” When Beethoven ½nished the Mis- and alienation, not only by about the regular routine of trudging over to sa Solemnis in 1823, three years after Rudolph’s the royal palace two or three times a week to actual installation, he inscribed the autograph his obsessive devotion to his give Rudolph his lessons, and he often wrote manuscript to Rudolph with the words, “From him short notes canceling the lessons and plead- the heart–may it go to the heart.” craft but also by maintaining illness, sometimes giving considerable de- Some of the other works he dedicated to Ru- tail about his current physical problem. One dolph reflected his personal allegiance in other ing his faith that great music senses that he knew the epileptic prince would ways. For example, while he was composing sympathize with him. As Beethoven wrote, could bene½t humankind. the “Hammerklavier” Sonata in 1817, Beetho- “He understands music and is quite absorbed ven was also planning a choral piece for Ru- in it. He is so talented that I am sorry not to be dolph’s name day. A now lost sketchbook of then came, as a much more personal gesture, able to take as much interest in him as I used 1817, which was described in the late nineteenth the Piano Sonata in E-flat Major, “Lebewohl,” to.” On the other hand, Beethoven took pride century by the great Beethoven scholar Gustav Opus 81a. Written in the late spring and sum- in Rudolph’s accomplishments. And even if he Nottebohm, contained sketches for both the mer of 1809, it is Beethoven’s only fully pro- once compared Rudolph to King Richard the choral piece and the piano sonata; two of these grammatic piano sonata. Its subject is the Lion Heart and himself to Blondel, Richard’s sketches carried the text “Vivat Rudolphus” Archduke’s departure, absence, and eventual minstrel, he worked hard at correcting Ru- (“Long live Rudolph”). The motifs of both return from the royal family’s exile during Na- dolph’s work. Nothing is more suggestive than choral sketches relate directly to the dramatic poleon’s siege and occupation of Vienna. (The the contemporary report that when Beethoven opening gesture of the “Hammerklavier” Sona- title originally planned for the sonata was to in his last years was stone deaf to conversation, ta, with its powerful upward leap and continu- be “Der Abschied–am 4ten Mai–gewidmet he could somehow hear the Archduke’s soft ation, and suggest that these words of praise und aus dem Herzen geschrieben S[einer] voice through the smallest of his ear trumpets. K[aiserliche] H[hoheit],” “The Farewell–on for Rudolph are encoded in the opening motif the 4th of May–dedicated and written from and thus the work as a whole. It is certainly in- the heart to His Royal Highness.”) Beethoven “I never . . . shall succeed in being a teresting that to open the “Lebewohl” Sonata, remained in Vienna during the fearful French courtier” eight years earlier, he had written the word bombardment and the long occupation, but “Le-be-wohl” (“Farewell”) into the score, as if managed to compose this sonata and other im- The complexity of their relationship is visible to make explicit the heartfelt meaning of the portant works (including the “Harp” Quartet, in Beethoven’s letters. We catch a glimpse of it opening musical gesture. It is as if the piano is Opus 74), besides compiling extracts from the- in a letter of March 1819, in which Beethoven singing this word, one note to each syllable. orists in order to teach counterpoint, ½gured offers fulsome congratulations to Rudolph on the news of his accession, while reminding him bass, and strict composition to the Archduke The “Archduke” Trio, Opus 97 when he should return. that “this new honor will not be accepted without some sacri½ces.” He thanks Rudolph for a The “Archduke” Trio, Opus 97 (which was ad- He never had a more devoted pupil. Susan Ka- large new composition that he has sent him, mirably played by the Boston Trio as part of gan counts about twenty-four ½nished works which in fact was a set of forty variations on a this presentation) is generally known by Ru- by Rudolph, plus dozens of un½nished ones. theme that Beethoven had given him. Beetho- dolph’s title for no other reason than that it was Most of Rudolph’s compositions are for solo ven calls the variations “masterly” and lauds dedicated to him; the same nickname could piano or are keyboard chamber music, and it Rudolph’s “truly ½ne talents and really excel- just as reasonably have been applied to the great can’t be accidental that Rudolph’s special pro- lent gifts of imagination”–but he also points piano sonata, Opus 106 that he called “Ham- clivity for fugue and fugato coincides with Bee- out “several little slips” in the composition and merklavier” (Beethoven was then insisting on thoven’s own emphatic turn to counterpoint urges Rudolph to keep on striving to improve. the use of German rather than Italian on the in his later years. Rudolph amassed a very large Later in the same letter, Beethoven drops the title pages of his publications). The Trio Opus music library in the royal palace, which he made mask of humility and reminds Rudolph that, 97 was composed in 1811, during the twilight available to Beethoven, and it soon became although he is a royal prince, he cannot dictate years of his second period. It is the last of Bee- easier for Beethoven to locate his works in Ru- to Beethoven as if he were a servant: “Your... thoven’s works for piano trio, a genre that he dolph’s collection than in his own chaotic command that I should come, and again your took over from Mozart and Haydn and to which household. Rudolph let Beethoven use rooms intimation that [you] would let me know when he contributed a series of works–the three Tri- in the royal palace for rehearsals and perform- I should do so, I was never able to fathom, for I os of Opus 1; the Clarinet Trio, Opus 11; and ances, provided extra ½nancial donations, used never was, still am not, and never shall succeed the two magni½cent Trios of Opus 70–that his influence to help Beethoven in his litiga- in being a courtier.” Now comes the heart of were innovative in their structural and aes- tion over nephew Karl, guaranteed loans–in the matter: “Your Imperial Highness can... thetic qualities, not least in the ways in which general, treated him “as a friend and not a ser- create in two ways–both for the happiness and the violin and cello match in importance the vant,” as Beethoven said in a letter of 1819. welfare of very many people and also for your- powerful resonances of the piano. Needless to say, however, Beethoven grumbled self. For in the present world of monarchs, cre- about his teaching duties. In a letter he com- ators of music and benefactors of humanity

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 5 The Missa Solemnis of fame, must not bear the reproach of being Beethoven had known for one-sided.” most of his career that in his For Rudolph’s installation Beethoven planned and executed his greatest choral work, the Mis- On the one hand, he is giving Rudolph avun- works he was speaking not sa Solemnis. “As dif½cult as it is for me to speak cular advice to steep himself in the solid tech- about myself,” he declared to his publisher, niques of the masters of earlier music, above only to his own time but to “nevertheless I do believe that it is my greatest all Bach and Handel. But his main purpose is work.” Written on a symphonic scale for solo- to underscore that by returning to earlier mod- the future. ists, chorus, and full orchestra, it stands with els, Rudolph (like Beethoven himself ) can the Ninth Symphony (which he wrote directly achieve a connection to the past and can bring “freedom and progress” to his artistic work. The “Archduke” Trio is among the bigger works afterward) as a monumental expression of of his middle period, which I have called else- his belief in humanity’s relationship to God. We do not think of Beethoven as an especially where his “second maturity.” It is set up not in Though not a churchgoer, Beethoven was a literate artist, but as he once claimed, “from the three movements traditional in piano trios, born Catholic who had been deeply influenced my childhood I have striven to understand but in four large movements, like his sympho- by Enlightenment ideals. This mass symbol- what the better and wiser people of every age nies and quartets. It has a substantial Allegro izes not only the power of belief but the indi- were driving at in their works.” Behind this ½rst movement; a long Scherzo and Trio; a vidual’s interior experience of faith; in these 1819 letter to Rudolph stands a lifetime of be- massive slow movement, here in variation ways it resonates with the then current revi- lief in the ideals of freedom and progress that form; and an attractive and brilliant ½nale. It sionist views in Austrian and German religious had ½red the French Revolution, coupled with embraces both the monumental and the lyrical circles that were seeking to reinforce the im- an awareness of the successive betrayals of aspects of Beethoven’s style, and every move- portance of highly personal forms of devotion. those beliefs that had come about through the ment has the length and complexity that we Its ½nal movement, the “Dona nobis pacem,” Reign of Terror, through Napoleon’s despot- ½nd in some other of his large cyclic works of contains a telling subtitle: “Prayer for inner ism, and through the repressive regimes that this time, including the String Quartet in F and outer peace.” It is a representation of the had succeeded Napoleon after 1815. Beethoven Major, Opus 59 No. 1 and the Seventh Sym- struggle between war and peace familiar to had grown up at a time when Kantian idealism phony in A Major, Opus 92. Especially note- everyone in Beethoven’s lifetime, and reflects was the new intellectual dogma, and through worthy is the memorable opening paragraph, his hope for the pax humana, the ideal of human all his disillusionment with contemporary pol- initiated by the piano alone, with the strings life unblemished by war and anxiety. Musically itics he held to that broad image. In a conver- gradually joining in the ensemble and then it belongs with Bach’s B Minor Mass (which sation book of 1820 he wrote, “The starry sky elaborating new ½gures as they prepare for the Beethoven knew as early as 1810, at least in part, above us and the moral law within us–Kant!!!!” restatement of the main theme in which they and which he may have seen in its entirety In music his strongest statement of sustained will now be the dominating voices. The scheme through contemporary copies). But in the per- belief in these ideals–that “all men shall be of the whole movement is innovative in its sonal sense, this mass is his largest tribute to brothers”–was the Ninth Symphony (1822– use of harmonies related by descending thirds, his royal disciple. 1824), but in personal terms his vision of Ru- rather than the tonic and dominant polarity dolph as benevolent prince and archbishop characteristic of most works in major keys at “In the world of art . . . freedom and follows a parallel line. Beethoven sustained his this period. It uses one of Beethoven’s adroit progress are the main objectives” work through all the vicissitudes of physical opening gambits in beginning with a lyrical illness, deafness, and alienation, not only by theme that subdivides into shorter motifs that In Beethoven’s letter of March 1819 we saw a his obsessive devotion to his craft but also by develop later in the movement, thus organical- mixture of his self-assertion as a great artist, maintaining his faith that great music could ly connecting the parts to the whole. It is a pro- his pride in his royal pupil, and his encourage- bene½t humankind–that his aim was not to cess similar to the opening of the ½rst movement to Rudolph to use his new position as a provide cultural entertainment but to make a ment of the “Pastoral” Symphony in F Major, benefactor of his people and also to continue signi½cant difference in the world. Such music Opus 68. as a composer. Equally lofty ideals emerge in a could not be merely effective, simple, and pop- The Scherzo is a brilliant tour de force of in- letter of July 1819. Beethoven had been to the ular, but had to live up to the highest standards tricate dialogue among the three instruments; royal palace to consult some older music in Ru- of artistic tradition, purpose, and expression. and the contrasting “Trio” section presents a dolph’s music library. “The older composers Such a view, possible for artists in the Roman- chain of contrasts that begins with the fugue- do us a double service,” Beethoven writes in tic era but agonizingly dif½cult today, is akin like exposition of a slithering chromatic theme praise of the music of earlier eras, “since there to Shelley’s claim that “poets are the unac- and moves on to a brilliant Viennese waltz. The is generally real artistic value in their works knowledged legislators of mankind.” slow movement, a chain of variations based on (among them, of course, only the German For Beethoven, then, his royal pupil seemed to a long hymn-like theme, brings a vein of solem- Handel and Sebastian Bach possessed genius).” personify an ideal. Beethoven saw in Rudolph nity to the work. The variations gain in gravity And now Beethoven comes to the crux: “in the the rarest of patrons: a member of the high as they proceed, culminating in a freely elabo- world of art, as in the whole of our great crea- ruling class who gave him generous support rated Coda, or closing section. The slow move- tion, freedom and progress are the main objec- and had become his pupil and disciple, thus re- ment ends by preparing the way for the ½nale– tives. And although we moderns are not quite placing the typical political values of his class a brilliant, at times jocular, sonata-rondo move- as far advanced in solidity as our ancestors, the with an acceptance of artistic ones. In a deeper ment that makes much use of instrumental re½nement of our customs has enlarged our sense, Beethoven’s vision of Rudolph was real- interplay and completes the whole work by sphere of action. My eminent music pupil, ly an imagined vision of himself. Though Ru- lightening the atmosphere. who himself is now competing for the laurels

6 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 dolph was a perfectly competent composer, gan, Archduke Rudolph, Beethoven’s Patron, Pupil, none of his work rose above the average levels and Friend (New York: Pendragon Press, of Beethoven’s lesser contemporaries. But Bee- 1988); Susan Kagan, “Beethoven and His thoven had known for most of his career that Pupils” cd, Koch International Classics No. his capacities and accomplishments were far 3–7351–2 hi (containing Archduke above those levels, and that in his works he Rudolph’s Forty Variations on a Theme by was speaking not only to his own time but to Beethoven, Susan Kagan, pianist); Lewis the future. Which is in fact what has happened. Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life (New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 2003); Maynard Solomon, Beethoven, 2nd rev. ed. Suggestions for further reading (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998). and listening

Emily Anderson, ed., The Letters of Beethoven, 3 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1961); William © 2003 by Jessie Ann Owens and Lewis Drabkin, Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (Cambridge: Lockwood, respectively. Cambridge University Press, 1991); Susan Ka-

1. Jessie Ann Owens and Lewis Lockwood

2. Irina Murisanu (Boston Trio), Bernard Burke (MIT), and Louis Cabot (Cabot- Wellington, LLC) 3. Owen Gingerich (Harvard Universi- ty), Arnold Relman (Harvard Medical School), and Marcia Angell (Harvard Medical School)

2 3

4. Leslie Berlowitz (American Academy) and Christoph Wolff (Harvard Univer- sity) 5. Lewis Lockwood, Karen Painter (Har- vard University), and Reinhold Brink- mann (Harvard University)

4 5

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 7 Image © Fujita Art Museum, Japan. Xuanzang [Hsüan-Tsang] returns to China with Sanskrit manuscripts from India in a.d. 645. What’s the Point of Democracy? Amartya Sen Introduction by Thomas Scanlon

This presentation was given at the 1878th Stated Meeting, held at the House of the Academy on February 11, 2004.

Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor at guilty of practicing myself: we who go into this cratic state, citizens may use their rights to Harvard University. He has been a Fellow of the ½eld are supposed to be deeply concerned with block measures that are necessary for real de- American Academy since 1981. the right and the good, but out of a desire to velopment and prosperity because they are appear professional we cover our papers with painful in the short term. Those of us who Thomas Scanlon, a Fellow of the American Academy technical terminology and analytical distinc- are ½rm believers in rights may say, “If people since 1993, is Alford Professor of Natural Religion, tions, the human signi½cance of which may are unwise, and exercise their rights unwisely, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity at Harvard Uni- not always be apparent. things won’t go as well as they might have versity. otherwise. But nonetheless, they have those But Amartya’s analyses, and Amartya himself, rights.” We accept that the exercise of demo- have none of this shyness or indirection. A cratic rights may lead to worse outcomes, but Thomas Scanlon concern for human welfare is the guiding and we refuse to take this as a reason to qualify our evident ½rst principle of all of his work in eco- commitment to democracy. In some of his most nomics, in philosophy, as a social scientist, and The size of the audience here tonight bears exciting work in recent years, Amartya goes as an effective advocate for justice and advance- out the fact that Amartya Sen is a distinguished farther, and challenges the view that democra- ment in the world. It is also, no doubt, respon- economist and philosopher, Nobel Prize lau- cy is at odds with the goals of development and sible for his being more of a consequentialist in reate, recent Master of Trinity College in the well-being. He argues that, in fact, democratic moral philosophy than some of the rest of us. other Cambridge, and a friend to all of us. We institutions have an important positive role to welcome him back to this Cambridge as the Economics is not always seen to be entirely play in warding off the worst things that can Lamont University Professor at Harvard Uni- friendly to democracy. To many, Kenneth Ar- happen to us, such as serious famines, and in versity. row’s famous “impossibility theorem” ques- promoting our welfare in varied ways. This is an important theme of his lecture this evening. I imagine–indeed more than imagine–that tions the very possibility of adequate demo- all economists are, at heart, deeply concerned cratic decision-making procedures. Some of with human welfare. After all, they have devot- Amartya’s early work was devoted to the inter- Amartya Sen ed their lives to the perfection of the institu- pretation and generalization of this theorem, tions on which our welfare depends. But, to the putting its results in context so that its import uninitiated anyway, it seems that, perhaps out could be properly understood. Many notable things have happened over of shyness or embarrassment, economists’ con- the twentieth century. In the domain of polit- Another criticism, coming from a different cern with welfare is sometimes humbly con- ical ideas perhaps the most important change direction, maintains that if people have full cealed behind a certain amount of mathemat- to occur has been the recognition of democra- democratic rights, they’re likely, under many ical formulae, which obscure their heartfelt cy as an acceptable form of government that circumstances, to exercise them in a way that motivation. Something of the same can be said can serve any nation–whether in Europe or will be inimical to their own good: in a demo- of moral and political philosophy, which I am America, or in Asia or Africa. Only sixty years

