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~ Jewish: Philosophy”









VOL. XVI, NO. 16

Medieval Jewish :
Philosophy Traced



‘Husik Reveals Complex Move-|

ments and Also
Origins.
GREEK INFLUENCE GREAT



Dr. Isaac Husik spoke on ‘Mediaeval
in “the Commons
Room, Tuesday evening, March 4.

The ..subject is avery large one.
Only. part of mediaeval philosophy in
general. There were three philosophies
in the Middle Ages, as a matter < of fact,
which were parallel and we read about
them in three languages: Those were the
Latin, the Arabic and. the Hebrew, and
they were correspondingly Mohammeden-
ism, and Jewish philosophy.

What are the characteristics of me-
diaeval philosophy? Treat” it histor-
ically. One characteristic which: differen-
tiates. mediaeval philosophy generally
from ancient and modern philosophy is
an epistemological dualism. The ‘ancient
philosopher knew apparently in the. clas-
sical period of only one source of truth
—within himself: sensation, perception,
logical, inference or intuition. But all
those depend upon the individual him-



BRYN MAWR (AND W: WAYNE), PA., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1930

en













Flower Humanizes :
7 * ~ Shakespeare



learned point of view, Sir Archibald
Flower, chairman of the Board of Gov-
ernors of the Shakespeare Memorial
Theatre, believes,
peare unpopular, that we must try, to
pull him from his pedestal, and realize
what a very human being he was. Sir
Archibald F lower gave a talk on
Shakespeare in Taylor Hall, Wednes-.
day morning at 9:45. It was Sir Arch-.
ibald’s own experience as a school boy:
to have been bored ‘and puzzled over’
Shakespeare,/ but when. coming back
to his*native town‘of -Avon.he got the,
.chance..to. see. the, plays. well-acted,;, he
begat to ‘realize much more about.
Shakespeare. Shakespeare was: “de-
voted to the countryside, ‘and what was
particularly pleasant to-an English boy,
devoted to horses. In his famous de-
scription of a horse not a single salient
point is missed; no one: but a consum-
mate judge of a horse could have writ-
tén it. No matter what you are going
to do, if you get to know Shakespeare
better, he will help you. Shakespeare
has so crept into our language : that
people do not know when they are

So miuch has been done. by the!

to make Shakes- .











Sloss Pr Prophesies
Victorianism

Angles Substitute | For ee in
Present Mechanical
> Literature.



INSPIRATION LACKING



“A general survey of the books being
written today does not reveal a very
inspiring whole,” said Mrs. Margaret
Fleisher Sloss, executive secretary of

first of a series of talks on the “Litera-
ture of the Machine Age” given in the
Commons Room on. Wednesday after-
noon, March 5. “They.show deftness
of execution’ and éXcéllent craftsnian-
ship; combined with an obvious’ lack
of inspiration. Among the finer books
under the head of biography might be
put. Fay’s. “Franklin”,
“King. Spider.”
tion of books about the war ‘could be

listed Aldington’s “Death of a Hero,”

and... Lewis’

the Foreign Policy Association, in the.

Under...the.classifica-+-

PRICE, 10 CENTS





Memorial Service Held
For William H. Taft
A service in memory of former Pres-
ident Taft was held in Goodhart audi-

torium, Tuesday morning, March 11.
It was lead by Professor Rufus Jones,



|president of the board of directors.

The service was opened by the hymn

an arrahgement..of ‘the Twenty-third
Psalm, sung by the choir. Professor
Jones read a passage from Ecclesiasti-
cus, “Praise of Famous Men,” in in-
troduction to. his address. . President
Emeritus M. Carey Thomas attended the
service. ,

“Tt is. most fitting ‘that we at Bryn
Mawr should meet to show our rev-
erence and respect for the memory and
the life of ex-President Taft.

