268
PARTISAN REVIEW
not only as .a model of how a philosopher should live, but also of
how a philosopher should die-free and unafraid.
The Congress illustrated two possible modes of meeting the
Communist challenge to the West. The first was illustrated
in
the
debate in executive session on the resolution for freedom of inquiry,
and in the action taken. It
is
the method of silence, retreat from one's
own conviction, and evasion. It
is
compounded of needless fear and
futile hope-fear that recognition of differences will intensify the
struggle between the Soviet and Western ways of life, and hope that
if these differences are ignored, the Communists will call off their
offensive.
It
is
not only cowardly but, judging by its effects, unintel–
ligent. For it emboldens the opponents of democracy, and infects its
defenders with doubt and irresolution.
The second is the method followed in the public discussion. It
does not pretend that the Communist and Western modes of life are
two species of democracy. Honestly recognizing that the West still
falls short of realizing its own ideals, it none the less carries
the
attack to the enemy.
It
unmasks by pitiless logic the propaganda of
the calculated lie. It spreads on the record the facts of Communist
cultural terror. It exposes the absurdity of "party-truth" and "party–
science."
It
then presents in positive terms the enduring values of
the democratic way of life and of free thought and free action. This
method recommends itself not only by its intrinsic dignity but, as the
open sessions of the Congress showed, by its effects.