8 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 ago, Winston Churchill, the prime minister What is the central point of democracy? What of Britain, while ½ghting valiantly for democ- (to borrow a phrase from T. S. Eliot) is “the In the domain of political racy in Europe, insisted that Britain’s vast non- still point of the turning world”? A good clue ideas perhaps the most im- European empire, over which the sun was un- to the “still point” can be found, I believe, in able to set, was altogether unready for democ- the analysis of the foremost political philos- portant change to occur has racy. However, within a few years from then, opher of our time, John Rawls. Democracy, that view was quite obsolete, and rightly so. Rawls has taught us, has to be seen not just in been the recognition of de- terms of ballots and votes–important as they It would be tragic indeed if this hard-earned are–but primarily in terms of “public reason- mocracy as an acceptable understanding were now lost in the intense ing,” including the opportunity for public dis- dialectics surrounding the current events in cussion as well as interactive participation and form of government that Iraq. Questions can and should be raised about reasoned encounter. Democracy must include, whether democracy (to adapt an old Maoist to invoke a Millian phrase, “government by can serve any nation. phrase) can come out of the barrel of a gun, discussion.” Indeed, voting and balloting are especially when the aim of the gun seems so Goths. Being incurably mealy-mouthed, I will part of that broader public process. confused. But it is extremely worrying to see call this a taxonomic dif½culty, but perhaps a that the understandable opposition to global In the ½eld of politics, Rawls has argued that stronger comment would have been possible. unilateralism and to underinformed military objectivity demands “a public framework of Second, while Athens was unique enough in action sometimes takes the drastic form of thought” that provides “an account of agree- getting balloting started, there were many re- disputing the very possibility of having a dem- ment in judgement among reasonable agents.” gional governments that went that way in the ocratic Iraq or, for that matter, a democratic Reasonableness requires the political willing- centuries to follow. There is nothing to indicate Middle East. ness of individuals to go beyond the limits of that the Greek experience in electoral gover- their speci½c self-interests. But it also makes This is one immediate reason for returning to nance had much immediate impact in the coun- social demands to help fair discernment, in- the old question: What’s the point of democ- tries to the west of Greece and Rome, in, say, cluding access to relevant information, the racy? There are, of course, others. Let me France or Germany or Britain. In contrast, opportunity to listen to varying points of view, mention two. First, despite the normative some of the cities in Asia–in Iran, Bactria, and and exposure to open public discussions and acceptance of democracy as the appropriate India–incorporated elements of democracy debates. In its pursuit of political objectivity, form of government, there remains practical in municipal governance to a great extent un- democracy has to take the form of construc- skepticism about the effectiveness of democ- der Greek influence. For example, for several tive and ef½cacious public reasoning. racy in the poorer countries. Democracy, it has centuries from the time of Alexander the Great, been alleged by many, does far worse than the city of Susa in southwest Iran had an elect- authoritarian rule, especially in fostering eco- The belief that democracy is a quintessential- ed council, a popular assembly, and magistrates nomic growth and development. The con- ly Western idea–a unique feature of the histo- who were proposed by the council and elected trasting of India with China is only one of ry of Western civilization–is often linked to by the assembly. The battle for electoral free- many empirical arguments that are presented the practice of voting and elections in ancient dom that is going on right now in Ayatollah in support of this castigation of democracy. Greece, especially in Athens. There is certain- Khamenei’s Iran (with the reformists ½ghting ly priority there. Indeed, by taking note of the with their back to the wall) is concerned with A second line of criticism involves high theo- broader tradition of public reasoning that flour- political rights that had some acknowledg- ries of cultures and civilizations. It is argued ished in different ways in ancient Greece, early ment in Iran even two thousand years ago. that democracy is a peculiarly Western norm– Greek connections to the origin of democracy not in tune with the foundational values of The third dif½culty, which is particularly cen- can be seen to be even larger. But the jump from other societies. The thesis that democracy is a tral to tonight’s theme, concerns the important there to the thesis of the quintessentially West- quintessentially Western idea has been cham- historical point that while public reasoning ern or European nature of democracy is a res- pioned in different ways by both non-Western flourished in many ways in ancient Greece, it olute leap into confusion. This is so for three cultural separatists and Western theorists who did that also in several other ancient civiliza- distinct reasons. write about clashing cultures and clanging civ- tions–sometimes spectacularly so. For exam- ilizations. The ½rst dif½culty is mainly classi½catory and ple, some of the earliest open general meetings concerns the partitioning of the world into aimed speci½cally at settling disputes between I have argued elsewhere against this cultural largely racial categories representing discrete different points of view took place in India in critique (in particular in my essay “Democracy civilizations, in which ancient Greece is seen the so-called Buddhist councils, where adher- and Its Global Roots,” published in The New as part and parcel of an identi½able “European” ents of different points of view got together to in October 2003). I shall draw on some Republic or “Western” tradition. In this classi½catory argue out their differences. The ½rst of these of the evidence I presented there, along with perspective, no great dif½culty is seen in con- large councils was held in Rajagriha shortly af- other data, but I will also try to interpret the sidering the descendants of, say, Goths and ter Gautama Buddha’s death twenty-½ve hun- overall picture in the perspective of the central Visigoths as proper inheritors of the Greek tra- dred years ago. The grandest of these councils– theme of tonight’s presentation: What is the dition (“they are all Europeans”), while there the third–occurred under the patronage of point of democracy? is great reluctance in taking note of the Greek Emperor Ashoka in the third century b.c.e. in intellectual links with ancient Egyptians, Ira- Pataliputra, then the capital of India and what Democracy does not, of course, rely on just nians, and Indians, despite the greater interest is now called Patna. Ashoka also tried to codi- one singular point, but involves many inter- that the ancient Greeks showed in talking to fy and propagate what must have been among related ones. It is, however, worthwhile to ask them, rather than in chatting up the ancient the earliest formulations of rules for public dis-

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 9 cussion–a kind of ancient version of the nine- not have to be justi½ed by their indirect contri- teenth-century “Robert’s Rules of Order.” He Public reasoning, in various bution to economic growth. Politically unfree demanded, for example, “restraint in regard forms, has had a long his- citizens–whether rich or poor–are deprived to speech, so that there should be no extolment of a basic liberty and of a fundamental constit- of one’s own sect or disparagement of other tory across the world, and uent of good living. sects on inappropriate occasions, and it should Second, the empirical claim of a negative rela- be moderate even in appropriate occasions.” these traditions in diverse tion between democracy and economic growth Even when engaged in arguing, “other sects has not been con½rmed by the extensive inter- should be duly honoured in every way on all cultures make it hard to see country comparisons that have been under- occasions.” democracy as an essentially taken. The often repeated claim is based on I doubt that these good rules of verbal engage- selective empiricism. Also, even in interpret- ment were actually followed most of the time Western idea. ing the success of South Korea or Singapore, in popular debates, but public discussion cer- empirical analysis has to distinguish between tainly received considerable championing in Jews, and even–it must be noted–atheists), post hoc and propter hoc. It is increasingly clear– Indian traditions. Even the all-conquering Al- the Inquisitions were still flourishing in Europe. even from India’s recent experience–that eco- exander was treated to a good example of what Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in nomic success depends on a friendly economic today’s diplomats would call a full and frank Rome, in Campo dei Fiori, for heresy in 1600, climate, rather than a ½erce political one. discussion, as he roamed around in northwest even as Akbar was lecturing on tolerance and Furthermore, aside from economic growth, India around 325 b.c.e. When Alexander asked holding interfaith dialogues in Agra. there is also the issue of human security. De- a group of Jain philosophers why they were mocracy gives political power to the vulnerable neglecting to pay any attention to the great Public reasoning, in various forms, has had a by making the rulers accountable for their mis- conqueror, he received the following forceful long history across the world, and these tradi- takes. The fact that no major famine has ever reply: tions in diverse cultures make it hard to see democracy as an essentially Western idea. This occurred in a democratic country with a rela- King Alexander, every man can possess only recognition does not reduce, in any way, the tively free media merely illustrates the most so much of the earth’s surface as this we are far-reaching relevance of the fact that the con- elementary aspect of this protective power. In- standing on. You are but human like the rest temporary concepts of democracy and of pub- deed, democracy’s contribution to human se- of us, save that you are always busy and up to lic reasoning have been very deeply influenced curity extends far beyond famine prevention. no good, travelling so many miles from your by European and American experiences and The poor in booming South Korea or Indonesia home, a nuisance to yourself and to others! ideas over the last few centuries. But to extrap- may not have given much thought to democra- . . . You will soon be dead, and then you will own just as much of the earth as will suf½ce olate that experience backward to construct cy when the economic fortunes of all seemed to bury you. a long dichotomy running through the past to go up and up together in the 1980s and early is no more than potted history–indeed it is 1990s, but when the economic crises came in We are told by Arrian that Alexander respond- somewhat more pot than history. 1997 (and divided they fell), democracy and po- ed to this egalitarian reproach with the same litical and civil rights were desperately missed kind of admiration as he had shown in his en- In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, by those whose economic means and lives were counter with Diogenes, even though his actual Nelson Mandela describes how influenced he unusually battered. Democracy has become a conduct remained completely unchanged (“the was, as a young boy, by observing the demo- central issue in these countries now, as it also exact opposite of what he then professed to ad- cratic nature of the local meetings that were has in many other countries in Asia, Africa, mire”). held in the regent’s house in Mqhekezweni: and Latin America.

Indeed, the importance of public discussion is Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was But what about the speci½c comparison of democracy in its purest form. There may have a recurrent theme in the history of many coun- China and India? Certainly, China has out- been a hierarchy of importance among the tries in the non-Western world. To choose an- speakers, but everyone was heard, chief and performed India in many respects, not just in other historical example, in Japan in a.d. 604, subject, warrior and medicine man, shop- recent economic growth, but also through its the Buddhist Prince Shotoku, who was regent keeper and farmer, landowner and laborer commitment to basic education and health to his mother, Empress Suiko, produced the so- . . . . The foundation of self-government was care for all, in which Maoist China made an called constitution of seventeen articles. The that all men were free to voice their opin- early start. Even though China had the largest constitution insisted, much in the spirit of the ions and equal in their value as citizens. famine in history during 1958 to 1961–a famine Magna Carta to be signed six centuries later in linked directly to the government’s refusal to Mandela’s “long walk to freedom,” his search a.d. 1215: “Decisions on important matters correct its course for more than three years, for “the still point of the turning world,” began should not be made by one person alone. They a refusal that could not have persisted in any distinctly at home. should be discussed with many.” functioning multiparty democracy–it did eventually pull out of that terrible crisis. By the To take another example from a much later time the economic reforms were introduced period, when in the 1590s the great Moghal I move now to the effectiveness critique, based in China in 1979, China had a lead of thirteen Emperor Akbar was making his pronounce- on the claim that authoritarian regimes do bet- or fourteen years over India in longevity. The ments in India on the need for tolerance, and ter than democratic ones in economic devel- Chinese life expectancy–at least sixty-seven was busy arranging organized dialogues be- opment. There are two points to be made in re- or sixty-eight years by 1979–was almost a de- tween holders of different faiths (including sponse. The ½rst is the basic valuational point cade and a half longer than India’s puny ½gure Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsees, Jains, that democratic rights are among the constitu- tive components of development, and they do of ½fty-four years.

10 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Then came the economic reforms of 1979, There is clearly some problem with the “reach” ten made, with evident justice, that it is impos- with the Chinese economy surging ahead and of the bene½ts of the Chinese economic re- sible to have, in the foreseeable future, a dem- growing much faster than India’s more mod- forms. First, the reforms led to the eschewal ocratic global state. This is indeed so, and yet est performance. However, despite China’s of free public health insurance, so now indi- if democracy is seen in terms of public reason- much faster economic growth, since 1979 the viduals had to pay for private health insurance ing, that need not put the issue of global de- rate of expansion of life expectancy in India (except when provided by the employer, which mocracy in inde½nite cold storage. Many insti- has been about three times as fast, on average, happens only in a small minority of cases). tutions have a role here, including of course as that in China. China’s life expectancy, which This retrograde movement in the coverage of the United Nations, but there is also the com- is now just about seventy years, compares with health care received little public resistance– mitted work of citizens’ organizations, of India’s ½gure of sixty-three years, so that the as it undoubtedly would have met in any mul- many ngos, and of independent parts of the life-expectancy gap in favor of China, which tiparty democracy. news media. was thirteen or fourteen years in 1979 when Second, democracy also makes a direct contri- the Chinese reforms were ½rst implemented, There is also an important role for the initia- bution to health care by bringing social failures has now been halved to only seven years. tive taken by a great many activist individuals. into public scrutiny. India’s health services are Washington and London may be irritated by Indeed, China’s life expectancy of seventy quite terrible–I have discussed elsewhere how the widely dispersed criticism of the Coalition years is lower than that in parts of India. It is defective they are, and only two months ago in strategy in Iraq, just as Paris or Tokyo or Chi- particularly instructive to look at the Indian December 2003 I had the dubious privilege of cago may be appalled by the spectacular vili- state of Kerala–home to thirty million peo- presenting in a news interview in Calcutta the ½cation of global business in parts of the so- ple–which is particularly distinguished in com- depressing ½ndings of the ½rst health report of called anti-globalization protests (which is bining Indian-style multiparty democracy with the Pratichi Trust (a trust I was privileged to perhaps the most globalized movement in the the kind of social intervention of which pre- set up with the help of the Nobel money that world today). The points that the protesters reform China was perhaps the world leader. came my way some years ago). make are not invariably sensible, but many of At the time of the economic reforms in 1979, them ask very relevant questions and thus But the possibility of such intense criticism is when China had a life expectancy of about contribute constructively to public reasoning. also a social opportunity to make amends. In sixty-seven years or so, Kerala had a similar fact, the persistent reporting of the de½cien- ½gure. By now, however, Kerala’s life expectan- This is part of the way global democracy is cies of Indian health services is, ultimately, a cy, estimated to be around seventy-½ve years, already being pursued, without waiting for source of India’s dynamic strength, reflected is substantially higher than China’s seventy. the global state. The challenge today is the in the sharp reduction in the China-India gap Going further, if we look at speci½c points of strengthening of that participatory process. in life expectancy and the broadening of the vulnerability, the infant-mortality rate in China It is not a negligible cause. Nor is it culturally gap (in the opposite direction) between China has declined extremely slowly since the eco- parochial. and Kerala. Kerala has been helped by the com- nomic reforms, whereas it has continued to fall bination of the bene½ts of a vigorous democ- very sharply in Kerala. While Kerala had rough- racy with those of a social and political com- ly the same infant-mortality rate as China– © 2004 by Thomas Scanlon and Amartya Sen, mitment rather similar to what had put China thirty-seven per thousand–at the time of the respectively. ahead of India in the ½rst place. Chinese reforms in 1979, Kerala’s present rate of ten per thousand is a third of China’s thirty per thousand (where it has stagnated over the I end with a ½nal remark on the relevance of last decade). democracy at the global level. The point is of-

1. Amartya Sen and Thomas Scanlon 2. Daniel Bell and Zeph Stewart (both, Harvard University)

1 2

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 11 space and time are flexible, and Hubble’s observations are a manifestation of an expansion of space that moves galaxies away from one another.

Since then, cosmologists have imaged hundreds of millions of galaxies and mapped the large-scale features of the universe, including great clusters of galaxies, superclusters of clusters, giant voids (great regions of space popu- lated with very few galaxies), and great walls (sheets comprised of tens of thousands of galaxies). The Hubble Space Telescope has re- vealed the birth of galaxies (½gure 1); the Chan- . dra X-ray Observatory has glimpsed billion- solar-mass black holes that formed less than nasa a billion years after the beginning; and microwave telescopes have imaged the universe as it was when it was only four hundred thousand years old and atoms were forming (½gure 2).

Still, cosmologists are not satis½ed. We aspire . Figure courtesy of

d to trace our cosmic origins back to before the

1994 quark soup–to the subatomic quantum fluc-

sn tuations that we think seeded the galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and even larger structures. We want to understand the nature of the mysteri- image of ous dark matter that holds the universe togeth-

hst er, and of the dark energy that is causing its : expansion to speed up. With ideas as bold as was Einstein’s relativity theory ninety years nasa ago, and new, more powerful instruments made possible by great technological advances, Are There Limits To Our Cosmic the flyboys of today’s science speak of a gold- en age in cosmology–and it is hard to argue Arrogance? with us! Michael S. Turner Inner Space/Outer Space This essay is based on Michael Turner’s presentation that was given at the Academy’s Midwest Connections Center’s Stated Meeting, held at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago on November 1, 2003. The key idea powering the current cosmologi- cal revolution is the deep connection that exists Michael S. Turner, a Fellow of the American Acad- ters of observable space. And, as if that were between the inner space of the elementary par- emy since 1996, is the Rauner Distinguished Service not enough, we have to do this sitting on a tiny ticles and the outer space of the cosmos. These Professor at the University of Chicago and Assistant rock, which orbits a very ordinary star within connections go well beyond the fact that the Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences at a slightly above average galaxy. infant universe was a soup of elementary par- the National Science Foundation. ticles, and they are well illustrated by the guid- The past century’s cosmologists have much to ing paradigm of cosmology today, “Inflation + fuel their arrogance. The hot big bang theory Cold Dark Matter.” This theory holds that “our From Quark Soup to the charts the evolution of the universe from the universe” was created in a burst of expansion Expanding Universe hot, formless, quark soup that existed earlier (called cosmic inflation) powered by “false- than 0.00001 seconds, to the universe we see vacuum” energy. Because of that explosive Cosmologists are arrogant. They believe they fourteen billion years later, one comprised of growth spurt, all that we can and will ever be can determine how the universe began and how hundreds of billions of galaxies. The grand ad- able to see originated from the tiniest bit of it has evolved thus far. They also aspire to un- venture began in the 1920s when Edwin Powell the pre-inflationary landscape. This explains derstand its ultimate destiny. As a cosmologist, Hubble established that galaxies are the build- why the universe we observe is so uniform (on I must defend this arrogance. Without it, we ing blocks of the universe and discovered that the large scale, it looks the same everywhere would have never undertaken the seemingly all the galaxies visible in the sky (in Hubble’s and in all directions), and predicts space is un- impossible task of trying to ½gure out the uni- time, only a few hundred) are moving away curved, or is “flat” (Einstein’s theory allows verse– fourteen billion years of history (thus from our own Milky Way. Einstein’s theory of for space to be curved; the inflationary burst far) stretched across a trillion trillion kilome- gravity provided the theoretical foundation: flattens any spatial curvature).

