The Behavioral Sciences: Essays in Honor of GEORGE A. LUNDBERG
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The Behavioral Sciences: Essays in Honor of George A. Lundberg The Behavioral Sciences: Essays in Honor of GEORGE A. LUNDBERG edited by ALFRED DE GRAZIA RoLLoHANDY E. C. HARWOOD PAUL KURTZ published by The Behavioral Research Council Great Barrington, Massachusetts Copyright © 1968 by Behavioral Research Council Preface This volume of collected essays is dedicated to the memory of George A. Lundberg. It is fitting that this volume is published under the auspices of the Behavioral Research Council. George Lundberg, as its first President, and one of its founding members, was dedicated to the goals of the Behavioral Research Council: namely, the encouragement and development of behavioral science research and its application to the problems of men in society. He has been a constant inspiration to behavioral research not only in sociology, where he was considered to be a classic figure and a major influence but in the behavioral sciences in general. Part One of this volume includes papers on George Lundberg and his scientific work, particularly in the field of sociology. Orig inally read at a special conference of the Pacific Sociological Association (March 30-April 1, 1967), the papers are here pub lished by permission of the Society. Part Two contains papers not directly on George Lundberg but on themes and topics close to his interest. They are written by members of the Behavioral Research Council. We hope that this volume is a token, however small, of the pro found contribution that George Lundberg has made to the de velopment of the behavioral sciences. We especially wish to thank the contributors of the George A. Lundberg Memorial Fund, par ticularly those at the University of Washington, who have made this volume possible. The Editors Alfred de Grazia Rollo Handy E. C. Harwood Paul Kurtz Table of Contents PART I Orro N. LARSEN Lundbergs Encounters with Sociology and Vice Versa I WII..LIAM An Assessment of Lundbergs R. CATION, JR. Substantive Inquiries 23 FRANZ ADLER Comments on Lundbergs Sociological Theories 34 HARRY ALPERT George Lundbergs Social Philosophy: A Continuing Dialogue 48 PART II PAUL KURTZ Neo-Behaviorism and the Behavioral Sciences 63 ROLLO HANDY AND Trial Names 86 E. C. HARWOOD ALFRED de GRAZIA Overtures to a New Curriculum and Research Program 114 STUART c. DODD AND The Reactants Models: STEFAN c. CHRISTOPHER Forecasting Some Probable Acts of Men 143 PART I Lundberg's Encounters with Sociology and Vice Versa OTTO N. LARSEN University of Washington INTRODUCTION This paper presents some biographical and autobiographical notes on the career of the late George A. Lundberg, notes that tell us something of how this man developed his sociological interests and his professional style. George Lundberg's encounters with sociology-indeed, his en counters with all of life-were vigorous, searching, sensitive, in telligent, and highly productive of wit and wisdom. He loved the battlefield of the intellect, but he always respected the skills and the rights of his adversaries. He studied leisure ob· jectively, but not to the exclusion of practicing it with an abun dant grace. He frequently cast himself into the role of agitator and polemicist not only to defend sociology against alleged enemies, camp followers, and traducers, but also because, as he once wrote Howard Odum, "polemics and controversial writing require rela tively little time and provide some legitimate amusement in an academic career." Here, then, was a life and a career that brought verve and vitality to the social and to the sociological scene. To have en c;ountered George Lundberg in either place is to grow curious 2 Essays in Honor of George A. Lundberg about the forces that nourished and brought forth his brilli.ant range of qualities. By 1961, the year of his retirement from teaching, I could contain my curiosities no longer and I undertook a campaign to persuade him to write, in effect, the story of his sociological life. At first, Lundberg was skeptical about the merit of an autobiographical project. In part, I think, this reflected his fr:eling that a self conscious recounting for posterity may in itself distort the record. Furthermore, he was uncomfortable about anything that sym bolized old age. He preferred anticipations of the future to remi niscences of the past. In his thoughts, actions, and associations he was consistently youth-oriented and youthful in outlook. He also had a desire to allocate the new time he had gained in early retire ment from teaching to other projects such as editing the McKay So cial Science Series, re-exploring human ecology, and taking his son to baseball games. Gradually, however, an autobiographical project took shape. He responded favorably to the proposal that he select a number of his published papers, classify them into a limited set of themes-such as the natural science trend in sociology, values, sociometry, surveys and case methods, polemics, etc.