TextBTheOtheMany
ArthurM。SgerJr。
Pre-reading
ArthurMeierSger(October15,1917-February28,2007)isoiialAmerihistoriahdwihe1946PulitzerPrizeinHisthiscareerasaHarvardprofessorofhistory,hehasalsobeenareor,socialdpublitellectual。MuchofSger’sworkfotheexplorationof20thturyAmeriliberalismandhehadbeeualbeaeriliberalssince1940s。
SgerservedasspecialassistaKennedyfrom1961to1963。HewroteadetailedatoftheKennedyadministration,fromthe1960presidentialtothepresident’sstatefuledAThousandDays:JohheWhiteHouse,whithe1966PulitzerPrizeinBiraphy。Sgerreturea1966astheAlbertSchweitzerProfessoroftheHumaheGraduateterofTheiversityofNewYork。Afterheretiredfromtea1994,heremainedinvolvedinpoliticsfortherestofhislifethroughhisbooksandpubligtours。
Promptsf
1。WhatdoesthetitleTheOtheManymean?Findoutthemeaningof“one”and“many”inthepassage。
2。InwhatwaydoestheauthorbelievetheAmeriexperieivetoesseekingnatio?
3。WhatfatributedtoAmerientagtotheauthor?Whichfactorisfual?
4。Whatdoestheauthormeanby“anideologicalsociety”(Paragraph6)?
5。Whatdoestheauthormeanbyideology?
6。Whatdoesthe“fox”standfor?Howisthefoxdifferentfromthe“hedgehog”?
7。Howdoestheauthoriherelatioweenexperiera?
8。Howdoestheauthordifferentiateidealandideology?
9。HowisThomasJeffersohenotionsofidealandideologyrespectivelyagtotheauthor?
10。ithfaithinideology?
11。Howwouldaihumanhistory?
12。Whatismeantby“themixedsod“themixedey”(Paragraph19)?
13。Howdoideologistsandpragmatistsseetheworlddifferently?
14。Howdoideologistsandpragmatistsdefihdifferently?
[1]Inanepoiheaspiratioesfornatio,itisiorecallthattheuesitselfbeganasanunderdevelopedtry。
[2]Everytry,ofcourse,hasitsdistiproblemsandmustsolvethemagtoitsowntraditions,capadvalues。TheAmeriexperieniqueinanumberofways。Thetrywasblessedbyages—aboveall,bythefactthatpopulationwassrelationtoavailableresources。Butthefavorableratiobetweenpopulationandresourceswasobviouslynottheonlyfaerient。Hadthatbeenso,theIndians,forwhomtheratiowasevenmorefavorable,wouldhavedevelopedthetrylohefirstsettlersarrivedfromovertheseas。Whatmatteredequallyiritinwhichthesesettlersapproachedtheeidsocialgesofferedbythee。SeveralelementsseemedfuhephilosophywhichfacilitatedtherapidsodeientoftheAmerient。
[3]OorwasthedeepfaithiioiihemostessentialwayforasocietytodevoteitsresourcesexistedfromtheearliestdaysoftheAmeriies。Itarinallyfromaphilosophicalratherthananeent—fromafaithiyofmanandfrbeliefthatitistheresponsibilityofsoaunitytodevelophishighestpote,atthesametime,italsohelpedproduditioosuccessfulmodernization。
[4]Modernindustrialsocietymustbeaboveallaliteratesoichistoriansattributetwo-thirdsofthegrowthiputovertheturiesofAmerienttoinproductivity。Andinproductivity,ofedirethesizeofnatioiionandinresearch。J。K。Galbraithhadrightlyobservedthat“adollarorarupeeiheiualimprovementofhumanbeingswillregularlybrieriiohanadollarorarupeedevotedtorailways,dams,maetools,iblecapitalgoods。”ThesewordsaccuratelyreporttheAmerialexperience。