12 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Cosmologists are arrogant. They believe they can determine how the universe began and how it has evolved thus far. They also aspire to understand its ultimate destiny. As a cosmologist, I must defend this arrogance.

This burst of expansion was our big bang event, and the demise of the false-vacuum energy that caused it was the origin of the heat of the big bang (seen today in the cosmic microwaves that ½ll space) and ultimately all forms of matter and energy within it. If inflation occurred once, there is every reason to believe that it has occurred an in½nite number of times in the past and will continue with this frequency in the future. Inflation sidesteps the issue of “The Be- ginning,” changes “The Big Bang” into countless “big bangs,” and leads to a universe that is actually a multiverse comprised of countless bubble universes.

The Cold Dark Matter part of the theory pur- ports that the matter holding our universe together is not the star stuff that we are made of, but rather slowly moving elementary particles Figure 1: The HST Ultra Deep Field. In this small patch of the sky (one ten millionth of the en- (called Cold Dark Matter) left over from the tire sky), imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope for almost two weeks, there are ten thousand earliest ½ery moments (see ½gure 3). Owing galaxies. The light from most of the galaxies originated when the universe was a few billion years old or less. This is as far as one can see because one is looking back to the time when to quantum fluctuations on subatomic scales galaxies were just forming. Figure courtesy of NASA. blown up to astronomical size during inflation, the Cold Dark Matter is not uniformly distrib- uted; it is a little lumpy (with variations in the density of around 1 part in 100,000). Gravity acting over the past fourteen billion years has turned this lumpiness into all the cosmic structure that we see today. The gravity of the Cold Dark Matter particles provides the cosmic in- frastructure that holds together galaxies including our own Milky Way, the great clusters of galaxies and superclusters. The atomic matter within galaxies further condenses and forms the stars that light up these objects.

Evidence for an Inflationary Beginning

The ½rst solid evidence supporting this remark- Figure 2: A several hundred square-degree patch of the microwave sky imaged by the Wilkinson Micro- able picture came in 1998. Measurements of the wave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). The tiny variations in microwave intensity (parts in 100,000) are dis- tiny variations in the intensity of the cosmic played as color variations and indicate the slightly lumpy distribution of Cold Dark Matter four hundred thousand years after the beginning. According to inflation theory, these variations arose from quantum microwave background radiation across the sky fluctuations during inflation, and thus, this WMAP image is a picture of subatomic quantum fuzziness indicated that the universe is flat, as predicted blown up and projected across the sky by enormous expansion during inflation. Figure courtesy of WMAP by inflation. The detailed pattern of these tiny and NASA.

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 13 Figure 4: The composition of our critical density, flat universe. Less than 1 percent exists in the form of stars, 4 percent in atoms, 30 percent in Cold Figure 3: List of particle candidates for the dark matter. Some of the dark Dark Matter, and 66 percent in weird dark energy. The bulk of matter and matter (1 percent of the critical density or less) is now known to be made of energy are in as of yet unidentified forms of matter and energy. While the neutrinos; the bulk is believed to be made of an as of yet undiscovered ele- photons in the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background) contribute much mentary particle, with the axion and the neutralino being the leading candi- less than 1 percent of the total, they are an invaluable relic today, and at dates. an early time provided the bulk of the mass/energy density.

variations was consistent with a quantum ori- digm: a higher resolution map of the cosmic grand as creating a universe cannot be carried gin of the lumpiness. Further, the “missing en- microwave background from experiments at out, we must rely upon relics, such as the cos- ergy” needed to bring the total mass/energy the South Pole to the new Planck satellite; and mic microwave echo, the lightest elements in density to the critical value was found: a flat measurements of the expansion rate by a vari- the periodic table that were cooked in the big universe must have the critical density, and ety of techniques to get at the dark energy. In bang, and both forms of matter, atoms and matter only accounts for 30 percent. Evidence the laboratory, some will attempt to directly dark matter. I cannot resist mentioning that for the other 70 percent came in the unexpect- detect the Cold Dark Matter particles that hold the father of inflation theory, mit’s Alan Guth, ed discovery of “cosmic speed up.” our own galaxy together, and others will try to undertook a serious study of how to create a create them with powerful particle accelera- universe in the laboratory and concluded that For seventy years cosmologists tried to meas- tors at Fermilab and cern. The James Webb it is possible. Need I say more about arrogance? ure the gravitational slowing of the expansion; Space Telescope, successor to hst, will take Maybe our bubble universe is a freshman phys- when they ½nally succeeded they found that us deeper into space and further back in time ics lab experiment in another universe gone the universe is actually speeding up. This odd to view the ½rst stars. awry. It is certainly possible that we will run twist was good news for inflation, because the out of relics before our curiosity is satis½ed, speed up implies the existence of a weird form but I am too optimistic to believe that this will of dark energy that contributes 70 percent of The End of Cosmology? be our demise. the critical density and whose gravity is repul- sive. When added to the 30 percent known to There is much work to be done, and many ques- The most interesting obstacles are more fun- exist in matter, this totals 100 percent (see ½g- tions still to be answered. But will proving that damental. A key feature of inflation–that it ure 4). Now we just have to ½gure out exactly Inflation + Cold Dark Matter is correct ½nally makes the present state of the universe insen- what the dark energy is–but, of course, we are satisfy cosmologists and lead to the end of cos- sitive to how it began–throws up a kind of con½dent that we will. mology? Arrogance is pretty powerful stuff, so screen that blocks knowledge of earlier times. probably not. But are there limits to how much Further, inflation multiplies the possibilities A host of evidence since–from the Wilkinson we can learn about the universe? There are the and exponentially increases the territory to be Microwave Anisotropy Probe’s (wmap) re- obvious worries–money and public interest in explored. With an in½nite number of inflation- cent measurements of the cosmic microwave spending for an activity with no practical appli- ary bubbles that will never communicate with background to the mapping of structure in the cation, for instance. I doubt these factors will one another, even complete knowledge of our universe by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey–has set the limit, however. Curiosity about the be- universe amounts to in½nitesimal knowledge further strengthened the case for Inflation + ginning has been and always will be unlimited. of the whole. If the Copernican principle, the Cold Dark Matter. But this is just the tip of the guiding principle in cosmology for the past four cosmic iceberg. A veritable avalanche of cos- A more serious worry is that cosmology is an hundred years, is correct, then this is not an mological data will de½nitively test this para- archaeological science. Since experiments as obstacle in practice. (The Copernican princi- 14 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Copernican or anthropic principle–namely, the difference between a barren universe and I am bullish on cosmology. that the laws of physics and the universe itself one teeming with life. It might be that an During the next two decades are the way they are so life could evolve and extremely improbable event shortly after become aware of them–few took this view inflation led to a future that is conducive to there will be exciting devel- seriously. I am not a fan of the anthropic prin- life. If anthropocentric considerations and not ciple (which I like to call the narcissistic prin- simply the laws of physics have determined opments, new surprises, and ciple), because it strikes me as giving up on a the character of the bubble in which we ½nd hard problem by looking in the back of the ourselves, there may truly be a fundamental great advances in our under- book for the answer. Inflation, however, limit to what we can infer about the universe makes us take a more serious and more scien- as a whole. standing of the universe. ti½c look. Fundamental limits or not, I am bullish on ple, sometimes known as the principle of cos- According to string theory (the most promis- cosmology. During the next two decades there mic mediocrity, holds that we occupy a typical ing attempt to unify all the forces and parti- will be exciting developments, new surprises, place in the cosmos.) cles of nature), while there are universal laws and great advances in our understanding of of physics, there can be different realizations the universe. Still, the question remains, are However, in a universe of in½nite possibilities, of these laws (local bylaws) within individual the limits to our understanding of the uni- even the extremely improbable happens. It bubbles. The variations can be quite profound verse set by our own creativity and boldness? could be that our bubble universe is very atyp- and include the number of spatial dimen- Or are there fundamental limits to our under- ical. For example, it may be that the typical bub- sions, whether or not matter is stable, and standing? ble never evolves living creatures. If this is the other factors that determine whether or not case, then our view of the universe depends life will develop. Further, even within identi- critically upon our existence. While a handful cal bubbles, historical accidents could make of cosmologists have long advocated the anti- © 2004 by Michael S. Turner

1. Michael S. Turner 2. Midwest Center Vice President Martin Dworkin

1 2

3. Donald Lamb (University of Chicago) and Academy President Patricia Meyer Spacks 4. John Katzenellenbogen (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Patricia Spear (Northwestern Univer- sity)

3 4

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 15 ates and their signi½cant others, and I chose him as my signi½cant other. In the last ten years he took pleasure in signing his letters “Father of the Economist.” I tried to reciprocate using “Son of the Sociologist”–but it didn’t start out that way.

When I was a child, my father was surely there and he taught me many important things, not least about the stock market, poker, and magic. Only the magic didn’t stick–I didn’t have the discipline. As a teenager, I had very little interest in the intellectual or academic life. I was interested in cars. I started building hot rods, if you can believe it, and racing them. It seemed I did almost everything that took me as far away as possible from what he did. As we began to discuss college, I said, “ I think the General Mo- tors Technical Institute would be good.” That didn’t happen, but neither did I apply to Har- vard–I wouldn’t have gotten in if I had. I went to Columbia Engineering School and majored in engineering mathematics, but my plan was still to be an auto engineer, which was a small move away from becoming a mechanic. I should mention that during my sophomore year at Columbia I took a required course in English, and I wrote what was to become my ½rst published paper, entitled “The ‘Motion- less Motion’ of Swift’s Flying Island.” When I turned it in to my English instructor, for whom to that point I had done D work, he said, “Well, this has some possibilities for us; maybe we can get it published.” Fortunately, I had a father who knew something about such matters. So © Sandra Still I asked for his advice and eventually told the instructor, “No, I think it would be just ½ne if In Memory of Robert K. Merton I wrote the paper alone.” So, I have a D in En- glish on my transcript, but I also have a paper Robert C. Merton and Robert M. Solow published in the Journal of the History of Ideas. This presentation was given at the 1876th Stated Meeting, held at the House of the Academy on After a few summers working for the Ford November 12, 2003. Motor Company, I decided perhaps academia might not be such a bad choice and so, some thirty-½ve years ago, I went off to Caltech to Robert C. Merton is John and Natty McArthur Uni- our interchanges multiplied. We also edited do a Ph.D. in applied math. After ½nishing all versity Professor at Harvard Business School. He has each other’s papers, although both relative need my courses and passing my quali½ers at Cal- been a Fellow of the American Academy since 1986. and skill ensured that I could never produce tech, I was all set to do my thesis when I began anything like the amount of red ink on his pa- to wonder whether water waves in a tank or Robert M. Solow, a Fellow of the American Acad- pers that he put on mine. I know that, over the plasma physics was right for me. Perhaps it emy since 1956, is Institute Professor, Emeritus, at years, many of you came to know what I mean was the fact that I used to get up every morn- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. about that red ink. ing and go down to a local brokerage house for We would sit by the ½re in East Hampton in his the 9:30 a.m. opening of the New York Stock Robert C. Merton last ten or ½fteen years and talk for hours. When Exchange–6:30 a.m. my time. I would trade I got that early morning phone call in October all kinds of securities–stocks, convertible Robert K. Merton was my father for nearly six of ’97 saying, “We have something interesting bonds, warrants, and options–and then go off decades–and he was my best friend for the last to tell you,” it was rkm (I never called my fa- to class. One day, I came upon a very bad book four. In the early years we talked on the phone ther rkm but the initials did come in handy in on mathematical economics; it was so bad that at least once nearly every day. Later, when email talking about him to others) who got the next I said to myself, “I can do better.” If I had seen came, he mastered it before I did–it relaxed the phone call from me. At the Nobel banquet in a book by Bob Solow or Ken Arrow, I might constraint in his being a lark and me an owl, so Stockholm there is a center table for the laure- still be doing fluid mechanics, but instead I

16 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Still another one of rkm’s formulations, the I cannot end my remarks without noting an- My research is very mathe- concept of unanticipated and unintended con- other collaboration that never occurred–the matical, very quantitative, sequences of social actions, came into my work one in which the two of us coauthor a piece when I was analyzing the implications of the with Robert Merton Solow. My father said to and seemingly very far away U.S. government providing guarantees for cor- me, “We simply must do a joint piece with Bob.” porate pensions. In the last decade I’ve focused And I immediately reacted, “That’s great... from what my father did. on developing the so-called functional perspec- let’s do it! I surely wouldn’t mind being sand- tive in ½nance to examine the evolving ½nan- wiched between the two of you.” He elaborat- Nevertheless I found myself cial system. This perspective uses ½nancial ed, “Of course, there can be only one way to functions instead of institutions as “anchors,” order the authors–Robert Merton Solow and using many of his ideas. or framing elements of the system–thus free- Robert Merton Duo.” ing us to think about the dynamics of change decided to switch to economics–a move that in economic institutions as an endogenous pro- everyone thought was crazy, except my father cess. You can imagine the discussions I had with Robert M. Solow who was smiling. You can see where this is my father about that. So I ½nd myself very, very heading: I was now in academe and, further- close to precisely where I was trying not to be am not a sociologist, as you know, nor have I more, into one of the social sciences. I at the start, more than four decades ago–and ever taught at Columbia University. So far as I My research is very mathematical, very quan- darn happy about it! can recall, in fact, I have never been formally or institutionally associated with Bob Merton, titative, and seemingly very far away from what Now, apart from our endless talks, my father senior. There is, however, one thread of con- my father did. Nevertheless I found myself us- and I did actually work together: in 1981 we nection between Robert K. Merton and Robert ing many of his ideas. I will list a few examples. had a draft of a theory including a mathemati- Merton Solow that goes back more than sixty There is the concept of post-factum interpreta- cal model on problem choice and the functions years–to January 11, 1942, to be precise. (There tion after the observation to provide an expla- and dysfunctions of priority in the reward sys- is someone here this evening who goes back nation, which he paid a lot of attention to and tem in science. Although subsequently both of even further: Ruth Smullin, the wife of my was pretty derisive about. Of course, in eco- us became very involved in our other separate mit colleague Louis Smullin, was Merton’s nomics, post-factum interpretations are made research projects, we continued to work to- tutee as a Radcliffe student in 1938.) daily: read The Wall Street Journal today and you gether to expand on the ideas and potential ap- can learn exactly why the market did what it plications. In fact, in 1989, our joint paper was If you look at the bibliography in the 1970 re- did yesterday. Post-factum applies even more going to be the lead article in Rationality and So- print of Merton’s 1938 classic Science, Technology materially to measuring the performance of ciety, the journal that James Coleman had just and Society in Seventeenth-Century England, you money managers, and in that regard it is not a started, but my father did what he had done will ½nd a reference to a paper by one Robert trivial matter. more than once before. As it was about to go to Solow entitled, of course, “Merton’s Science, The next one on the list, the self-ful½lling press he said, “No, it’s not quite good enough.” Technology and Society in Seventeenth-Century En- prophecy, or sfp as he called it: Some econo- Fifteen years later, it’s still not good enough, gland.” The paper is dated January 11, 1942. On mists have speculated that the option pricing but I’m going to try to make it right. In the fall January 11, 1942, I was a sophomore at Harvard model that Fischer Black, Myron Scholes, and of 2002, my father published his last book, The College, a little less than seventeen and a half I derived might not have been descriptive of Travels and Adventures of Serendipity (coauthored years old. I had been taking Talcott Parsons’s market pricing before its public release, but if with Elinor Barber), which actually originated course on the sociology of science, and had enough people believed in it, maybe prices ad- in the 1950s. So, in terms of his holding back turned in my term paper on time. Parsons gave justed so the model became accurate afterwards. and delaying publication, our joint project is it an A and sent it on to Merton. With his usu- nowhere close to the record. rkm al grace, Bob Merton read it, entered it in his Then there was ’s concept of manifest and bibliography, and found it unnecessary to com- In sum, try as I could to do otherwise, I ended latent functions, well cited in my early papers ment on it. I live in hope that the paper is irre- up not at all far from my father. He was indeed but even more so in my later work applying trievably lost or destroyed. I am afraid I can a role model in the deepest sense of that term. functional analysis to better understand ½nan- imagine what it was like. I didn’t get to know He was so aware and so active and so intellec- cial innovation and institutional change. Con- Merton personally until much later. sider a speculative market, say the stock mar- tually productive up to the end of his life–and ket. Its manifest function is to permit transac- that’s a heck of a role model to have going for- There is no mystery in the fact that he was un- tions that allow ½rms to raise funds by issuing ward. appeasably attracted to all kinds of ideas, especially ideas about social institutions, but really shares that investors can buy and trade amongst I am really delighted that this meeting is taking about anything. What is more mysterious is each other. So if you were never going to do any place here. This was a very important institu- that somehow ideas were attracted to him, as transactions in the market, why then would you tion in my father’s life, and I had the great good if he were some kind of intellectual flypaper. If have any interest in it? One answer is that the fortune to join the Academy and be a part of it we took any six of us here and put us in a room market gives you information. Managers who while he was too. Indeed, we had several such with Bob Merton and released an idea some- might never issue equity in their ½rms never- shared connections, including membership in where near the chandelier, the odds are two to theless need to look to the market for infor- the National Academy, and we were the only one that it would flutter down and come to rest mation to help them make effective decisions father and son ever to hold honorary degrees on Merton. You realize what that means: the about the ½rm’s investments–thus providing from the University of Chicago. information is an important latent function of random idea had a two-thirds probability of speculative markets. ½nding its way to Merton and a probability of

