Bibliograph

The philosophy scare, the politics of reason in the early Cold War, John McCumber

Type

Label

The philosophy scare, the politics of reason in the early Cold War, John McCumber

Language

eng

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The philosophy scare

Medium

electronic resource

Nature of contents

dictionaries

Responsibility statement

John McCumber

Sub title

the politics of reason in the early Cold War

Summary

This fascinating study reveals the extensive influence of Cold War politics on academia, philosophical inquiry, and the course of intellectual history. From the rise of popular novels that championed the heroism of the individual to the proliferation of abstract art as a counter to socialist realism, the years of the Cold War had a profound impact on American intellectual life. As John McCumber shows in this fascinating account, philosophy, too, was hit hard by the Red Scare. Detailing the immense political pressures that reshaped philosophy departments in midcentury America, he shows how the path of American philosophy was altered to follow a political agenda. McCumber begins with the story of Max Otto, whose appointment to the UCLA Philosophy Department in 1947 was met with widespread protest charging him as an atheist. Drawing on Otto's case, McCumber details the conservative efforts that, by 1960, had all but banished existentialism and pragmatism-not to mention Marxism-from philosophy departments across the country. These paradigms were replaced with what McCumber calls Cold War philosophy, ideas that valorized scientific objectivity and free markets and which downplayed the anti-theistic implications of modern thought. As McCumber shows, the effects of this trend can still be seen at American universities today

Target audience

adult

Classification

Contributor