“Next to his own beloved Alma
Mater at New Haven,.I think he loved
this ‘institution best. He chose it for
his daughter, and so learned. to. know it
intimately. ~
as President he came here to give one
of the most inspiring commencement

quoting. and “A Farewell’to Arms.” _ Dividing | 44dresses in — history, and he has
The interesting problem is: how did|other fiction into two classes, the Se te a — Shakespeare always come to say the “Sophisticates” and _ the Sensitives,” iteod te es ee
He was ’ lof the college during these later years.



existence. -And, I imagine, the modern,
philosopher has ‘the sameé notion: ~"On
the basis of experience, or experimental,
or logical inference, they believe truth
is ‘derived. But, .in--the--first—place, I
do not know whether mysticism is classed
as modern philosophy: or not. But me-
diaeval philosophers, whether Jews,
Christians or Mohanimedans, always in-
sisted upon two sole sources of truth:
the source residing in the individual him-
self, and the external source that’comes
from without in an authoritative manner,
and that is revelation.

Hence, in seeking the origin of the
mediaeval point of view in matters philo-
sophic, it is well to go back to the place
where matters’ began to be treated in
that way. That place is. Alexandria in
the second century, B. C. It-is not a
mediaeval origin at all, but you find the
mediaeval point of view beginning right
there.

If you have got twa sources of truth
you cannot just keep, them apart.
might conflict. So which comes first?

Does reason come first? Does revela-
tion come first? Reason says: The
world is eternal. Revelation says: The.
_-world was created in six days. The

solution they all gave to this problem.

~in the Middle Ages” is “about “the same.

_ are embodied in sacred writings.

It is.a very optimistic one. Inasmuch as
both sources are valid, they can’t con-
flict, and, therefore, do not. But, ap-
parently, they do conflict. The world
was created in six days Vs. the world is
-eternal. “There is the conflict. What’

are you going to do about it? The solu-

tion was that. these conflicts are only
apparent. So that if you are absolutely
certain about your reasoning, if you
can’t possibly suspect any error or fal-
lacy in your reasoning,’ then you must
“go to the documents of revelation which
They
are always open to interpretation. There-
fore, if you are quite certain about. your
reason, what you do then is to go to
your documents on revelation and see if
you cannot interpret them in a “way
‘which will agree with reason.

If that were impogsible and the docu-
‘ments of revelation were absolutely cer-
tain and you can not -interpret them
away, then ‘the alternative was to go,
‘back to your Reason and see ‘if .what,
_-you thought was the demand of Reason,
cannot be interpreted in another way.

This solution of the problem was com-
mon to all the three philosophies of
Middle Ages.

They |

Tight thing in the Tight way?

but he was fortunate itr getting a very
good education—some people deny this
but denial is nonsense. The same old
school was, up: to a few years ago, ade-
quate for the needs of Stratford; the
boys are learning their lessons in ex-
actly the room as those of three hun-
dred years ago. Shakespeare is often
thought of as a ready-made poet; one
should try? and vizualize him as a
schoolboy—an attractive boy, thickset,
not very tall, with auburn hair and

|hazel eyes, full of fun and chaffing

everybody. Shakespeare was prob-
ably thinking of himself when he wrote
“the schoolboy, with shining morning
face, creeping like snail, unwillingly to
school.” But Shakespeare ‘made use

learn Latin, and French, and had some
very good masters—the headmaster at
the Stratford school was paid ‘more
than the headmaster at Eton.
Shakespeare had the power of draw-
ing nations together; the world agrees
only in ad tion of Shakespeare, no
matter what creed or nation. How
does it happen? His father was mayor
of Stratford, and when players visited,
the town a private performance was.
given before the mayor-and the alder-
men to pay a compliment to the patron
of the troupe. We can picture William
as a boy. of six coming to see the
players; we can picture him thinking, |

las he grew older, “I could have done,

something. better,” and so in his boy-
hood the first germ of playwriting.
came into his mind. When he grew up
he entered his father’s business: and

Continued on Foge Five

s-°



| Rosemont Victorious

Over Varsity



On Saturday, March 9, the Varsity
basketball--téam was disastrously de-.
feated; 41 to 19, by Rosemont. Even
excluding the star forwards,’“who
could elude any guards, Rosemont’s
team far surpassed Bryn Mawr _ in|
every respect. Their centers regularly

got the jump and forwarded the ball,
and their guards messed the passing
and_ shooting of Engle and Totten.
whenever the ball strayed to Bebooke at:
end.