[5]Aorintheproerieheenttoself-goveraiveinstitutions1。Wehavefouerwaythaofulfillmasandreleasehisenergies。Arelatedfactorhadbeeioanceofpersonalfreedomandpersonalihefeelingthattheindividualisthesourceofcreativity。Anotherhasbeeandingoftheroleofcooperativeactivity,publicaswellasvoluntary。
[6]Butfuoallofthese,ahesiimportaioivespeedofAmeriehenatioionofdogmatisaboutthehesodeericahashadthegoodfortuobeanideologicalsociety。
[7]ByideologyImeanabodyofsystematidrigiddogmabywhichpeopleseektouhereserveortransformit。Thefliideologyandempiricismhas,ofcourse,beenoldinhumanhistory。Ihisflict,ideologyhasattraeestintelligendhasproduSirIsaiahBerlihe“hedgehogs”,whokhing,asagainstthe“foxes”,whoknowmanysmallthings。
[8]NoresuggestthatAmerishavebeelyimmuheideologicaltemptatioion,thatis,todefiionalgoalsinanordered,prehensive,away。Afterall,theAmeridwased2byoandmostformidablestructuresofanalysiseverdevised,isttheology3,andasoshapedwasbouaiytyeverafter。TherehavebeehroughoutAmerihistorytedtoehanall-iotranslateAmeritoasetofbindingpropositions,andtostruethenationaltraditionintermsofoherultimatelaw。
[9]YetmostofthetimeAmerishavefoxilymistrustedabstraandrigidapriori4doe。Ournationalfaithhasbeennotinpropositionsbutisfihours,theueshas,sotospeak5,risenabove6ideology。Ithaseddogmatofalsifyreality,imprisonexperienarrowthespectrumofchoice。ThisskepticismaboutideologyhasbeenaprimarysourceofthesotivenesswhichhasmarkedsomuchofdevelopmealAmerisocialthoughthasbeenempirical,practical,pragmatic。Amerisequence,hasbeenatitsmostcharacteristiofinnovatio。
[1matismisnomorewhollydevoidofabstrasthanideologyiswhollydevoidofexperiehedividinglineeswhenabstradexperiencedogivewaytotheother。Atthispoiistrejectsabstrad,theideologistrejectsexperieoryoftherepublicillustratesthediffereheAmeriRevolutionragmaticeffortdutermseneralvalues。Theistsfoughtforiermsof7BritishidealsofcivilfreedomaivegoverheyrebelledagainstBritishruleessentiallyforBritishreasons。TheidealsofAmeridependendexpressionintheclassientsahofthenatioionofIhestitutionandtheBillhts。
[11]Butitisimportaoinsistoioweenidealsandideology。Idealsrefertotheloalsofanatioinwhichthesegoalsarepursued。Ideologyissomethi,moresystematic,moredetailed,moreprehensive,mmatic。TheeoftheFoundihomasJefferson,emphasizesthedistin。Jeffersonouhofidealsandofideology。Asanexpounderofideals,heremainsavividailefigure—alive,notonlyforAmerisbut,Ibelieve,forallthoseiedinhumandignityandhumay。Asa,however,Jeffersonistodayremote8—afigurebutofhistoricalcuriosity。Asa,hebelieved,forexample,thatagriculturewastheonlybasisofagoodsociety;thatthesmallfreeholdsystem9wastheonlyfoundatiothehoandvirtuouscultivator10wastheonlyreliableocraticstate;thataneybasedonagriculturewasself-regulatingand,therefore,requiredaminimumofgoverthatgoverwasbestwhiedleast;andthatthegreatenemiesofafreestatewere,ontheonehand,urbanization,industry,banking,alandlesswdallthesascharacteristiodernizationprod,oherhand,astrongnatiowithpivedireatio。ThiswasJefferson’sideology,aedStatesrespo,wewouldbetodayafeebleaitoJeffersoherthantohisideology,theueshasbeeastroe。