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 17 just one-eighteenth of coming to rest on one of of humor.) It is clear that Merton does not and that comes as no surprise. He cannot have us. And we are intelligent, idea-friendly people think it is fruitful to start by deducing middle- had a monopoly on sanity, but he had a healthy or we wouldn’t be here. He must have emitted range theories from such comprehensive theo- market share; it was clearly his natural tem- some pheromone-like come-on. retical systems. In the ½rst place, all those grand perament. theories in sociology are more like “theoreti- It struck me that the obviously right way for me I want to illustrate this discussion of the inter- cal orientations” than they are like tight, rigor- to pay tribute to my friend–and everybody’s connection issue by an anecdote. Bob Merton ous theories. So it may not be possible to get mentor–is to stick to ideas. So I reread one of was not a participant, but I dearly wish he had from some grand theory to a particular middle- Bob Merton’s most celebrated papers, and I been. To begin with, in the course of the mid- range theory. Merton points out explicitly that propose to describe it and discuss it now. The dle-range essay he mentions that Durkheim’s a successful middle-range theory may be logi- paper I have in mind is “On Sociological Theo- is his nominee for the Academy Award cally compatible with more than one grand Suicide ries of the Middle Range.” I chose it partly for for middle-range theory, with Weber’s theory. I don’t remember that he says so explic- The sel½sh reasons: I think of myself as an econom- maybe itly, but it seems to me that, in sociology, one Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ic theorist of the middle range, so I am curious a close second. (The Academy Award locution grand theory may be compatible with more than about parallels and differences between the is mine, not his. Like many of you, I have read disciplines. both books, but missed the movie versions.)

Merton tells us that this essay expands some There is no mystery in the Now the story continues. Back in 1957–1958, comments he had made on a paper read by Tal- fact that he was unappeas- by chance, Talcott Parsons, David Landes, and cott Parsons at the 1947 meeting of the Ameri- I were all fellows at the Center for Advanced can Sociological Society. Merton’s essay can be ably attracted to all kinds Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto. read as a sort of declaration of independence One afternoon, Landes was giving the weekly from his teacher and friend, because Parsons of ideas....What is more seminar. He had (serendipitously) come upon was then the leading advocate and exemplar of a treasure trove of personal letters written by the tendency in social theory that Merton was mysterious is that somehow members of some entrepreneurial textile- opposing. He says that serious work in sociolo- manufacturing families in the cities of Roubaix gy ranges from single, isolated empirical stud- ideas were attracted to him, and Turcoing in northern France. The letters ies of particular situations with little or no po- included hortatory messages from fathers and tential for generalization or even for intercon- as if he were some kind of uncles to sons and nephews. These people were nection, all the way to grand, all-inclusive sys- intellectual flypaper. all pious, unquestioning Catholics. But the tems of sociological theory. He thinks that the messages they were transmitting and the ad- best prospects for progress in sociology lie in vice they were giving sounded exactly as if theories of the middle range: “theories that lie one middle-range theory aimed at the same they had been lifted from Weber’s Calvinists. between the minor but necessary working hy- group of observable facts. But it is pretty clearly So what is then to be made of the Protestant potheses that evolve in abundance during day- Merton’s view that if a successful–that means ethic and the spirit of capitalism? Could We- to-day research and the all-inclusive systematic empirically successful–middle-range theory ber’s middle-range theory have been wrong? efforts to develop a uni½ed theory that will ex- is incompatible with some overarching system, It was in Bob Merton’s mind that one of the plain all the observed uniformities of social be- so much the worse for that grand system. great advantages of middle-range theories is havior, social organization and social change.” It is very important for him that middle-range that they could be wrong and you could show And later: “Middle-range theories consist of theories have the potential to interconnect with them to be wrong. Talcott Parsons, who sort limited sets of assumptions from which spe- one another and form networks of related hy- of owned Max Weber in those days, would not ci½c hypotheses are logically derived and con- potheses that can give rise to broader general- allow the possibility of error. Weber hadn’t ½rmed by empirical investigation....These izations; but the examples of this that he men- actually meant Protestantism, but maybe just theories do not remain separate but are con- tions, without developing them, seem to in- some appropriate religious orientation, or even solidated into wider networks of theory.” volve fairly small increments in generality. It is some ethically sanctioned canons of behavior Merton offers, as sociological examples of the not clear to me whether Merton harbored the that could in principle originate outside of for- middle range, the theory of reference groups, thought that very general social theory could mal religion altogether. the theory of social mobility, of role conflict, be built from the bottom up by this process of What would Merton have said had he been and of the formation of social norms; and he accretion. But he made no bones about where there? I think he might have said: “OK, so it’s thinks of these as analogous to such classical he thought the opportunities for productive not exactly Protestantism, and Weber erred. instances as a theory of prices, a germ theory work in sociology and social theory were to be But there is a research project here. Where, of disease, or a kinetic theory of gases. found–and my experience in economics leads me to believe that he was right. across time and space, have there arisen simi- A dif½cult question arises about the relation of lar ethical injunctions to achieve demonstrat- middle-range theories to total systems of soci- Not every sociologist agreed with him. The ed goodness by worldly success? And where ological theory, like those associated with such paper gives some examples of polarized argu- have they been broadly accepted? And what names as–I have to quote this–“Marx and ments pro and con the middle range. I am not do those instances have in common? Are there Spencer, Simmel, Sorokin and Parsons.” (It was knowledgeable enough about what went on other well-documented middle-range theories certainly not lost on Merton when he wrote before and after to try for a balanced interpre- that bear obliquely on this sort of thing?” This down that passage that neither Karl Marx nor tation. But I will say that Merton’s discussion would, of course, have been put elegantly, and Herbert Spencer had even a microscopic sense of the controversy is distinguished by sanity, with a reminder that to proceed in that direc-

18 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 tion would be to stand on the shoulders of Max face is the fact that defenders of the pure, un- Weber rather than to sit at his feet. By the time I knew him, his adulterated neoclassical system have found themselves forced by the threat of Keynesian The spirit of Merton’s stern but reasonable breadth of knowledge and subversion to reduce the all-inclusive system essay went down so smoothly with me that I to a single middle-range sort of model and then naturally began to think about its relevance for depth of penetration were try applying this to the data of everyday macro- economics. It seems to me that there are two economic life, where it has, on the whole, had characteristics of economics as a discipline that lightly covered over by good no real success. Merton, thou shouldst be with matter in this respect. The ½rst is that the very nature. But no one after ½ve us at this hour. objects that economic theorists think about are very narrowly de½ned: economic theory is minutes would have mis- I hope I have said enough to show you that in- about explaining and understanding prices and tellectual engagement with Bob Merton was quantities of goods and services. If what you taken him for a harmless always an exhilarating experience for a social are saying is not at least indirectly about prices scientist, even for an economist. He was right and quantities, then you are not talking about old codger. about the useful scope for social theory, and he economics. I don’t want to ask whether this had an unerring eye for intellectual puffery and restriction is somehow inevitable, or whether All this has led to a situation in economics that pomposity. Sadly for me, I only got to know there could be a recognizable economics that would have amused Bob Merton. I think it has him well in his later years; and this leaves me was about something else. The fact is that prices to do with the focusing role of prices and quan- uncertain about what he was like in his forties and quantities are what essentially all econom- tities. Only one overarching system, or para- and ½fties, at Columbia and, with Paul Lazars- ics is about. digm, survives: it is what is uninformatively feld, at the Bureau of Applied Social Research. and vaguely called “neoclassical economics.” This fact–historical or logical or accidental– As an inclusive theory it has serious problems I had intended to leave aside the celebrated creates two contrasts with sociology. The ½rst of its own. Generally, however, even important On the Shoulders of Giants and the soon-to-be- is that it limits drastically one’s freedom to subversive movements seem rather to modify celebrated Travels and Adventures of Serendipity. create grand theories in economics. Grand it but not to replace it, although some of its After all, they are just books about the origins theories often differ from other ones because characteristic conclusions have to be given of particular words and phrases and how they they change the subject, they introduce wholly up. I will mention two outstanding examples: acquire and change their meanings as they are new, or apparently new, concepts. If it all has Keynesian economics gives up on the assump- transmitted from person to person and place to come down to the price of orange juice in tion that prices and wages move flexibly and to place and time to time. But I decided at the the end, you can try to go at the problem differ- quickly to equate supply and demand for labor last minute that I couldn’t just forget them: ently, but not too differently. and goods; this is a big deal, but leaves the basic those books say too much about the Merton I paradigm still quite recognizable. Secondly, so- knew. The other contrast is that prices and quantities called behavioral economics wants to give up, are numerical. There is no getting away from They are, of course, a lesson in how to wear in some circumstances, the clearly over-simple the fact that economics has to be quantitative. learning gracefully. Maybe it is a lesson we don’t assumption that economic decision making is I don’t think that the use of mathematics is all- need, because so few of us have that much learn- governed exclusively by greed and rationality. important, though it certainly matters for the ing to wear. They also demonstrate a much more It is not so clear what to put in its place, how- day-to-day business of working economists. It complex quality. They tell their story. Then ever. Recent research on the role of reciprocity is fundamentally the more-or-lessness that fo- they think about the social relations of the peo- in economic behavior would have fascinated cuses economists on the middle range. ple who populate and carry the story, mostly Merton; he would also have noticed that this scientists and other intellectuals. Then they Merton had thought about this too. He speaks is middle-range theory of the best kind. In any reflect on the act of doing the sociology of sci- of the virtue of “bring[ing] out into the open case, the ½ndings of behavioral economics ence and the sociology of knowledge. And then the array of assumptions, concepts, and basic would change some of the implications of the somehow they take an unbemused but toler- propositions employed in a sociological analy- paradigm, but not fundamentally its basic out- ant view of the whole act of writing the book. sis. They thus reduce the inadvertent tendency line. There may be further layers that I am not clever to hide the hard core of analysis behind a veil Is this resiliency a good thing? Too much re- enough to detect. One does ½rst think of Tris- of random, though possibly illuminating com- siliency eases over into flabbiness. I didn’t like tram Shandy. But Sterne is artless compared ments and thoughts....[S]ociology still has it much when Parsons tried to defend Weber with Merton. No, that’s not fair: Merton knew few formulae–that is, highly abbreviated sym- against Landes’s observations. But that was about Tristram Shandy, stood on his shoulders. bolic expressions of relationships between so- a middle-range theory, not a “paradigm.” A ciological variables. Consequently, sociological What I wonder about in particular is how much middle-range theory is supposed to live or die interpretations tend to be discursive. The logic of the later Merton persona was already visible by its empirical bite. Neoclassical economics of procedure, the key concepts, and the rela- in those earlier years. By the time I knew him, is, in Merton’s phrase, a “theoretical orienta- tionships between them often become lost in his breadth of knowledge and depth of pene- tion.” This is another case where I can imagine an avalanche of words.” He suggests that one tration were lightly covered over by good na- my half of a conversation with Merton, but I of the important functions of mathematical ture. But no one after ½ve minutes would have am not so sure about his. symbols is to provide for the simultaneous in- mistaken him for a harmless old codger. He spection of all terms entering an analysis. All that is interesting but not amusing. What was in fact the embodiment in the intellectual would have brought a smile to Bob Merton’s sphere of Muhammad Ali’s description of his

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 19 own style: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. it. He used to say that he would sometime like I believe ½rmly that anything worth doing is to write a joint paper with his son Bob and with worth doing light-heartedly; and I could point me. He wasn’t sure about the topic, but it should to Bob Merton as an adequate demonstration. be signed Robert Merton Duo and Robert Mer- ton Solow. Two thirds of the authorship of that I said that I had never been formally associated unwritten paper are here, but the best third is with him. That is true. But I did overlap with missing. his wife Harriet for some years on the board of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavior- al Sciences. Sharing breakfasts with Bob and © 2003 by Robert C. Merton and Robert M. Harriet in the hotel dining room before those Solow, respectively. meetings taught me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I don’t even care that I never made

1. Robert C. Merton and Robert M. Solow

2. Harriet Zuckerman (Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) and Academy President Patricia Meyer Spacks 3. Barbara Rosenkrantz (Harvard Uni- versity) and Werner Sollors (Harvard University)

2 3

4. Victor Brudney (Harvard Law School), Patricia Albjerg Graham (Harvard University), and Loren Graham (MIT) 5. Visiting Scholars Jonathan Hansen and Adam Webb

4 5

20 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 . The Post-Crescent Photograph courtesy of Senator Joseph McCarthy (on the right) and Army counsel Joseph Welch (on the left) say it with gestures during the celebrated Army-McCarthy hearings in Washington in June 1954. “Have You No Sense of Decency?” McCarthyism 50 Years Later Nathan Glazer, Anthony Lewis, and Sam Tanenhaus

This presentation was given at a symposium held at the House of the Academy on January 26, 2004.

Nathan Glazer, a Fellow of the American Academy McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America; a harmed people, that he was a bully, a woman- since 1969, is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and new biography of Elizabeth Bentley by Lauren izer, and a heavy drinker who had been involved Education at Harvard University. Kessler, Clever Girl: Elizabeth Bentley, The Spy Who in various shady efforts to make money since Ushered in the McCarthy Era; a book by Thomas he had become a senator in 1946. But even the The New York Anthony Lewis was a columnist for Doherty on the role of television in McCarthy- popular president of the United States, Eisen- Times from 1969 to 2001. He has been a Fellow of ism, Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCar- hower, who despised him, did not think it wise the American Academy since 1991. thyism, and American Culture; and undoubtedly to take him on directly. McCarthy had become Sam Tanenhaus was a contributing editor at Vanity there are a few more new titles on the topic that a unique ½gure in American public life. He had Fair and is currently editor of The New York Times I haven’t noticed. It seems we have come to been launched into a prominence he knew how Book Review. agreement on at least one aspect of McCarthy- to exploit by his charges that the Truman ad- ism–yes, there were Americans who spied for ministration harbored Communists in the the Soviets, some in fairly high places. But I State Department and elsewhere, despite the Nathan Glazer don’t think there is yet any agreement on the security program Truman had instituted. Many signi½cance of the phenomenon of McCarthy- right-wing Republicans were saying the same ism. And that is one reason we are holding this thing, but none with the same ability to arouse t seems a ½ftieth anniversary–and it was just I meeting. a Communist-fearing and obsessed American ½fty years ago that the enormous power that public, nor with the same skill in making use Senator Joseph McCarthy had accumulated be- Fifty years ago today Senator Joseph McCar- of the press. The reporters had to report what gan to unravel–is a good time for evaluating thy of Wisconsin was at the very height of the a prominent and controversial senator said, what the phenomenon that we label with his remarkable power he had created for himself. but unfortunately their efforts to ½nd out if name meant for the United States, and what its It was generally known to the journalists who there was any substance in what he charged long-range consequences have been. We have covered him that he was indifferent to the lagged far behind the damning charges them- this year a new large book by Ted Morgan, Reds: truth, that his charges of Communist af½liation selves.

