1st Edition

Revival: Religion and the Sciences of Life (1934) With Other Essays and Allied Topics

By McDougall William Copyright 1934
    294 Pages
    by Routledge

    303 Pages
    by Routledge

    In author's own words

    In selecting these essays I have been guided partly by the desire to present matter likely to be of interest to the general reader; but also I have aimed at a certain unity of topic and argument, a unity indicated by the title of the volume.

    A brief summary may help the reader to grasp that unity and to follow the somewhat scattered argument. Man, I contend, is more than a machine, and more than a mirror that reflects the world about him. He is an active being with power to direct his strivings towards ideal goals; and there is ground for belief that those goals are neither wholly illusory nor wholly unattainable. There is no novelty about this view; but there is novelty in the argument by which the conclusion is reached. The same view has been propounded a thousand times by that form of wishful thinking which is commonly called philosophical. In this case the conclusion has been forced by the pressure of the evidence during more than forty years of cold and sceptical inquiry. The process is indicated in briefest outline in the first three essays of this volume. Any reader who may desire to follow the process in more detail may turn to my various published works, more especially to my Body and Mind, which remains pivotal for all my later thinking.

    I. RELIGION AND THE SCIENCES OF LIFE II. MECHANISM, PURPOSE AND THE NEW FREEDOM III. THE APOLLONIAN AND THE DIONYSIAN THEORIES OF MAN IV. THE NEED FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH V. PSYCHICAL RESEARCH AS A UNIVERSITY STUDY VI. ANTHROPOLOGY AND HISTORY VII. JAPAN OR AMERICA— AN OPEN LETTER TO H.I.M. THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN VIII. THE ISLAND OF EUGENIA — THE FANTASY OF A FOOLISH PHILOSOPHER XI. FAMILY ALLOWANCES: A PRACTICABLE EUGENIC SUGGESTION (1906) X. FAMILY ALLOWANCES AS A EUGENIC MEASURE (1933) XI. WAS DARWIN WRONG? XII. WORLD CHAOS — THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SCIENCE AS CAUSE AND CURE XIII. OUR NEGLECT OF PSYCHOLOGY XIV. ETHICS OF NATIONALISM XV. WHITHER AMERICA?

    Biography

    William McDougall (1871-1938), an early twentieth century psychologist, taught at Duke University from 1927 to 1938. McDougall espoused a hormic theory of psychology, emphasizing genetics and instinct over nurture. McDougall was also a strong proponent of parapsychology. The William McDougall Papers, 1892-1982, includes correspondence, writing, research, teaching materials, clippings, notebooks, photographs, diaries, drawings, and tributes. Most of the materials date from the time of McDougall's tenure at Duke University. Major subjects include Lamarckian experiments conducted by McDougall, the McDougall family (and sons Kenneth and Angus in particular), the study of parapsychology, the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University, the Psychology Department at Duke University, and anthropological studies in Borneo and the Torres Strait. English.