Outplayed:a as Varsity was, ~ thelt poor
passing was particularly glaring. The
zi across center frequently re-

of his opportunities; he was able to,

Maurois’ “Atmosphere of, Love,” un-
der the se¢ond “Wolf Solent.” There
are three pre-eminent authors, Thomas

Mann, D. Ho Lawrence and Marcel

Proust; ariciae perceptions are ex-

tremely sensitive and who, with the

world as their onion, peel off layer

after layer of sensations not ordinarily
apprehended. These men may be
called the international ambassadors
of the mind of man—others are the
authors of contemporary literature.

. Contemporary must be taken in its
modern sense as dealing with things
spanning very little more than a week,
since everything is. now jazzed up.
Literature, as-Carlyle said, is not alone
a report of past civilizations but also

new world is
First there

The literature of the
affected by three things.

| is the war, which created in the mind
of those who took part a sense of.

futility and a loss of ‘authority and self-
esteem. The past and future are not
important, only ‘the. present, counts;
since there is no planning ahead, the
result is a flat literature with no depth
of perspective. Such a book is “A
Farewell to Arms.’ Then there is the
influence of Dr. Freud and the psycho-
analysts; The point of view of analysis
has penetrated literature with ifs sense
of -an unconscious life rgsponsible for
many conscious acts...This is best il-
lustrated in. the works-of May Sin-
clair and Rebecca West. Finally we
are living in a new scientific world.
EinStein’s phrase, “the crumbling. of
$pace,” represents this new world with

"| time accelerated and. distance elimi-|’
Vnated.. There has. been a change in the.
fundamental. substance of the world.

from the politely inert world mass of
the Victorian school. Now the world

S. Eddington in his stimulating “The
Nature of the Physical World” makes
very ‘clear, giving a sense of the size
and speed of the universe.

We are. living. in» ax. sastinalestty>

board the ideals and hypocracies of the
past. Smartness is our. new idéal in

stituted for curves. European stand-
ards of sophistication have been
brought here” ‘and altered to machine-
made; we have accepted imperturb-
ability and _hardboiledness, speed and

one. might include “under the. first class|_

a sensitized ‘record of our own times.

is a seething mass of electrons,.as A.

minded world which -has throwr-over-|-

place of beauty, angles have been sub-|-.

in the United States. He has held the
two highest and most responsible of-
fices this nation has to offer, and he
is the only person who has ever held
them both.

“He was the champion of many
great causes. Besides his great serv-
ices to the nation at home and abroad,
he was a noble and a notable citizen.
He has always had a sense of honor,
a brave wisdom of sincerity, a spirit of
fidelity and rugged honesty. His char-
acter was unsullied and his name is
untouched by any suspicion of low mo-
tives. His. whole ‘public career has
been marked by unselfish devotion, un-
wearied devotion, unwearied industry
and purity of purpose. . There was a
unique quality of distinction to his

imous disinterestedness.

“He has borne a clear testimony that
truth is the highest thing a man may
keep. He has been tender and sensi-
tive for the rights and privileges of
the most humble ‘persons in the land.
He has been, with all his other distinc-
tions, one of the foremost. American
leaders of ‘education for colored people.
One can imagine what is> happening
this morning at Hampton Institute.

“None of us who knew him can ever
forget his humor. No other President,

fund of it. His smile, his chuckle and
his radiance were an inherent part of
his, personality.

“I should. like to—apprdpriate for
him the words that George Fox used
for one of his noblest friends: ‘He was
faithful to God, and the immortal seed
of life is his crown.’”



Calendar

Sunday evening, March 16: Mus-
ical service of the Bryn Mawr
League,

Monday. evening, March 17: The
Graduate Club of Bryn Mawr
will give Barrie’s one-act play, —

. Shall. We Join. the. Ladies? in.

’ Goodhart Hall, at 8:20,

_ Tuesday evening, March 18—

_ The Dance Club and the danc-
ing classes of the undergradu-
ates will’ give a recital. of nat-

.. ural dancing in the gymnasium |
at 8:15.

| Wednesday afternoon, March 19:







Where do you find that in that par-
ticular form, in the past? . ‘Not in Greek

philosophy or in the Stojcs, but in, Alex-
andi eee



side center and showed
although |

sulted in loss rather than gain, and the
forwards did much of their playing’ on,
top ‘of each other. The only: glimmer,
of hope appeared in Remington, who
}} executed occasional pretty~ Plays as}

her ‘efforts to “divert
mont were as futile’



impersonality, as our ideals. It is in-

adora Duncan’s “My Life.” Perhaps
that “‘fiterature had-some.effect on. our |

teresting to compare the .bést' sellers.|.
of 1914, among which were “Stella |.
Maris” and “Pollyana” with last year’s |.
best sellers, “The Bridge of San Luis}
Rey, ” “Point and. Counterpoint” and Is-|-