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 21 McCarthy had among others denounced so often happens in congressional investiga- George Marshall, Eisenhower’s respected pa- McCarthy had been tions, the issue of executive privilege arose: tron, secretary of defense under Truman, in launched into a prominence could the committee badger of½cials in the ex- a sixty-thousand-word speech, which he had ecutive branch on just what they had done in published as a book. This was only one of the he knew how to exploit by the Peress and in other cases? On February 24, things for which Eisenhower could not forgive the Secretary of the Army, meeting with Sen- him. McCarthy, using his typical, ingeniously his charges that the Truman ator McCarthy, had caved in and agreed the poisoned turns of speech, asserted he did not committee could. On this occasion, The Times know “whether General Marshall was aware administration harbored of London wrote, “Senator McCarthy this after- he was implementing the will of Stalin....If noon achieved what General Burgoyne and Marshall was merely stupid, the laws of prob- Communists in the State General Cornwallis never achieved–the com- ability would dictate that part of his decisions plete surrender of the American army.” Philip would serve America’s interests...I do not Department and elsewhere. Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, wrote think that this monstrous perversion of sound to Sherman Adams, Eisenhower’s chief of staff, institutions are not afraid of him.” But as Ei- and understandable national policy was acci- “do believe me that if you do not break now senhower said on a number of occasions, “I dental.” In other words, Marshall was a traitor. with this monster you will become his pawns.” just will not–I refuse to–get into the gutter The national media, the major columnists, and with that guy.” Finally Eisenhower decided action had to be the leading newspapers regularly exposed and taken. With his approval it was agreed a full Looking at McCarthy’s record and impact dur- attacked McCarthy, but with little effect. It was record of Cohn’s obnoxious efforts to get pref- ing the four years of his power, one is tempted a rare senator who disputed him, and a number erence in the Army for Schine should be pre- to paraphrase the famous line from Butch Cas- of those who did had been defeated in the elec- pared: Cohn’s behavior could be the weak link sidy and the Sundance Kid: “Who is this guy?” tion of 1952. This was the election that brought in McCarthy’s armor. On March 11, on orders We cannot imagine anyone today exercising Eisenhower to the presidency, the Republicans from the White House, this record of telephone such near universal intimidation. to a majority in the Senate, and McCarthy to calls and abuse was delivered to all the mem- the chairmanship of a formally minor commit- But ½fty years ago the McCarthy phenomenon bers of the McCarthy committee. The clear tee, but one from which he could conduct his collapsed within a few months. McCarthy had implication was that the motivation for the amazing terrorization of a good part of Amer- unwisely appointed Roy Cohn, a young New McCarthy-Army investigations was to put pres- ica’s ruling class. York lawyer who had been a federal prosecutor sure on the Army to release Schine from Army in the trials of leaders of the Communist Party duties. In response, McCarthy released a set of And terrorization it was. John Foster Dulles, and in the Rosenberg trial, as chief counsel for predated memoranda, which clearly had just Secretary of State under Eisenhower, asking a his investigating committee. Cohn’s friend G. been prepared, whose theme was that the Ar- subordinate who had come under attack to re- David Schine–Harvard College, Adams House, my was persecuting Schine to put pressure on sign, said, “Don’t you know I went through this and scion of a wealthy family–came along McCarthy to back off from his own investiga- kind of thing?” (As a trustee of the Carnegie with Cohn to work for the committee. After a tion into the Army’s handling of Communists. Endowment for International Peace, Dulles highly publicized investigation of the United Someone was lying, and so we come to that fa- had defended Alger Hiss, the president of the States Information Agency (usia) libraries miliar place so often reached in great moments Endowment.) “You can’t pacify these people. abroad, which helped bring McCarthy to the of American politics, when the issue becomes There’s no reasoning with these people.” (I attention and astonishment of a European pub- not who is right and who is wrong, but who is quote here and elsewhere in this article from lic, Cohn began investigating presumed Com- telling the truth and who is not. David M. Oshinsky, A Conspiracy So Immense: munists–all of whom were already well known The World of Joe McCarthy [New York: Free The Army selected a special counsel for the to the Army–who had worked in the Army Press, 1983], an excellent account of Senator hearings, and so Joseph Welch, of Grinnell Col- Signal Corps research facility in New Jersey. McCarthy’s rise and fall.) Leaders of American lege, Harvard Law School, and Hale & Dorr of Most of them had already been dismissed. industry, leading newspaper publishers, friends, our own Boston, went to Washington to en- Cohn’s investigators then ran into the case of and his brother Milton urged Eisenhower to counter the phenomenon of a McCarthy hear- Irving Peress, a dentist just recently called to do something. As the board chairman of Gen- ing. the service. He had been an undergraduate at eral Electric wrote to him after a trip to Europe, City College, where he had known Julius Ro- The hearings were televised and reached an “People in high and low places see in him a po- senberg and Morton Sobell. This was red meat enormous audience. The key moment came on tential Hitler...the stature of your adminis- to McCarthy–an almost or likely Communist June 9, 1954. Welch had brought an assistant tration...is impaired in the countries I visited. in the Army, even if all he did was dentistry! with him–a young lawyer from Hale & Dorr, The impression of abject appeasement should Fred Fisher, who told him that he had been be corrected, not only for general consumption The Army was in the process of releasing Peress a member of the National Lawyers Guild, a but because I have never seen the morale of for security reasons. But it was slow and bureau- Communist-dominated lawyers group. Welch State Department people, at home and abroad, cratic in its procedures, and McCarthy hoped sent him back to Boston. But the McCarthy so shattered.” Walter Lippmann, the influen- to make something of this. At the same time, people had already found out (The New York tial and statesmanlike columnist, wrote, “Mc- G. David Schine had been drafted into the Ar- Times had already told the story), and Welch Carthy’s influence has grown as the President my, and Cohn was busy harassing top civilian was worried. He engineered a deal with Cohn: has appeased him . . . His power will cease to and military ½gures in the Army to get special Welch wouldn’t raise the issue of Cohn’s own grow and will diminish when he is resisted, treatment for his friend, who, he asserted, was record of evasive maneuvers to avoid the draft, and it has been shown to our people that those crucial to the committee’s investigations. As and Cohn would not bring up Fred Fisher. we look to for leadership and to preserve our 22 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Oshinsky writes, “The reviews were now pour- with the conflicts that divided the country on Communist influence, ing in and they were not kind to McCarthy. It the issue of Communism in American life: the particularly in intellectual wasn’t the Fisher incident or any single mis- Hiss trials, the Rosenberg case, the trials of take: it was rather the cumulative impression Communist leaders under the Smith Act, the life, was greater than modal of his day-to-day performance–his windy investigation into Hollywood, the loyalty oaths speeches, his endless interruptions, his fright- on college and university campuses–all these liberal opinion recognized; ening outbursts, his crude personal attacks. In for the most part preceded him. All his bluster Wisconsin newspapers long sympathetic to about Communists and Communist influence despite that, the American McCarthy were describing his behavior as ‘bru- produced only one major case, the indictment tal’ and ‘inexcusable.’ In Washington Republi- of Owen Lattimore, the China scholar, for per- response was indeed hysteri- can leaders were cutting his speaking engage- jury–a charge that was eventually dismissed. ments and his role in the 1954 campaign.” His And yet McCarthy’s name has, for many of us, cal and excessive. approval ratings were also dropping–from 50 come to embody the anti-Communism of the percent “favorable” in February to 34 percent late 1940s and 1950s. But McCarthy couldn’t resist: “in view of Mr. in June. Welch’s request that the information be given So the original question that McCarthyism ob- once we know of anyone who might be per- In the Senate, negotiations for some kind of scured remains: What was the weight of Com- forming any work for the Communist Party, I motion of criticism proceeded, and led eventu- munism and Communists in American life? think we should tell him that he has in his law ally to a vote on a motion of “censure,” sixty- Did it warrant to any degree the hysteria–we ½rm a young lawyer named Fisher whom he seven to twenty-two. McCarthy was censured can call it that–over Communists that prevailed recommended, incidentally, to do work on this speci½cally for his attacks on fellow senators during the McCarthy years? committee, who has been for a number of years and Senate procedures, for his failure to coop- We do have to note that some very alarming a member of an organization which was named, erate with the very ½rst committee set up to things were going on in the world as McCarthy oh, years and years ago, as the legal bulwark of examine his charges in 1950 and his abuse of burst onto the scene, and these certainly affected the Communist Party...I am not asking you its members, and for his attack on the select American reactions. During the very year in at this time why you tried to foist him on this committee that had been assembled to exam- which McCarthy became a front-page phenom- committee....” And so on, in vintage McCar- ine the question of his own censure. He had at- enon, Alger Hiss was found guilty of perjury– thy. Welch had of course not recommended tacked this committee as the “unwitting hand- in fact, of being a Communist spy; the United Fisher for work on the committee, and Fisher maiden,” “involuntary agent,” and “attorneys States decided to build the hydrogen bomb, had left the National Lawyers Guild some years in fact” of the Communist Party. These attacks, perhaps in response to the shocking discovery before–but no matter. the resolution read, “tended to bring the Senate a few months before that the Soviet Union had into dishonor and disrepute, to obstruct the Welch was prepared: “Until this moment, Sen- an atom bomb; Klaus Fuchs was arrested as an constitutional processes of the Senate, and to ator, I think I never really gauged your reck- atom spy; the Rosenbergs were arrested and impair its dignity.” lessness and cruelty. . . . Little did I dream you various persons thought to be part of their could be so reckless and so cruel as to do an in- McCarthy was only forty-six, but he had been espionage group fled the country before they jury to that lad. It is true he is still with Hale & in and out of the Bethesda Naval Hospital for could be arrested; North Korea launched a Dorr. It is true that he will continue to be with various ailments exacerbated by his drinking. massive and destructive attack on South Korea; Hale & Dorr. It is, I regret to say, equally true With the 1954 elections, the Democrats regained and, by the end of the year, American troops that he shall always bear a scar needlessly in- control of the Senate and McCarthy lost the were in retreat before a huge Chinese counter- flicted by you. If it were in my power to forgive chairmanship of his committee and control of attack. It was generally believed that the Sovi- you for your reckless cruelty, I would do so. But its staff. His departure from the front pages was ets had acquired the atom bomb through Com- your forgiveness will have to come from some- as rapid as his ascent to dominate them in 1950. munist espionage. We were engaged not only one other than me.” His fellow senators now ignored or shunned in a cold war heightened by the fear of nuclear him. Supreme Court decisions were meanwhile war, but in a real war in Korea, in which Amer- But McCarthy returned to the attack. Welch limiting the reach of congressional investiga- icans were being killed at a greater rate than responded: “Let us not assassinate this lad fur- tions and of state sedition laws, and limiting later in the Vietnam War. How do we slot the ther, Senator. You have done enough. Have you dismissals of faculty members who had taken real issue of Communism into the McCarthyite no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” Welch’s the Fifth Amendment. The atmosphere of hys- phenomenon? performance–and he was a performer–re- teria over American Communists in which Mc- ceived a thunderous burst of applause. To quote When I ½rst agreed to revisit McCarthyism for Carthy had flourished began to lighten. McCar- David Oshinsky, whose account I am following, this meeting, I thought I would certainly ½nd thy died on May 2, 1957. But he had given his “McCarthy...knew he had come off poorly, discussion of this issue prominent. I thought name to a phenomenon, and we have to ask, but he did not seem to understand why. ‘What of the very well known, indeed notorious, com- what did it all mean? did I do?’ he kept asking the people around ment of Irving Kristol in an article on McCar- him. ‘What did I do?’” In all this, I have as yet said nothing about Com- thyism in Commentary in March 1953: “there is munism–and indeed much of the writing about one thing the American people know about I think had our meeting today been simply la- McCarthy has little to say about Communism: Senator McCarthy; he, like them, is unequivo- beled “Have you no sense of decency?” with McCarthy, rather, becomes the main issue, cally anti-Communist. About the spokesmen no subtitle, most of this audience would have which is why many anti-Communists, includ- for American liberalism, they feel they know known what we were going to talk about. It is ing Whittaker Chambers, believed he hampered no such thing.” This article was a sensation in a famous quotation. the cause. McCarthy had almost nothing to do the circles in which I lived at the time, New

