for the "brotherhood of man (a broth–
erhood without a Fatherhood?), de–
mocracy, peace, cooperation, economic
security...." Essays like his, I admit,
make the answer sound foolish, it's
so plain, so uncontrived. Too many
leaves have hid the trunk, but that
answer is-still-"Thou shalt not... ."
Lancaster, Pa.
E. G. Gallaghor
REPLY BY SIDNEY HOOK:
1.
In answer to Mr. Wagner's thought–
ful letter:
I have no desire to be "saved" but
do not object to other people be-
ing "saved," if they feel they have
a need for salvation and do not com–
promise their intellectual and moral
integrity in the process.
Although the spiritual and social–
political aspects are certainly distin–
guishable, in their causal nexus they
are inseparable. The failure to realize
this is at the root of many disastrous
dualisms between "the inner" and "the
outer" in our culture. For example,
the decision a person makes to live
or to die is a matter of the profoundest
spiritual concern. Nonetheless, anyone
who has studied the sociology of suicide
can predict within certain limits wh11t
the incidence of suicide will be under
different social and political conditions.
The sociological data, of course, is
not very relevant in understanding
any particular individual struggling in
the throes of doubt and self-debate.
So long as he is free from external
compulsion and is rational, he is to
some degree always free to choose.
That is why suicide is a moral problem,
and why the individual cannot shove
off responsibility for his decision upon
society. Other illustrations are pro–
vided by marriage and divorce, than
which there are few questions more
personal.
Granted their inseparability, it may
be necessary for purposes of analysis
941
JUST PUBLISHED
The first English
translation of the
famous first book by
Marcel
Proust
... Never before available in
America-except in expensive,
imported French editions. The
fabulous tour de force with
which Proust made his star–
tling debut as a published
writer. 55 stories and sketches
which foreshadow the major
themes of
REMEMBRANCE OF
THINGS PAST.
Pleasures
ANn
Regrets
~~
(Les Plaisirs et Les Jours)
g~
With the original introduction
by
!I'
ANATOLE FRANCE
l
TranslatiOn
by
LOUISE VARESE
52.75 at all bookstores
CROWN PUBLISHERS, 419 fourth be., N.Y.I6
