Characteristically American
Cód:
491_9781443729024
Characteristically AMERICAN- Five lectures delivered on the William W. Cook by RALPH BARTON J PERRY. Text extracted from opening pages of book: Preface: ANY ATTEMPT to characterize America in a few pages must suffer from many limitations, of which I hope that I am not unaware. The picture is foreshortened, distorted, and lack ing in details. It is only one of many portraits which could be painted of the same subject. Whatever is taken to be its character, there will always remain some parts of America that are out of character. It no doubt reflects the bias of the author. Perhaps I should call it & quot; my America/ Neverthe less, I have not knowingly set down anything that I have not found; and there is, I believe, some merit in tracing unities and similarities, however incomplete they may be and however selective. I am grateful to the William W. Cook Foundation for the opportunity to give and to publish these lectures, to my audiences at Ann Arbor for their attention and cordial response, and to my friends at the University of Michigan for the kindness and warmth of their hospitality. Having been for many years associated with Harvard University, I have accumulated an indebtedness to its re sources and to my colleagues an indebtedness which I cannot measure or repay, but which I can at least acknowl edge. In the preparation of the manuscript my secretaries, Catherine F. Malone and Rosamond Hart Chapman, have given me invaluable help and encouragement which I shall not forget. RALPH BARTON PERRY Cambridge, Massachusetts. Contents include: I. The American Cast of Mind 3 i. What is meant by national character 2. Sources of Americanism 3. The American cast of mind 4. Law 5. Politics 6. Sport 7. The American college 8. Scholarship and culture 9. Religion and philosophy 10. Manners 11. Disillusionment and satire 12. Change II. The Development of American Thought 34 i. The meaning of national thought 2. The selective bias of individualism 3. Puritanism 4. The American
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