Author: Ritterbush, Philip C.

Publication Year: 1981

Media Type: Report

Summary:

Abstract:

The author's proposal is to use the humanities as a guide in the development of culture and its policies. He describes a program for the study of science in culture.

It has been something of a test of faith for those speaking on behalf of the liberal arts to assert that they have a direct bearing on public policy. Efforts to prove this directly, as in the state programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities before its statute was changed in its reenactment in 1976, are widely perceived to have failed. That foreign policy cannot be logically deduced from philosophic axioms, or city planning from formal esthetic precepts, should not occasion disappointment, since other interests usually outweigh abstract ideas in those contexts.

This proposal seeks support for humanistic inquiry proceeding in a context in which it can be of use, where indeed it possesses unique value because of limitations inherent in science. It is argued in succeeding sections that the humanities are uniquely competent to guide the development of culture and determine policies to guide its support, since the construction of culture is their function.

The Institute for Cultural Progress is an organization for the humanistic study of policy in this context exclusively. In order to demonstrate what may be accomplished, we shall describe a program for the study of science in culture from which the organization has taken primary direction. A clear bearing on social problems will be demonstrated and important contributions to policy indicated, in prospective terms at least. It also allows us to present some of the background for a new program inaugurated on a trial basis in 1981, an assessment of the financial needs of American culture, for which we seek support on a continuing basis this year and thereafter. (p. 1)

CONTENTS
1. On the usefulness of cultural knowledge and understanding.
2. Toward rational resource allocation in a more constrained situation.
3. The practical steps we propose.
4. Toward enduring effectiveness.
5. Budgets for 1981 and 1982.
6. Administration uf support.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Community Development