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roreworp sy PITIRIM A. SOROKIN New Knowledge in Human Values NEW KNOWLEDGE IN HUMAN VAL UES Enirep BY ABRAHAM H. MASLOW Professor of Psychology, Brandeis University Foreworp BY PITIRIM A. SOROKIN Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Harvard University Henry Regnery Company * Chicago A Gateway Edition NEw KNOWLEDGE IN HUMAN VALUES Copyright © 1959 Research Society for Creative Altruism Printed in the United States of America All rights in this book are reserved. No part of the book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written per- mission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Published by Henry Regnery Company 180 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60601 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 58-11051 International Standard Book Number: 0-8092-6136-7 First Gateway Edition, 1970, by arrangement with Harper & Row, Publishers Contents PREFACE Abraham H. Maslow Vil FOREWORD FROM THE SOCIETY Pitirim A. Sorokin x1 PART I. ADDRESSES THe Powers OF CREATIVE UNSELFISH LOVE Pitirim A. Sorokin THE SCIENCE OF VALUE 13 Robert S. Hartman THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF VALUE THEORY 38 H enry Margenau THE VALUES OF SCIENCE od Jacob Bronowski HUMAN VALUES IN A CHANGING WORLD 65 Ludwig von Bertalanffy HuMAN NATURE AS A Propucr OF EVOLUTION 75 Theodosius Dobzhansky COMMENTS ON ART 86 Gyorgy Kepes HuMAN VALUES IN ZEN 94 Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki EXISTENCE AND VALUES 107 Walter A. Weisskopf - vi CONTENTS PsYCHOLOGICAL DATA AND VALUE THEORY 119 Abraham H. Maslow NORMATIVE COMPATIBILITY IN THE LIGHT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE 1837 Gordon W. Allport VALUE, PsycHOoLOGy, AND HUMAN EXISTENCE 151 Erich Fromm CULTURE AND THE EXPERIENCE OF VALUE 165 Dorothy Lee HEALTH AS VALUE 178 Kurt Goldstein Is A SCIENCE OF HUMAN VALUES POSSIBLE? 189 Paul Tillich PART Il. COMMENT AND REPLIES COMMENT By WALTER A. WEISSKOPF 199 Reply by Sorokin 224 Reply by Hartman 233 Reply by Margenau 236 Reply by Bronowski 238 Reply by Bertalanffy 240 Reply by Suzuki 242 Reply by Maslow 245 Reply by Goldstein 247 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS 201 INDEX 259 Preface Tuts volume springs from the belief, first, that the ultimate disease of our time is valuelessness; second, that this state is more crucially dangerous than ever before in history; and finally, that something can be done about it by man’s own rational efforts. The state of valuelessness has been variously described as anomie, amorality, anhedonia, rootlessness, emptiness, hopelessness, the lack of something to believe in and to be devoted to. It has come to its present dangerous point because all the traditional value systems ever offered to mankind have in effect proved to be failures (our present state proves this to be so). Furthermore, wealth and prosperity, technological advance, widespread educa- tion, democratic political forms, even honestly good intentions and avowals of good will have, by their failure to produce peace, brotherhood, serenity, and happiness, confronted us even more nakedly and unavoidably with the profundities that mankind has been avoiding by its busy-ness with the superficial. We are reminded here of the “neurosis of success.” People can struggle on hopefully, and even happily, for false panaceas so long as these are not attained. Once attained, however, they are soon discovered to be false hopes. Collapse and hopelessness ensue and continue until new hopes becoine possible. We too are in an interregnum between old value systems that have not worked and new ones not yet born, an empty period which could be borne more patiently were it not for the great and unique dangers that beset mankind. We are faced with the real Vil Viii PREFACE possibility of annihilation, and with the certainty of “small” wars, of racial hostilities, and of widespread exploitation. Specieshood is far in the future. The cure for this disease is obvious. We need a validated, usable system of human values, values that we can believe in and devote ourselves to because they are true rather than because we are exhorted to “believe and have faith.” And for the first time in history, many of us feel, such a system —based squarely upon valid knowledge of the nature of man, of his society, and of his works—may be possible. This is not to maintain that this knowledge is now available in the final form necessary for breeding conviction and action. It is not. What is available, however, is enough to give us confidence that we know the kinds of work that have to be done in order to progress toward such a goal. It appears possible for man, by his own philosophical and scientific efforts, to move toward self-improvement and social improvement. The Conference on “New Knowledge in Human Values” was con- ceived as a first organizing step in this direction. The following letter of invitation was sent to representative scholars from various disciplines, who had already made significant contributions to the study of values. The letter of invitation read as follows: Dear ——: We, the undersigned, have been appointed by the Research Society for Creative Altruism as a Program Committee to organize a conference on New Knowledge in Human Values to be held October 4 and 5, 1957, at the Kresge Auditorium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. This is the first conference sponsored by the Research Society for Creative Altruism, incorporated in April, 1956. In accordance with the aims of the Society, the conference is designed to form a report to the public by objective, deeply concerned, hopeful scholars of work in the broad field of human values—moral, spiritual, aesthetic, economic—and their application to the affairs and institutions of mankind. The speakers to ke invited, representing a cross-section of academic disciplines and