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 23 York intellectuals. I was so alarmed about what true nature of Communism and Communist times when because of this man, they could not it would do to Commentary’s reputation among influence, and that helped discredit liberalism act at all. Yet at his peak, 50 percent of Ameri- liberals–Kristol and I were both editors of in American public opinion. But I believe we cans polled said they had a “favorable” opinion Commentary at the time–that I immediately in the New York anti-Communist world made of him and another 21 percent had no opinion. rushed to write an article for Commentary that too much of liberalism’s response to Commun- William F. Buckley observed at the time, “Mc- was more unequivocally anti-McCarthy. But ism at a time when the greater problem was to Carthyism is a movement around which men it seems these agitations, however large they bring American opinion to some kind of rea- of good will and stern morality can close ranks.” loomed in my life, and the life of many of those sonable balance on the kind of threat posed by I remember one more quote, because it meant here I would guess, did not make much of a American Communists. something to me at the time. During the 1952 mark in the larger McCarthy debates. In the presidential election campaign, when Adlai half dozen books on McCarthy I have consult- Stevenson was opposing Eisenhower, McCarthy ed, I have found to my surprise no reference at Anthony Lewis called Stevenson “a graduate of Dean Acheson’s all to Kristol’s article or to that quotation, and College of Cowardly Communist Containment.” very little discussion of the real scale of Com- thought I might begin by saying where I was I He had a way with alliteration. I want to men- munist influence in American life and of what on the day that Joseph Welch made his famous tion one other example of McCarthy’s style. He response it warranted. plea. It was the day my ½rst child was born. I had been covering the Army-McCarthy hear- But isn’t that the issue? If we are interested in ings for –a paper understanding McCarthy and McCarthyism, The Washington Daily News Truman and Eisenhower, that, alas, no longer exists–but I missed that don’t we have to take account of the reality of day. Communism in America ½rst? Dwight Mac- from 1950 through 1954, donald, of Partisan Review and Politics, whose Even for those of us who lived through McCar- subsequent political course was very different thy’s time close up, it is shocking now to hear could never act without from Kristol’s, had very much the same thing or even read his words. I did a bit of reading weighing the effect of their to say at the time (as I learned from Geoffrey in preparation for this discussion, especially Wheatcroft’s review of Ted Morgan’s book on Richard Rovere’s wonderful book, Senator Joe plans upon McCarthy and McCarthyism). Macdonald wrote, “the liber- McCarthy. When Nat cited a few quotes from als have never honestly confronted their illu- it earlier, I noticed that there was an undercur- the forces he led. sions in the 30’s and 40’s about Communism rent of laughter at some points. It’s so extreme, but have instead merely interposed a disingen- it’s so absurd, that you’re tempted to laugh; but uous defense, a blanket denial to McCarthy’s it wasn’t funny. I think many of the people in always used to speak of “twenty years of trea- equally sweeping attack” (New York Times Book this room were there, and you know it wasn’t son”: twenty years going back, twenty years Review, January 4, 2004). Leslie Fiedler had made funny. Read those words again, as I just have, of Democratic power, four terms of Roosevelt the same point even more sharply: Liberals and their brutality is still shocking. and four after Truman was elected on his own. had accepted the paradox “that (a) there were During the Army-McCarthy hearings, at one really no Communists, just the hallucinations I’ll give another quote about George Marshall. point, he suddenly spoke of twenty-one years of ‘witch hunters,’ and (b) if there were Com- Nat spoke quite rightly of Marshall as a prin- of treason. That was a message about Eisen- munists, they were, despite their shrillness cipal target of Joe McCarthy. I don’t have to hower. and bad manners, fundamentally on the side tell you that Marshall was a man of enormous Nat has spoken of the reasons underlying Amer- of justice” (“Hiss, Chambers, and the Age of reputation: Chief of Staff of the Army during icans’ susceptibility to McCarthy’s demagogy: Innocence,” Commentary, December 1950). World War II, the person who really organized the American military campaigns, Secretary the fear of Communism, the reality of Soviet There were three issues intermingled here. of State, the author of the Marshall Plan, and, extravagant aggressiveness in the world, and One concerned the weight of Communism in above all, in virtually everyone’s mind, a sym- America’s fear of that power. But it wasn’t the various sectors of American life and the spe- bol of honor. Here is what McCarthy said of ½rst time in American history that fear has par- ci½c role of Communist espionage in weaken- Marshall: “A man steeped in falsehood...who alyzed American political thinking. Fear of for- ing the United States during the Cold War with has recourse to the lie whenever it suits his con- eign or alien-seeming power has been a period- the Soviet Union. The second was whether this venience....Part ofa conspiracy so immense ic characteristic of American life from the very role justi½ed the huge crackdown on Commun- and an infamy so black as to dwarf any previ- beginning. In 1798, Congress passed and Pres- ists and anyone connected with Communist- ous venture in the history of man...[His ac- ident Adams signed into law the Sedition Act, influenced organizations during this period. tivities show] a pattern which ½nds his deci- which made it a crime to criticize the President The third was whether American liberal opin- sion. . . always and invariably serving the world of the United States. It did so on the argument ion had been derelict in judging the signi½cance policy of the Kremlin.” that the statute was needed to combat French of Communist influence and in guiding opin- Jacobin terror: the notion, at the time, that ion on it. All big questions, still disputed. The The power McCarthy held at his zenith is hard French Jacobins were going to in½ltrate the short answers I would give are, respectively: to believe. Rovere writes: “He held two Ameri- United States, a brand-new country, and over- Communist influence, particularly in intellec- can presidents captive–or as nearly captive as throw its government. It wasn’t just radicals tual life, was greater than modal liberal opin- any presidents of the United States have ever who held that view. Abigail Adams, who I sup- ion recognized; despite that, the American re- been held.” Truman and Eisenhower, from 1950 pose most people in this room would regard sponse was indeed hysterical and excessive; but through 1954, could never act without weighing as rather admirable and sensible, spoke of the Kristol, Macdonald, and Fiedler had a point– the effect of their plans upon McCarthy and Jeffersonians, who were her husband’s oppo- liberals had been derelict in recognizing the the forces he led; in consequence, there were nents, as the “French party.” 24 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 There is something that is absolutely essential piece of knavery and trickery by McCarthy to about Joe McCarthy, and it’s the reason I may From the Sedition Act to make it look as though just the two of them disagree a little bit with Nat. America was lucky the outrageous prosecutions were together. “Who cropped the photograph?” because McCarthy was not a serious dema- became the great question of the day–but it gogue. He did it all just to get his name in the during World War I to the was never answered. I was frustrated when such paper and to have something to talk about that issues were left unresolved. I knew some of the would make him famous. He didn’t believe World War II detention of lawyers involved and I kept saying, “Well, why that there were 205 Communists in the State don’t you get at some of these things?” But, as Department when he stood up in Wheeling, Japanese-Americans in what I eventually realized, that wasn’t the point. The West Virginia, and said, “I have in my hand a facts were unimportant. Joe Welch wanted to list of 205 Communists” in the State Depart- amounted to prison camps, destroy McCarthy by showing the country ment. He didn’t believe it and he didn’t care, what he was really like–and he did. one way or the other. He was completely cyni- fear has pervaded American Finally, I want to say a word about McCarthy cal, and his cynicism was evident in a very society–and it remains with and Harvard University, and speci½cally about peculiar way. Wendell J. Furry, then an associate professor in The ½rst senator to speak against him was Ralph us today. the department of physics, and Leon J. Kamin, Flanders, a rather mild Republican from Ver- a researcher. McCarthy called Furry to testify posed to be about. McCarthy’s counsel in the mont. After Flanders denounced McCarthy in in connection with a charge of espionage at committee investigations, Roy M. Cohn, was the Senate, I saw McCarthy go over to Flanders, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. At ½rst, Furry in- determined to help his friend G. David Schine put his arm around him, and sort of “chat him voked the Fifth Amendment. The Harvard ad- escape the draft. He made strenuous efforts, up.” That’s the way he was. He didn’t under- ministration was, to put it mildly, not support- going as far as the Secretary of the Army, Rob- stand why people that he denounced shouldn’t ive: President Nathan Pusey said that Harvard ert Ten Broeck Stevens, to move Schine out of like him, because it was all just a game. Accord- “deplored” Furry’s response. But many Harvard regular Army service and into other roles, in- ing to Rovere, after verbally attacking Dean faculty members felt and acted otherwise. Em- cluding an assignment to the McCarthy com- Acheson, McCarthy encountered Acheson in inent ½gures in the physics department formed mittee. Stevens gave way to Cohn’s demands one of the small elevators in the Senate of½ce a committee to raise money for Furry’s de- up to a point, but in the end, he drew the line, building and gave him a big hello. Acheson fense. Furry’s lawyer, Gerald Berlin of Boston, leading to the hearings. just looked at him icily and said nothing. Mc- consulted with law school professors whose Carthy was hurt: “Why is he doing this to me?” As Nat has said, the Army charged that it was names sound like an honor roll: Paul Freund, pressured and threatened by McCarthy and Albert Sacks, Mark Howe, Kingman Brewster, The press learned some important lessons from Cohn to gain favors for Schine. McCarthy coun- and Benjamin Kaplan. The provost of the uni- McCarthy. Nat remarked–and I quote him on tered by claiming that Stevens and his colleagues versity, Paul Buck, was also helpful. this important point, not just about then, but were protecting Communists and compromis- about now: “Reporters had to report what a At a hearing held in Boston, Professor Furry ing Army security. Throughout the hearing, prominent Republican senator said.” But what ½nally testi½ed about his past, admitting that McCarthy focused on one unfortunate man: Ir- happened then was that the press treated itself he had been a member of the Communist Party ving Peress, an Army dentist who took the Fifth too often as a stenographic machine. They just for a brief period, ending in 1947, but he refused Amendment when questioned about his mem- recorded it. “Senator McCarthy said today that to name others. He was indicted on the charge bership in the Communist Party, but was later he would announce tomorrow [very often, he of contempt of the Senate. But, in 1956, Federal ordered to active duty, promoted, and honor- announced a day ahead what he was going to District Judge Bailey Aldrich dismissed the ably discharged. McCarthy’s constant rallying say the next day] the name of America’s lead- charge, ½nding that the McCarthy committee cry was “Who promoted Peress?”–as if it were ing Communist spy.” But the next day came, had exceeded its authority during the hearing the most important issue about freedom and and he either did or didn’t; usually he didn’t, at which Furry appeared. The Harvard Corpo- Communism since the arrival of Lenin at the because all he cared about was the headline of ration placed Professor Furry on probation for Finland Station. the moment, and anyway, he didn’t know the three years and delayed his promotion, but the name of America’s leading Communist spy. During the time I covered the hearings for The incident eventually righted itself. Judge Aldrich But then some members of the press began to Washington Daily News, I really misunderstood also dismissed a second charge arising from realize that they were not really being detached, what the Army’s lawyers, especially the wily Joe that hearing, this time against Leon Kamin, neutral, or fair; they were playing McCarthy’s Welch–a superb lawyer–were doing. There who did not have tenure at Harvard and sub- game. Two reporters, in particular, did a won- were some completely absurd events in the sequently went to Canada to teach at McGill derful job of reporting McCarthy’s record of course of the hearings. At one point, McCarthy University. promised proof that never panned out: Philip displayed a photograph of himself with Secre- The McCarthy episode showed us how easy it Potter of The Baltimore Sun (I thought then and tary of the Army Stevens, showing both of them is to instill fear in this country. The late Richard I think now that, like Cassius, he had a lean smiling and appearing friendly. As McCarthy Hofstadter spoke famously about “ the para- and hungry look) and Murrey Marder of The said, “Well, how can you say I’m against him? noid strain in American politics.” From the Washington Post. They followed him, reported Look at this photograph. We’re pals.” The next Sedition Act to the outrageous prosecutions what he said, and then put it in the context of day, Welch demonstrated that McCarthy’s during World War I to the World War II deten- his previous remarks. photo had been cropped from the original pic- tion of Japanese-Americans in what amounted ture that included a large number of people. I Their work reached a climax at the Army- to prison camps, fear has pervaded American don’t know if that incident was terribly serious, McCarthy hearings. It’s hard to believe now, society–and it remains with us today. but Welch made it seem as though this was a even to imagine, what those hearings were sup- Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 25 Sam Tanenhaus politics for over a generation. We have already really threatened the fabric of society. The polls heard about Dwight Macdonald’s quite nu- show that, by the end of 1954, only 1 percent of anced discussions of McCarthyism. Macdonald Americans thought Communism and threats It’s a pleasure to speak after two of my intel- published a book, Henry Wallace: The Man and to civil liberties were a major concern in the lectual heroes, although I’m going to disagree the Myth, in time for Wallace’s third-party can- country. with them a bit. I want to begin by asking a dif- didacy, a candidacy that seemed to be–or was The question of interventionism was really ferent question: Try to imagine what it was like accused of being by Macdonald, among oth- the great cause of the American Right, and it to be someone who wasn’t afraid of Joe Mc- ers–a Communist front. It was the last great continues to be. In his new book, Carthy because, as we’ve heard, about half the gasp of so-called fellow-traveling in American Reds: McCar- , Ted Morgan country wasn’t. In fact, 65 percent of the Re- politics. At the very end of that little book, Mac- thyism in Twentieth-Century America described the most interesting, but not surpris- publican Party supported him at his height. donald says, “Henry Wallace may not be a So- ing, new ½nding about McCarthy, namely that On the Senate censure vote–sixty-seven to viet agent, but he acts like one”–a statement he was an isolationist leading up to World War twenty-two for censure–the Republican Party that is precisely the same formulation that Joe II. McCarthy came from Wisconsin, a real cen- was split in half, with twenty-two voting not McCarthy made about George Marshall, Dean ter of antiwar sentiment in World War II with to censure McCarthy. To the very end, he re- Acheson, and Owen Lattimore. a large German population. In addition, the tained the loyalty of some of the most influen- Let me say a few words about Owen Lattimore, tial Republicans in the United States, including a China specialist and a journalist who taught the Republican Senator who would become, briefly at Johns Hopkins University. Lattimore McCarthy was not, in fact, in effect, his heir as leader of the conservative was a kind of ad-hoc informal advisor to the movement in America: Barry Goldwater. the inventor but the galvan- State Department who traveled to Russia in Why was half the country impressed by Mc- 1944 with Henry Wallace when Wallace was ic force, the inheritor, of a Carthy, or, at least, why did they respond favor- Vice President. Lattimore was the subject of ably to him? There are several explanations. one of McCarthy’s most notorious lies. When kind of rhetoric that had The reference to twenty years of treason reso- pressed to reveal the identities of the 205 Com- nated with American conservatives in the early munists he claimed were in the State Depart- been growing in American 1950s. They had been concerned about fdr’s ment, McCarthy responded: “Well, I’m going management of the country: ½rst, the appro- to identify the most important espionage agent politics for over a generation. priation of the nation’s economic forces, then in America, the guy who runs the whole show, a massive military build-up, and, in 1940, the Alger Hiss’s boss.” It was Owen Lattimore, who famous progressive political family the La Fol- unprecedented run for a third term. Speaking might have been called a fellow-traveling intel- lettes were antiwar. McCarthy was a state judge in support of Wendell Wilkie, the Republican lectual, but never an espionage agent. When in Wisconsin when he made one of his ½rst candidate for president in 1940, Herbert Hoo- McCarthy and his defenders were challenged statements that gained him public attention. ver said: “We have seen the rise of totalitari- on this statement, their defense was precisely During a visit to Washington, D.C., shortly be- anism in Germany, Russia, and Japan, and now the one that Dwight Macdonald had made in fore Pearl Harbor, he denounced Congress, in- we see it here at home. We see a president who the case of Henry Wallace: “Who cares wheth- cluding the Wisconsin delegation, for trying has nationalized the economy, who has elimi- er Owen Lattimore is really a Communist agent, to push the country into war. nated political opposition, and who now will since he acts like one?”–that is, he supported One of the mysteries to me, as I write about create a military-industrial state.” Well it hap- the purges, defended the show trials, and had American conservatism, is how quickly and pened, only it happened a generation later, dur- edited a magazine that included documents on seamlessly the American Right moved from an ing the Cold War. Communism stolen from the State Department. isolationist, anti-interventionist position lead- Tony Lewis quite rightly mentioned a series of These examples further underline McCarthy’s ing up to Pearl Harbor to an extreme interven- repressive acts that were committed by admin- enormous power, which both Nat and Tony tionist position afterwards, particularly when istrations, going all the way back to the Sedition mentioned earlier. However, I would point out it came to the Soviet Union. Why was it that, Act in 1798; but he left out the McWilliams case. that during the Eisenhower presidency, John suddenly, conservatives wanted to ½ght the In 1942, fdr decided to prosecute several doz- Foster Dulles was more paralyzed than Eisen- “great war” they hadn’t wanted to ½ght before? en Americans–some of them fascists, some of hower. Eisenhower took of½ce in January 1953 The answer is that most of them didn’t. Robert them fascist sympathizers, some of them mere- and within about six months or so, he had be- Taft and Joe McCarthy both opposed the Kore- ly opponents of intervention–on the grounds gun the process of neutralizing McCarthy. Ac- an War initially. Yet some of us remember that that they were Nazi spies. A judge threw the tually, by the time the hearings began, McCar- when Douglas MacArthur wanted to take the case out of court two years later. In their 1954 thy was more or less ½nished. His popularity war to China, Harry Truman ½red him, and book, McCarthy and His Enemies, William F. peaked in the very end of 1953 and in any case, MacArthur became a martyr to the Right. In Buckley and L. Brent Bozell wrote, “Where never exceeded 50 percent. fact, the American conservative movement were the liberals 15 years ago, when those who opposed almost all those interventions early Both my fellow panelists are quite right to say were on the right, some fascists, some not fas- on, and McCarthy identi½ed the perfect surro- that McCarthy was not a “Hitlerian” ½gure. Did cists, stood in the dock and were called the gate enemy. McCarthy’s approach was, in its McCarthy terrorize America? I think that’s an same names that McCarthy now calls liberals?” crude way, a very clever formulation. Basically, open question. Did he cause a great deal of dam- he said, “Why send American soldiers to die age? Absolutely. Did he destroy reputations? McCarthy was not, in fact, the inventor but in Korea when all the Communists we have to No question. Was he a bane for democracy? the galvanic force, the inheritor, of a kind of fear are here at home? If we can get Dean Ache- Certainly. But I’m not sure to what extent he rhetoric that had been growing in American son and George Marshall and all the other bad 26 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 In his presentation, Nat quoted a 1953 com- The subject of my next book, Bill Buckley, McCarthy actually took the ment by Irving Kristol to the effect that the joined McCarthy’s cause because Buckley knew language of the anti-Com- American people knew that McCarthy was an exactly what McCarthy was and saw how effec- anti-Communist but “about the spokesmen tive he was politically. McCarthy gave a tinge munist Left and turned it for American liberalism, they knew no such of populism to smoldering sentiments, which thing.” Last summer, William Kristol, Irving’s led New Dealers like Walter Winchell to be- into the language of the son and the editor of the Weekly Standard, wrote come rabid McCarthyites. He sounded like the a column in The Washington Post on the Demo- old leftists. He borrowed their language in a extremist anti-Communist crats’ views on Iraq that included this line: down-market version. The New York journal- “The American people know George Bush will ist Murray Kempton once reported on a book Right. ½ght a war against terror. About Dick Gephardt, publishing party for Buckley and Bozell’s Mc- they know no such thing.” Carthy and His Enemies, where the star attrac- guys out of the State Department, they won’t tions were Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn. He The important point is that McCarthy sustained lure us into these death traps overseas.” observed that among the guests most fascinat- this rhetoric: He actually took the language of ed by McCarthy were old ex-Communists in- In other words, isolationism never really went the anti-Communist Left and turned it into the cluding Max Eastman. They came to see Joe away; it remained one of the submerged themes language of the extremist anti-Communist McCarthy, because McCarthy kept the old in American foreign policy that is still evident Right; now it has become the standard curren- ½ght alive. He had the same enemies that the today. Isolationism was reborn as unilateral- cy of the American Right. If you were an ad- old Left had: the well-bred, Ivy-League-edu- ism. In fact, the two consort fairly easily. In the mirer of McCarthy at the time of the hearing cated, establishment-reared intellectual class. years leading up to World War II, the antiwar we just saw, you didn’t believe that he got the In the 1930s, it had come from the Left; now it argument from the Right was that we did not worst of the exchange with Joseph Welch. And– was coming from the Right. want to involve ourselves in European wars. It I would suggest–some of the Right still don’t actually doesn’t take a great leap from that to think so. If you read Ann Coulter’s new book, say we, alone, will ½ght the Cold War: We’ll Treason, McCarthy is a hero. He not only wins nato © 2004 by Nathan Glazer, Anthony Lewis, and oppose and the Marshall Plan as, again, that exchange, but he becomes the leader of the Sam Tanenhaus, respectively. the conservatives did and we’ll make it our new conservative movement. In a way, she’s single crusade against the enemy. And we are right. seeing this again in the war in Iraq.