-and write introductions to each section telling how his interests in that line of work developed. In one of our many exchanges of notes, he wrote: "Your support, not to say coercion, is impossible to resist. I agree that a study of sociol ogists at work and a report on obstacles, plans, successes and frus trations can itself be a contribution to the science we ar.e seeking to develop. I take it that the task is to specify something about why and how my career developed as it did. I'll want to think carefully about the state and development of sociology during the period 1920-1960. It was high drama with many actors. I was lucky to have a small part in the play and to sense a little sooner than some what the probable outcome had to be. The notes and anecdotes on events and episodes will be easy to collect, but hard to select. Ac tually I was involved in some pretty good scraps, but some great cooperative efforts too. After I get these fragments together we'll Encounters with Sociology and Vice Versa 3 try to fit them into a pattern to illuminate larger intellectual and organizational issues. I might enjoy this after all." Lundberg then began the task~ one that failing health impeded but one that he talked about and worked on to the very closing hours of his life. Unfortunately he did not complete the work, leaving untouched major sections such as his encounter with the issue of values in science about which he was puzzled as to how his position could be so misunderstood. What he left behind were notes and fragments on personal experiences that were later to be fitted into an interpretive commentary. From these, I want to bring you some of the reflections of a man whose encounters with sociology left their mark on the field. What follows are his thoughts edited from his.last papers. INTO SOCIOLOGY THROUGH EDUCATION Most of my life has been spent in education-as student, teacher, high school principal, school superintendent, and college professor. As I look back to the beginning I find this somewhat remarkable since, by today's standards, my academic career was not launched in a manner particularly promising of survival let alone any meas ure of success. My earliest years, about the turn of the century, were typical of the children of "covered wagon" parents, and, in view of the excellent stories that have been published portraying life on the evolving prairie country, it would be superfluous to repeat another account here.1 Suffice it to say there was usually lots of hard labor, plenty to eat, but a dearth of reading matter. In the latter connection, I know I speak for thousands of my gen eration when I acknowledge with deep gratitude the stimulating influence of the periodic catalogs of Sears Roebuck and Mont gomery Ward. I still regard them as valuable reference books for students of social and technological change. My formal training began with eight years in a one-room school house. My route to higher academic training was somewhat ir regular. I did not attend high school. There were no high schools 1 l especially recommend as relevant in my case, 0. E. Rolvaag, Giants in the Earth, and Sophus K. Winther, Take All to Nebraska. 4 Essays in Honor of George A. Lundberg within convenient traveling distance of our farm home in North Dakota. Furthermore, farm boys were in urgent demand as par ticipants in the pre-mechanical farm economy, and that economy provided little money for higher educational purposes, especially in a large family. Actually, these handicaps were blessings in dis guise. They compelled me to take a College Preparatory Course from a Chicago correspondence school, which, I found out later, was so superior to what was offered by the regular high schools of the time and place as to-make my subsequent college career a very easy matter. By teaching country school for a livelihood and devoting spare time to the corespondence course, I was able, after a couple of years to enter the state university. Administrators in that admirable but over-conscientious institution caused me much more trouble on account of the "unconventional" character of my preparatory work than did the content of the various courses. However, after innumerable special examinations and other maneuvers, I was finally allowed to enter and to graduate in the School of Education. This took place after a fifteen-months' interruption for service in the First World War. The trip to France was not particularly notable, but the extended demobilization period in England af forded a number of unique opportunities. In fact, my connection with World War I was to me personally an adventure excellently timed and adapted to both World Wars.