in the poem.
If
antisemitism were the
only thing in the Cantos, then perhaps
we would be justified in withholding
the award. But Pound also expressed
his belief in the Confucian ethic and
metaphysic, his condemnation of war,
the realization of his own hardness. his
attack on human vanity and preten·
sions. We may not hold all these beliefs,
but we are implicitly honoring them
too, and they are worthy of honor.
It is by no means evident that all
the materials of the poem are ugly or
vicious or debased. Let us condemn
only what is condemnable in the poem,
and give praise to the rest. That is,
I think, the position of the Fellows,
and should be the position of all of us.
Gordon Ringer
Beverly Hills, Calif.
Mr. Tate's outburst in the May, 1949
PARTISAN REVIEW seems to me to be
about as good an explanation as we
767
have had for the action of the Amer–
ican Fellows in awarding the BoIlingen
prize to Ezra Pound. Mr. Tate's disre–
gard for what Mr. Barrett had to say
in his original article, his over-sensitive
reaction to his own invented charge of
antisemitism, are sufficient illustration
of the type of mind that would be able
to judge art "for art's sake." One
needs a compartmentalized rather than
a well-integrated mind to make such
judgments.
Of the three Bollingen judges who
had something to say in the May PAR–
TISAN REVIEW, two did not express
themselves as opposed to giving an
award to Ezra Pound. And it is, per–
haps, significant that it was these same
two judges who expressed subjective
assumption after subjective assumption.
Note Mr. Auden's comments: He im–
plies that he holds with his second
theory of art, which presupposes such
antique beliefs as "All created exis–
tence is a good," etc. Scientifically
How
a
philosophy
of crisis
may
be a true approach
to the meaning of
Iif.
in
J
949
ENCOUNTER WITH
NOTHINGNESS
An Essay
on
Existentialism
by HELMUT KUHN
Professor Kuhn. noted modern philosopher. clarifies his subject
in three ways:
I.
by describing recent history which aCCOUnlS for the need for the
new philosophy
2. by examining the various Existential theories from Kierke·
gaard to Sartre. and finally
3. by explaining the meaning of Existentialism as a philosophy
for today.
At your bookstore, 13.00