1. Nathan Glazer 2. Anthony Lewis 3. Sam Tanenhaus

12 3

4. Leon Eisenberg (Harvard Medical School) and Arthur Pardee (Dana- Farber Cancer Institute) 5. Richard Parker (Harvard University) and John Shattuck (John F. Kennedy Library Foundation)

4 5

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 27 Project Update

employment rate reported in 1991, existing federal databases, espe- Academy Sponsors humanities graduates still display cially the on-going surveys in the one of the highest unemployment Baccalaureate and Beyond series Humanities Research rates among all disciplines. conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics (a unit Perhaps the most important ½nd- hrough the Initiative for the Hu- of the U.S. Department of Educa- T of ½nancial aid, student loan bur- ing in St. John and Wooden’s sur- manities, the Academy is advanc- tion) could be better employed to dens, family background, and pre- vey of the data is that the under- ing our understanding of the state discern patterns of course taking, vious work experience. But it is graduate degree in the humanities, of the humanities today by devel- post-graduate employment, and possible to draw some broad gen- as the ½gure for full-time employ- oping the research and statistical graduate education that may be eralizations about patterns of un- ment suggests, is becoming mere- tools necessary for sound policy- unique to the humanities. They dergraduate enrollments and later ly a stepping stone to advanced making. In the initial discussions cautiously suggest that with the career choices: professional degrees. “Having leading to the creation of the Ini- saturation of the academic mar- • undergraduate preparation in the tiative, many Academy Fellows The percentage of college grad- ket for Ph.D.s in the humanities, humanities provides advanced identi½ed a need for gathering re- uates choosing humanities majors students might be better served problem-solving skills that are liable data on the humanities and declined substantially from the both by better undergraduate ad- critical to many professions,” St. pointed to the influential 1970s to the mid 1990s. However, vising and by new hybrid gradu- Science John and Wooden note, “but these as an in- in recent years, the humanities ate programs that would combine and Engineering Indicators professions now usually require valuable tool for decision-making. have regained some “market share” academic preparation in a speci½c advanced degrees.” A similar tool for the humanities and now represent about 8 to 10 discipline with internships in is long overdue, according to Acad- percent of all undergraduate de- And, despite the discouraging other professional areas besides emy Editor Steven Marcus (Colum- grees (see ½gure 1); ½ndings about immediate post- university teaching. A key goal of new research studies should be bia University), who co-chairs the • Humanities graduates who en- employment, the authors point to analyze the linkages between overall planning committee of the ter the workforce with a B.A. de- out that humanities majors tend choice of graduate ½elds, the types Initiative. gree typically earn less than gradu- to fare as well as, if not better than, other undergraduate degree hold- of undergraduate institutions at- Before a set of Humanities Indica- ates with degrees in all other ½elds ers in competitive examinations tended, and post-graduate em- tors can be developed, a number of except teaching and social work; for admission to law, medical, and ployment. methodological and de½nitional • A recent survey of the class of business schools. Despite the relative optimism of issues need to be resolved. To ad- 2000 found that only 69 percent some observers about the career dress these methodological issues, of all humanities graduates found The authors also address the ques- prospects for humanities majors, the Academy convened a group of full-time employment a year after tion of how to invest scarce funds critics of the contemporary uni- experts from humanities associa- graduation. While this ½gure is an for further research in this area. versity have argued that the hu- tions and educational research cen- improvement over the 59 percent St. John and Wooden suggest that ters and commissioned research Continued on page 29 on undergraduate career paths and on the level of ½nancial support Figure 1: Humanities as a Percentage of all Bachelor’s Degrees in the United States, 1951–2002 within the colleges and universi- 18% ties for the humanities. All humanities, including 16% religion, some arts, ethnic Two of these studies are now com- and gender studies, etc. plete. In “Humanities Pathways: 14% (consistent data only avail- A Framework for Assessing Post- 12% able from 1970) Baccalaureate Opportunities for 10% Humanities Graduates,” Professor English, history, foreign Edward St. John and co-author 8% languages and literature, Ontario Wooden (both from Indi- and philosophy ana University) have examined a 6% variety of existing federal surveys 4% to tease out conclusions about the 2% future of undergraduates who take humanities degrees. Decisions 0% 195019551960 1965 19701975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 about careers or further education in graduate or professional schools American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2004. Sources: 1986–2002: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Sta- tistics, ipeds survey [Computer File]. 1968–1985: U.S. Dept. of Ed., nces, hegis survey [computer ½le]. Inter-university Consortium cannot be explained without ref- for Political and Social Research, Ann Arbor, mi (distributor). 1948–1966: U.S. Dept. of Ed., nces, “Earned Degrees” series. Note: Edu- erence to a large number of vari- cation Department data on total degrees before 1961 counted all ½rst professional degrees along with bachelor’s degrees: Academy numbers disaggregate bachelor’s degrees from 1948–1961 by extrapolating historical ratios of bachelor’s to ½rst professional degrees. ables – including the availability 28 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Iraq believes the looting had profound continued from page 1 effects. “It demoralized the very equivalent of the Center for Dis- Iraqi professionals on whom we ease Control who had received no would count to rebuild the coun- orders to secure the building de- try because, after all, virtually all spite reports of looters carrying of them are associated with public away live hiv virus. Galbraith institutions. And more impor- described his own tour of the aban- tant, it served to undermine Iraqi doned Foreign Ministry, where vi- con½dence in and respect for the tal information about Iraq’s weap- U.S. occupation authorities.” ons of mass destruction may have The three-state solution that Gal- been stored. He saw documents braith now regards as the best con- strewn everywhere and found ceivable outcome of the war will looters “lighting small ½res” with permit each of Iraq’s “major con- Front (left to right): Catherine Galbraith, John Kenneth Galbraith, original government treaties. Janet Axelrod (Cambridge Public Library); back (left to right): Louis stituent communities [to] have as Cabot (Cabot-Wellington, LLC), Henry Rosovsky (Harvard University), “If it can be said that the United much of what they want as is pos- Jeremy Knowles (Harvard University), Carl Kaysen (MIT), and Mat- States lost Iraq, it did so in the sible.” It is a solution that will come thew Meselson (Harvard University) chaotic days of April 2003 when at a cost, however. “Western-style be set back even as compared to Consequences, and Alternatives. Cop- U.S. forces permitted the system- human rights are likely to take the Saddam Hussein regime.” ies are available on the Academy’s atic and preventable looting of ev- root only in the Kurdish north,” he website at www.amacad.org. ery signi½cant public institution said, “and in the south the legal In December of 2002, the Acad- in Baghdad,” Galbraith said. He status of women in Iraq is likely to emy published War with Iraq: Costs,

Humanities Research an in-depth examination of the need in these ½elds for intensive his case study by obtaining com- continued from page 28 costs of instructional time at three faculty-student interactions. parable data from other public hundred colleges and universities research universities. manities are losing ground not Hearn and Gorbunov think that a commissioned by the U.S. Depart- only in the labor marketplace but, carefully controlled comparative The Academy is also interested in ment of Education, adequately more alarmingly, inside the uni- study, ideally surveying a range of external sources of support for the covers all of these factors. versity itself. A second Academy- institutions and not just research humanities and is working with sponsored research paper, “Fund- Even with the complexities of in- universities, would be the best way the Foundation Center to create a ing the Core: Understanding the ternal accounting, there are some to fully understand how these fac- long-term study of private support Financial Contexts of Academic areas of agreement. The Delaware tors interact. Before such an ex- for the humanities. While Founda- Departments in the Humanities,” study of instructional costs, the amination can be launched, case tion Center reports on funding for by Professor James Hearn (Van- extensive review of three hundred studies could be especially useful the arts include some partial data derbilt University) and his gradu- participating institutions men- next steps in re½ning a research about the humanities, they employ ate assistant, Alexander Gorbu- tioned earlier, found that humani- model. The Academy has identi½ed a very limited de½nition of the nov, examines the methodologi- ties departments consistently one such study, an in-depth look at humanities that excludes certain cal challenges involved in measur- ranked among the lowest in costs the University of Washington by ½elds (such as foreign language ing internal university ½nancing per student credit hour. At the Donald Summers, which the Acad- study and comparative religion) of humanities departments. Hearn same time, Hearn and Gorbunov emy will publish as a companion normally viewed as intrinsic parts cautions that it is easy to draw in- note that the variation among hu- piece to the methodology paper. of the humanities. The Academy vidious comparisons between aca- manities disciplines is often sub- Summers, who serves as director has commissioned an analysis of demic units if cross-subsidization stantial, and that departments of development for the humanities foundation funding from 1992 or other hidden subsidies are not teaching large survey courses have at the University of Washington, to 2002, to be conducted by the calculated. State subsidies at pub- an inherent advantage in these employs a number of measures, Foundation Center, that takes a lic universities, recovery of uni- comparisons. So, while the hu- including comparisons of instruc- comprehensive view of the human- versity overhead through indirect manities as a whole remain among tional costs, teaching loads, and ities at both academic and non- cost rates, and the allocation of the least expensive units within student demand, to look at the sta- academic institutions. The results, general endowment funds must the modern research university, tus of the humanities at one well- which will be released by the Acad- be taken into consideration along some instructional programs– regarded public university. On the emy and the Foundation Center with the number of student credit notably in foreign languages and whole, Summers’ existing data in the early summer, should pro- hours and tuition revenues. In the the performing arts–have much tends to support the more pessi- vide a useful baseline for subse- end, Hearn and Gorbunov ½nd higher costs associated with the mistic claims about the humani- quent studies. that no existing study, including ties, but he intends to build upon Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 29 Around the Country

University of California, Berkeley

On February 27–28, the Academy the Berkeley campus, opened with ence participants and Academy ed at a special panel session on and the Earl Warren Legal Institute a keynote address by Jesse Choper, Fellows in the Berkeley area. “Congress and the Court in the at the University of California, followed by a set of lectures by Warren Years.” Both Frickey and The summer 2004 Bulletin will fea- Berkeley, co-sponsored a confer- leading constitutional lawyers, le- Polsby are members of an ongo- ture papers by Philip Frickey and ence on Earl Warren and the War- gal historians, and political scien- ing Academy study group analyz- Gordon Silverstein and commen- ren Court: A Fifty-Year Retrospective. tists, including several members ing the relationship of the Court taries by Nelson W. Polsby and Organized by Harry Scheiber, the of the Academy. The meeting also and Congress today. Neil Devins, which were present- symposium, held at Boalt Hall on included a reception for confer-

Jesse Choper, Philip Frickey, and Harry Scheiber Lawrence Evans and Karl Pister

University of California, San Diego

Gordon Gill, the new co-chair of the Western Center, Robert Mc- Cormick Adams, co-chair of the Committee on Studies, and Leslie Berlowitz, Executive Of½cer of the Academy, greeted Fellows at an informal lunch and conversation held on the uc San Diego campus on March 3, 2004. The meeting was an opportunity for Fellows in the San Diego–La Jolla area to learn more about the Acad- Vincent Crawford and Clive W. J. Granger Gordon Gill, John West, and Helen Ranney emy’s research programs. Berlo- witz described several of the Acad- emy’s ongoing projects, ranging from the gathering of data on the humanities to a study of corporate responsibility. She emphasized the importance of planning campus- based meetings to create a more informed and interested community of Fellows across the country, and urged the San Diego group to propose topics for regional sympo- sia to mark the 225th anniversary of the Academy in 2005–2006.

Ruth Adams, Robert McCormick Adams, Daniel Yankelovich, and Harry Suhl 30 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 University of California, Irvine

“Reliable Information in a Demo- cracy: A Case Study” was the topic of an understated meeting held at the University of California, Irvine, on March 16, 2004. Patrick Mor- gan, professor of political science and the Tierney Chair in Peace Studies at Irvine, discussed the issues involved in gathering, inter- preting, and disseminating intelligence information. Referring to the search for weapons of mass A. Kimball Romney and F. Sherwood Rowland R. Duncan Luce and William Daughaday destruction and other incidents in Iraq, he observed that “intelligence analysis should always be separat- ed from politics; when it is not, the result is distorted information.” With the Iraq situation as the immediate focus of concern, Morgan also warned that other nations, particularly Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea, represent serious challenges to the intelligence community.

The Irvine meeting was organized and hosted by Walter Fitch, who recently concluded his term as co- chair of the Western Center. Patrick Morgan, Jack Peltason, and Walter Fitch

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Fellows at the University of Wis- of genetics and medical genetics, consin-Madison attended a cam- discussed the regulation of animal pus understated meeting on March development at the molecular lev- 30, 2004. Following opening re- el; and Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, marks by Chancellor John Wiley professor of anthropology, spoke on the challenges facing large pub- about her recent book, Kamikaze, lic research universities, Cora Mar- Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms: rett, professor emeritus of sociol- The Militarization of Aesthetics in ogy and Afro-American studies and Japanese History. The Academy is senior vice president for academic grateful to Fellow Virginia Sapiro, affairs, introduced a panel of three professor of political science and professors from diverse ½elds who women’s studies and associate spoke on their latest research. vice chancellor for teaching and Leonard Berkowitz, professor of learning, for planning the event. psychology, spoke on human ag- gression; Judith Kimble, professor Cora Marrett, Judith Kimble, Leonard Berkowitz, and Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 31 Forthcoming Academy Publications

From the Committee on International Securities Studies The Russian Military: Power and Policy

Russia’s military policy and power remain a major consideration in Eurasia and its nuclear ar- senal retains global signi½cance. A new volume in the American Academy Studies in Global Security Contents series offers analysis of the Russian military that now exists and of the further reforms that could Steven E. Miller (and, many believe, should) shape the future of Russian military power. In the excerpt below, Alexei Arbatov, a contributor to the volume, reflects on the dif½culty of implementing meaning- “Introduction: Moscow’s Military Power: ful reform due to the continuing obstacles to public debate on military affairs in Russia. Russia’s Search for Security in an Age of Transition” A shroud of secrecy severely limits access to information regarding the state of affairs in and plans for the armed forces and defense industry. This in turns makes it dif½cult to assess the real situation and prospects for reform. Indeed, basic facts and Pavel K. Baev essential information are simply missing from Russia’s public debate on defense. “The Trajectory of the Russian Military: From the limited information that is made available, it is impossible to make even a Downsizing, Degeneration, and Defeat” broad determination about the structure of the armed forces and their deployment; the number of main units and amount of weapons and other combat-related equip- ment; and principal research and development (r&d) and procurement programs– Aleksandr Golts that is, the basic facts and ½gures necessary to have at least a general idea about Rus- “The Social and Political Condition of the sian military policy and development. Presumably the Russian army should be pre- Russian Military” pared to ½ght and to achieve some clearly stated objectives. But what kind of wars with which weapons, against what kind of probable opponents, in which military theaters, and how soon? Because it does not provide much public information, the Alexei G. Arbatov Russian defense establishment is not forced to lay bare the fundamental premises “The Military Reform: From Crisis to of its policies. Further, it is impossible to know how much ongoing military opera- Stagnation” tions, including the war in Chechnya, will ultimately cost. Hence, there is no basis on which to have an informed discussion of the plans for reforming the armed forces and defense industry or the relevance of various arms control and disarmament pro- Roy Allison posals, peacekeeping missions, or combat operations–except in purely theoretical “Russia, Regional Conflict, and the Use of terms.... Military Power” Two factors help to explain the lack of transparency in the Russian debate over security policy and military reform. First, neither the executive branch (except the min- Vitaly V. Shlykov istry of defense), nor parliament, nor society at large has an informed understanding of potential threats to the state that would require greater efforts in the defense area. “The Economics of Defense in Russia and the Legacy of Structural Militarism” Thus, there is no sense of urgency to press for more useful information. Second, although the need to rescue the armed forces and defense industry from further degra- dation through military reform is commonly accepted, whether the current military Rose Gottemoeller high command is capable of developing and implementing a ½nancially sound military reform program and military policy more generally remains an open question. “Arms Control and the Management of Nuclear Weapons” In the meantime, a tacit agreement has developed between the civilian authorities, who provide what most Russian experts agree is inadequate spending for defense, and the military, which is allowed to spend the appropriated money as it wants. Mean- Dmitri V. Trenin while, the military enjoys a monopoly on information and immunity from criticism for using the funds as they desire. “Conclusion: Gold Eagle, Red Star” Alexei G. Arbatov is a member of the Yobloko faction and served, until recently, as a member of the Russian Duma, where he was Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee and Chairman of the Sub- This volume is edited by Steven E. Miller committee for International Security and Arms Limitations. He is currently a scholar in residence at (Harvard University, Kennedy School of the Carnegie Moscow Center. Government) and Dmitri V. Trenin (Car- negie Moscow Center). The Russian Military: Power and Policy is the third in a series of studies to emerge from the American Academy’s Committee on International Security Studies and its project on International Security in the Post-Soviet Space. The Academy thanks the Carnegie Corporation of New York for its generous support of this project.

32 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 From the Corporate Responsibility Project Restoring Trust in American Business Volume Essays The Corporate Responsibility Project’s forthcoming Occasional Paper, titled Restoring Trust in American Business, presents the results of the project’s initial phase. Participants have focused on John S. Reed, “Values and Corporate Respon- the role and responsibilities of various “gatekeepers”–including corporate directors, lawyers, sibility: A Personal Perspective” and accountants, among others–in constructively shaping corporate conduct. The Occasional Paper examines how gatekeepers failed in the recent corporate scandals and provides a set of Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria, and Daniel recommendations for future practice that reconceptualizes the gatekeeper roles. Excerpts from Penrice, “Management as a Profession” four essays follow: Donald C. Langevoort, “The Regulators and the Financial Scandals” “The Professionalization of Corporate Directors” Martin Lipton and Jay W. Lorsch Martin Lipton and Jay W. Lorsch, “The Pro- fessionalization of Corporate Directors” In spite of this progress, the bad news was the series of corporate scandals that started with Enron in the fall of 2001 and has continued to the present. Many who had been active in encouraging boardroom reform, including a lot of directors them- Margaret M. Blair, “Comment: Should Directors Be Professionals?” selves, were shocked by the fact that such scandals could take place at a time in which boards seemed to be increasingly diligent and effective....The professionalization of corporate directors would . . . lead to a clearer understanding of what the goals of Damon Silvers, “Comment: Professional- ization Does Not Mean Power or Account- boards should be . . . . We would argue that for a large public company, the goal of ability” the professional director should be the long-term success of the company.