Mrs. Margaret Fleisher Sloss
will give the second of -her
series .of talks on contempo-
rary litergture in. the Commons
Room. The subject. of this:talk
‘will be. “The .Sophisticates” ;
‘tea will be served: befor¢ the -
_ talk, at.4: 15, in. oe: Commons
“Room. ~



a
2

“O God, our Help in Ages Past,” and].

In the’ midst’ of his duties

“He -was,-l think, the-_best loved man4

patriotism, and his long service to the|
}country was characterized by magnan-

except” Lincoln, has had~ such~a-rich|—



~}- | ehaosing. one’s Major. _



Sandburg’s Rhythms
Delight Audience

Culture Is the Conception of
What' Is Worth Seeing
_and Listening To.





SINGS | FROM SONGBAG

a

On Tiel evening, March 10, inthe
Auditorium of Goodhart Hall, Miss Don-
nelly, as the head of the English De-
partment, introduced Carl Sandburg, the
speaker on ‘the Ann Elizabeth Sheble
Memorial Lectureship in English Lit-
erature. To thdse with the rough chal-
lenge of Onion Days and Clean C urtains
twanging in their ears, the quiet dignity
and fine humour of Mr. Sandburg were
a pleasant surprise. Where an apostle
of the masses had been expected, startling
us out of our placid after-dinner content
with crude jargon of the stockyards, we
found a man acutely sensitive to the fin-
est subtleties of feeling and sound, “en-



Veloping his work with the rhythms and_.

cadences of a rich musical voice.

Previous to his readings, Mr. Sand-
burg, referring to the. cfiticism evoked
by his innovations in verse form and con-
text, discussed the matter of personal
taste in art. If we fail to respond to a
work of art, it is probablybecause—it—is

not for-us.__No-one-person-ean-hepe-dur-——

ing his life time to. put himself in “syin-
pathy with all the works of art,
should he-strive for this:
masterpieces,
and shadow,” and springing from pro-
found experience,- should be known and
communed with until their depths be-
come -a part of us.

Here we touch the problem of “What
is art?” and the afiswer lies in the reply-
ing to two simple questions, “What is
worth seeing?” and “What is worth lis-
tening to?” The: reply for any one

nation or people is the key to its cul-
ture.

mentals of action.

nor
Three or four

A war arises not

“shot through with light

And culture involves the funda-.

chiefly from economic unrest, but rather _

from deep-rooted differences in culture.
The Civil War, our “intestinal struggle,”
resulted from the firm convictions: of
“the gentlemen of Massachusetts and the
gentlemen of Virginia” of the superiority
of their respective cultures. Culture,
the conception of “What is worth see-
ing?” and “What is warth listening to?”
is the basic factor operating in_ strife

‘at all times. :

This same” force is working’. today.
* Continiied on Page Six

Miss Carey Tells
of New Senate Rule

(Submitted in News competition:
Slight changes in the standard of work
for the future were discussed by Miss



‘Carey in Chapel, Tuesday, March 4, In

the first place people taking condition
or deferred examinations may be ex-
cused from quizzes and laboratory work
during the week of the examinations.
Arrangements may ~be made with the
Instructor to make up this work.

The most important change concerned
double failures and the ‘merit rule in
connection with Major work. If a stu-
dent has more than five hours of double
failure and can not offer enough hours
of advanced standing to make them up,

or if an extra semester would be neces- _

sary to average one hundred and. twenty«

hours, she. is liable to:-expulsion. This
rule, which will be put into effect this
spring if need be, is quite just, as so
many people are trying to come in that
the college does not want ae
poor people.

Two years ago, the . wile for Major
work required ‘twenty honour points, or

a Merit average in the first two years _

of -Major work.

ow, however, the —

present Sophomore and Freshman classes —
must have at. least Merit, anda Credit-

must make up for a Pass. This will not
be rigidly enforced in individual cases,

illness will be taken into considera-
tion; but it will gradually become so,
and. must.be-taken into account when

seomecttih st

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