William R. Kinney, Jr., “The Auditor as Gate- “Professional Independence and the Corporate Lawyer” keeper” William T. Allen and Geoffrey Miller John H. Biggs, “Comment: The Auditor as It is important that business lawyers recognize that the duty energetically to facili- Gatekeeper” tate a client’s lawful wishes must be supplemented with a duty, to the law itself, of independence. This is a duty to exercise independent (good faith) judgment concern- , “Pro- ing whether a proposed action falls within the law. We suggest that in representing William T. Allen and Geoffrey Miller fessional Independence and the Corporate clients in negotiating or structuring transactions, or in otherwise assisting clients in Lawyer” their ongoing efforts to do business within the law, lawyers are obliged to strive to advance, and not to thwart, the detectable spirit animating the law. Richard Painter, “Comment: The Dubious History and Psychology of Clubs as Self- “The Financial Scandals and the Demise of the Traditional Investment Banker” Regulatory Organizations” Felix G. Rohatyn Felix G. Rohatyn, “The Financial Scandals What we call investment banks today bear no resemblance to what we knew as invest- and the Demise of the Traditional Invest- ment banks in the decades after World War II. The evolution of ½nance and of capital ment Banker” markets, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, and the explosion in the technology of ½- nance have totally changed the function of investment banks, which traditionally offered advice to corporations and protection to investors. Today’s so-called investment banks Gerald Rosenfeld, “Comment: The Role of bear no more relationship to their predecessors than yesterday’s family doctors bear to Investment Bankers” hmos. Geneva Overholser, “Journalists and the Corporate Scandals: What Happened to “Journalists and the Corporate Scandals: What Happened to the Watchdog?” the Watchdog?” Geneva Overholser

A ½nal and, indeed, overarching challenge stems from the conduct of media executives This volume is edited by Jay Lorsch (Har- today. The extraordinary pressure brought to bear on newsgathering organizations–by vard Business School), Andy Zelleke (The corporations seeking to improve their pro½t margins, quarter by quarter; by executive Wharton School), and Leslie Berlowitz compensation plans that reward short-term success; and by the primacy of shareholder (American Academy). interests–is steadily undermining the ability of the press to serve the needs of democracy.

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 33 Noteworthy

Select Prizes and Awards Nick Holonyak, Jr. (University of California, San Diego, effective Life. Harvard University Press, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) has August 16, 2004. May 2004 been awarded the 2004 Lemelson- 2004–2005 Phi Beta Kappa mit Prize for invention. Lawrence Gold (SomaLogic, Inc.) Jean-Pierre Changeux (Institut Visiting Scholars has been appointed to the Scien- Pasteur). The Physiology of Truth: Stanley Korsmeyer (Dana-Farber ti½c Advisory Board of Archemix Neuroscience and Human Knowledge. Steven Chu (Stanford University) Cancer Institute) received the sev- Corp. Harvard University Press, April enth annual Pezcoller Foundation- 2004 Andrew Delbanco (Columbia American Association for Cancer Robert H. Grubbs (California In- University) Research International Award for stitute of Technology) has been ap- Lewis Cullman (Cullman Ventures, Cancer Research. pointed to the Science and Engi- Inc). Can’t Take It With You: The Art Wendy Doniger (University of neering Advisory Board of orfid of Making and Giving Money. John Chicago) Elizabeth Loftus (University of Cal- Corporation. Wiley & Sons, April 2004 ifornia, Irvine) received the 2003 Stanley L. Engerman (University Kurt Isselbacher (Massachusetts James Cuno (Courtwald Institute of Rochester) Distinguished Scienti½c Award for the Applications of Psychology by General Hospital) has been elect- of Art, London). Whose Muse? Linda Greenhouse (The New York the American Psychological Asso- ed to the Board of Trustees of the Art Museums and the Public Trust. Times) ciation. Marine Biological Laboratory. Princeton University Press, Decem- ber 2003 Werner Gundersheimer (Folger Fumihiko Maki (Maki and Associ- Harold Koh (Yale University) has Shakespeare Library) ates) has won the competition to been appointed Dean of Yale Law John Demos (Yale University). design a new building for the Unit- School. Circles and Lines: The Shape of Life Gary C. Jacobson (University of ed Nations. The competition was in Early America. Harvard Univer- California, San Diego) Martin Leibowitz (New York City) sity Press, May 2004 open only to recipients of the Prit- has joined Morgan Stanley as Man- zer Architecture Prize. Elliot M. Meyerowitz (California aging Director on the U.S. Equity Charles Fried (Harvard Law Institute of Technology) Steven B. Sample (University of Strategy team. School). Saying What the Law Is: Southern California) has been The Constitution and the Supreme Katherine Verdery (University of Susan Lindquist (Whitehead Insti- awarded the Charles P. Norton Court. Harvard University Press, Michigan) suny tute for Biomedical Research) was March 2004 Medal by Buffalo. elected to the Board of Directors Helen Vendler (Harvard Universi- of Johnson & Johnson. John Kenneth Galbraith (Harvard University). The Economics of In- Sir Michael Francis Atiyah ty) has been named the 2004 Jef- (Uni- nocent Fraud: Truth for Our Time. Isadore ferson Lecturer in the Humanities. versity of Edinburgh) and Select Publications Houghton Mifflin, April 2004 Singer (mit) share the 2004 Abel William A. Wulf (National Acad- Prize in Mathematics, awarded by emy of Engineering) is the recipi- Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Harvard the Norwegian Academy of Science ent of the iec Fellow Award, pre- Poetry University) and Evelyn Brooks and Letters. sented by the International Engi- Higginbotham (Harvard Universi- Michael Fried (Johns Hopkins Uni- ty), eds. African American Lives. Ox- Allen Bard neering Consortium. (University of Texas at versity). The Next Bend in the Road. ford University Press, April 2004 Austin) has received the $300,000 Shing-Tung Yau (Harvard Univer- University of Chicago Press, April Welch Award in Chemistry from sity) is among the recipients of the 2004 Rene Girard (Stanford University). the Welch Foundation. Award for International Scienti½c Oedipus Unbound: Selected Writings mit and Technological Cooperation on Rivalry and Desire (edited and Timothy Berners-Lee ( ) has Fiction presented by the Chinese govern- with an introduction by Mark An- been awarded the ½rst Millennium spach). Stanford University Press, ment. E. L. Doctorow Technology Prize, administered (New York Univer- March 2004 by the Finnish Technology Award sity). Sweet Land Stories. Random Foundation. House, May 2004 New Appointments Hans Gumbrecht (Stanford Uni- versity). Production of Presence: Allan M. Campbell (Stanford Uni- Louise Erdrich (Minneapolis, Min- David T. Ellwood (Harvard Uni- What Meaning Cannot Convey. Stan- versity) has received the 2004 nesota). Four Souls. HarperCollins, ford University Press, March 2004 Abbott-asm Lifetime Achieve- versity) has been appointed Dean July 2004 of the Kennedy School of Govern- ment Award from the American Thomas P. Hughes (University of ment at Harvard University. Society for Microbiology. Pennsylvania). Human Built World: Non-Fiction How To Think About Technology and Federico Capasso (Harvard Uni- Gerald R. Fink (Whitehead Insti- tute for Biomedical Research) has Graham Allison (Harvard Univer- Culture. University of Chicago versity) has won the 2004 Caterina Press, May 2004 Tomassoni and Felice Pietro Chi- been appointed to the Scienti½c sity). Nuclear Terrorism: The Ulti- Advisory Board of Dyadic Interna- sesi Prize, given by the University mate Preventable Catastrophe. Times Samuel P. Huntington (Harvard tional, Inc. of Rome “La Sapienza.” Books, August 2004 University). Who Are We? The Cul- tural Core of American National Iden- Stanley N. Cohen M. Judah Folkman (Harvard Med- James Carroll (Boston, Massachu- (Stanford Univer- tity. Simon & Schuster, May 2004 sity) and Herbert W. Boyer (Uni- ical School) has been appointed to setts). Crusade: Chronicles of an Un- the Scienti½c Advisory Board of versity of California, San Francisco) just War. Henry Holt (Metropolitan Michael Kammen (Cornell Univer- Synta Pharmaceuticals. have been awarded the Albany Books), July 2004 sity). A Time to Every Purpose: The Medical Center Prize in Medicine Marye Anne Fox (North Carolina Stanley Cavell Four Seasons in American Culture. and Biomedical Research. (Harvard Univer- State University) has been appoint- sity). Cities of Words: Pedagogical University of North Carolina Press, ed Chancellor of the University of Letters on a Register of the Moral March 2004

34 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Robert P. Kirshner (Harvard Uni- Hilary Putnam (Harvard Univer- versity). The Extravagant Universe: sity). Ethics without Ontology. Har- We invite all Fellows and For- Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and vard University Press, March 2004 eign Honorary Members to send the Accelerating Cosmos. Princeton notices about their recent and University Press, May 2004 Anna Quindlen (New York City). Loud and Clear. Random House, forthcoming publications, sci- Julia Kristeva (University of Paris). April 2004 enti½c ½ndings, exhibitions and Colette. Columbia University Press, performances, and honors and May 2004 William Sa½re (The New York prizes to [email protected]. Times). The Right Word in the Right Please keep us informed of your Wendy Lesser, ed. (Threepenny Place at the Right Time: Wit and work so that we may share it Wisdom from the Popular “On Review, Berkeley, California). The with the larger Academy com- Genius of Language: Fifteen Writers Language” Column in the New York munity. Reflect on their Mother Tongues. Pan- Times Magazine. Simon & theon, July 2004 Schuster, July 2004 Seymour Martin Lipset (George Jane Smiley (University of Iowa). Mason University) et al. The Para- A Year at the Races: Reflections on dox of American Unionism: Why Horses, Humans, Love, Money, and Americans Like Unions More than Luck. Knopf, April 2004 Canadians Do But Join Much Less. suny Cornell University Press, April Immanuel Wallerstein ( 2004 Binghamton). World-Systems Analy- sis: An Introduction. Duke Univer- Edmund S. Morgan (Yale Univer- sity Press, August 2004 sity). The Genuine Article: A Histori- an Looks at Early America. Norton, Michael Walzer (Institute for Ad- June 2004 vanced Study). Arguing About War. Yale University Press, August 2004; Bill Moyers (Public Affairs tv, with Nicolaus Mills (Sarah Law- Inc.). Moyers on America: A Journal- rence University). Decades of Dis- ist and His Times. New Press, May sent: Fifty Years of Political and So- 2004 cial Criticism. Yale University Press, August 2004 Alicia H. Munnell (Boston College) and Annika Sunden (Boston Col- Richard Wilson (Harvard Univer- lege). Coming Up Short: The Chal- sity). A Brief History of the Harvard lenge of 401 (K) Plans. Brookings, University Cyclotrons. Harvard Uni- May 2004 versity Press, May 2004 Roddam Narasimha (Jawaharlal Gordon S. Wood (Brown Universi- Nehru Center for Advanced Scien- ty). The Americanization of Benjamin ti½c Research, India), J. Srinivasan Franklin. Penguin Press, May 2004 (Indian Institute of Science, India), and S. K. Biswas (Indian Institute Theodore Ziolkowski (Princeton of Science, India). The Dynamics of University). Clio The Romantic Technology: Creation and Diffusion Muse: Historicizing the Faculties in of Skills and Knowledge. Sage Publi- Germany. Cornell University Press, cations, December 2003 February 2004 Martha C. Nussbaum (University of Chicago). Hiding from Humanity: Exhibitions Disgust, Shame, and the Law. Prince- ton University Press, April 2004 Jules Olitski: Half a Life’s Work, Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, Francis Oakley (Williams College). Denver, CO, through June 2, 2004. The Conciliarist Tradition: Constit- utionalism in the Catholic Church Sebastiao Salgado: Photography 1300–1870. Oxford University month, Ludwig Museum Budapest, Press, January 2004; with Bruce through June 27, 2004. Russett (Yale University). Gover- Wayne Thiebaud: Pop! From San nance, Accountability, and the Future Francisco Collections, San Francisco of the Catholic Church. Continuum, Museum of Modern Art, through January 2004 September 19, 2004. Robert O. Paxton (Columbia Uni- Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works versity). The Anatomy of Fascism. on Paper, Serpentine Gallery, Lon- Knopf, March 2004 don, through June 13, 2004.

Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 35 cêçã=íÜÉ=^êÅÜáîÉë

Eulogy on General George Washington February 19, 1800, Boston, Massachusetts

On Wednesday, the 19th of February of 1800 at 11:00 a.m., the Academy met pursuant to adjournment at the Senate Chamber of the Old State House and from there went in procession, at 12 o’clock, to the Meeting House on Brattle Street where a Eulogy on General George Washington was pronounced before the Academy by Dr. John Davis, Recording Secretary.

The eulogy was printed in the second volume of the Academy’s Memoirs (1804). Image donated by Corbis-Bettmann

The illustrious Man, whose loss we now de- [Yet]...he did not lose sight of Learning and peace. To the University of Harvard, he com- plore, was among the ½rst of your elected asso- of the Arts. “There is nothing,” said he, (in his municates his sincere satisfaction in learning the ciates. It was a time of multiplied calamities. address to the ½rst congress) “that can better flourishing state of their literary republic. Unac- The military operations of the enemy were to deserve your attentive “patronage, than the quainted, he adds, with the expression of sentiments be opposed in ½ve different states of the union. promotion of Science and Literature. “Knowl- which I do not feel, you will do me justice in believ- A mind occupied with such immense concerns, edge is in every country, the surest basis of pub- ing, con½dently, in my disposition to promote the could not be expected to apply itself to the im- lic “happiness. In one, in which the measures interests of science and true religion. mediate objects of your institution. Yet he ac- of government “receive their impression so im- It would require little aid from the imagina- cepts your invitation; looking forward, doubt- mediately from the sense of “the community, tion, to render the signi½cant emblem of your less, to the happier days, when the arts of peace it is proportionably essential.” To the Trustees society an apt memorial of your late illustrious should succeed the horrors of war. As the ½rst and Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, associate. Let Minerva with the spear and among the public characters of the age; as the in reply to their respectful address, he acknowl- shield, represent his venerable form. The pride and defense of your country, he was enti- edges himself grati½ed in being considered, by the implements of husbandry, the hill crowned tled to the earliest and most respectful expres- patrons of literature, as one of their number; being with oaks, and the ½eld of native grain, indi- sions of your attention: but he was your asso- fully apprized of the influence which sound learning cate his favorite employment. The rising city, ciate by still more appropriate characters, by has on religion and manners, on government, liberty the instruments of philosophy, the approach- dispositions and accomplishments, altogether and laws; and expressing his con½dence that ing ship, and the sun above the cloud, are live- congenial to the nature and end of your insti- the same unremitting exertions, which under all the ly images of the benign and happy influence of tution. blasting storms of war, caused the arts and sciences his life, on commerce and the arts, and the to flourish in America, would bring them nearer It is among the declared objects of your inquiry, advancing greatness of his country. to maturity, when invigorated by the milder rays of to examine the various soils of the country, to ascertain their natural growths and the different methods of culture: to promote and encourage agriculture, arts, manufactures and commerce: to cultivate the knowledge of the natural history of the country, and to determine the uses, to which its various productions may be applied.

Pursuits of this nature always commanded his attention, and to some of them he was peculiarly attached. They were frequently the topic of his conversation, and the subject of his cor- respondence, with ingenious and public spirit- ed men, in different parts of the world.

36 Bulletin of the American Academy Spring 2004 Norton’s Woods, 136 Irving Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 telephone 617-576-5000, fax 617-576-5050, email [email protected], website www.amacad.org academy officers

Patricia Meyer Spacks, President Leslie Cohen Berlowitz, Executive Of½cer Louis W. Cabot, Vice President Emilio Bizzi, Secretary John S. Reed, Treasurer Steven Marcus, Editor Martin Dworkin, Vice President, Midwest Center Jesse H. Choper, Vice President, Western Center advisory board

Jesse H. Choper, Denis Donoghue, Jerome Kagan, Steven Marcus, Jerrold Meinwald, Patricia Meyer Spacks editorial staff

Alexandra Oleson, Editor Phyllis S. Bendell, Director of Publications Patricia Brady, Contributing Editor Janet Foxman, Assistant Editor Debra Stern, Layout & Design Initial design by Joe Moore of Moore + Associates Bulletin Spring 2004 Issued as Volume lvii, Number 3 © 2004 by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

The Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (issn 0002–712x) is published quarterly by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Periodi- cals rate postage paid at Boston ma, and additional mailing of½ces. Post- master: Send address changes to Bulletin, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 136 Irving Street, Cambridge ma 02138.

The views expressed in the Bulletin are those held by each contributor and are not necessarily those of the Of½cers and Fellows of the American Acad- emy of Arts & Sciences. photo credits

Steve Rosenthal: inside front cover Martha Stewart: pages 1, 7, 11, 20, 27, 29

Shira Peltzman: page 15 Jim Block: page 30, top two images Kevin Walsh: page 30, bottom three images Laurel Hungerford: page 31, top three images Joshua Borstein: page 31, bottom image