Scott Milross Buchanan (March 17, 1895 - March 25, 1968) was an American philosopher, educator, and foundation consultant. He is best known as the founder of the
Great BooksGreat Books refers to a curriculum and a book list, as well as a method of education which was famously favoured by the philosopher Allan Bloom...
program at
St. John's CollegeSt. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
, at
Annapolis, MarylandAnnapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It has a population of 36,524 , and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington D.C. Annapolis is part of the...
.
Buchanan's various projects and writings may be understood as an ambitious program of social and cultural reform based on the insight that many crucial problems arise from the uncritical use of
symbolismSymbolism is the use of symbols to represent things such as ideas and emotions. Symbolism is sometimes used to refer specifically to totemic symbols that stand on their own, as opposed to linguistic symbols....
. In this sense, his program was similar to and competed with a number of contemporary movements such as
Alfred Korzybski'sAlfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski was a Polish-American philosopher and scientist. He is most remembered for developing the theory of general semantics.-Early life and career:...
General SemanticsGeneral semantics is a non-Aristotelian educational discipline created by Alfred Korzybski during the years 1919 to 1933. General Semantics is distinct from semantics , a different subject...
,
Otto Neurath'sOtto Neurath was an Austrian philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist. Before he was forced to flee his native country for Great Britain in the wake of the Nazi occupation, Neurath was one of the leading figures of the Vienna Circle.- Biography :Neurath was born in Vienna, the...
"Unity of Science" project, the
semioticsSemiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of sign processes , or signification and communication, signs and symbols, into three branches:...
of
Charles MorrisCharles W. Morris was an American semiotician and philosopher.-Background:A son of Charles William and Laura Morris, Charles William Morris was born on 23 May 1901...
and the "orthological" projects of
Charles Kay OgdenCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.-Basic English:...
. Buchanan collaborated with the latter effort for a number of years.
Buchanan's own program, however, differed from these generally
empiricist,In philosophy, empiricism is a theory of knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from sense experience. Empiricism is one of several competing views about how we know "things," part of the branch of philosophy called epistemology, or "the Theory of Knowledge"...
positivist, or
pragmatistPragmatism is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or proposition is true if it works satisfactorily, that the meaning of a proposition is to be found in the practical consequences of accepting it, and that unpractical ideas are to be rejected. Pragmatism began in...
movements by stressing what he saw as the need for reforms in the mathematical symbolism employed in modern
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
. Buchanan's first book, published in 1927, stated that science is "the greatest body of uncriticized dogma we have today" and even likened science to the "Black Arts". For the rest of his career, Buchanan pondered ways to mitigate the variety of threats to humanity that he perceived in the unmanaged and unsupervised growth of modern science and technology.
Life
Buchanan was born in
Sprague, WashingtonSprague is a city in Lincoln County, Washington, United States. The population was 490 at the 2000 census. The town was plotted in 1880 and named for former American Civil War Union general John Wilson Sprague.Eugene E...
and was raised in
Jeffersonville, VermontJeffersonville is a village in the town of Cambridge, Vermont, United States. The population was 568 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.8 square miles , all of it land.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were...
. He received his undergraduate degree from
Amherst CollegeAmherst College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 1821, it is the third oldest college in Massachusetts, and has been coeducational since 1975...
in 1916, majoring in Greek and mathematics. After serving in the Navy during the final year of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, he studied philosophy at
Balliol CollegeBalliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.Traditionally, the undergraduates are amongst the most politically active in the university, and the college's alumni include three former prime ministers. H. H...
,
OxfordThe University of Oxford , located in the UK city of Oxford, is the oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and is regarded as one of the world's leading academic institutions. Although the exact date of foundation remains unclear, there is evidence of teaching there as far back...
as a
Rhodes scholarThe Rhodes Scholarship named after Cecil Rhodes is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships...
between 1919 and 1921. He continued his studies in philosophy at
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
and received his doctorate in 1925.
During his undergraduate years, Buchanan became personally close to Amherst's president
Alexander MeiklejohnAlexander Meiklejohn was a philosopher, university administrator, and free-speech advocate. He served as dean of Brown University and president of Amherst College.- Life and career:...
and was strongly influenced by Meiklejohn's ideas about educational reform. This continuing interest led Buchanan in 1925 to accept a position as Assistant Director of the People's Institute, an affiliate of the
Cooper UnionThe Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is a privately-funded college in Downtown Manhattan, New York City. Cooper Union, founded in 1859, established a radical new model of American higher education...
in New York City that was dedicated to
adult educationAdult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. This often happens in the workplace, through 'extension' or 'continuing education' courses at secondary schools, at a college or university. Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning...
and other forms of cultural enrichment for the city's workers and immigrants. It was there that Buchanan met
Mortimer AdlerMortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo...
and
Richard McKeonRichard McKeon was an American philosopher.-Life, times, and influences:McKeon obtained his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1920, graduating at the early age of 20 despite serving briefly in the U.S. Navy during the First World War...
, and the three of them conceived an ambitious program for reviving American education and democracy through mass training in the traditional
liberal artsLiberal arts are the skills derived from the Classical education curriculum.-Definition:The term liberal arts denotes a curriculum that imparts general knowledge and develops the student’s rational thought and intellectual capabilities, unlike the professional, vocational, technical curricula...
by means of the
Socratic methodThe Socratic Method , named after the Classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate rational thinking and to illuminate ideas...
and the
Great BooksGreat Books refers to a curriculum and a book list, as well as a method of education which was famously favoured by the philosopher Allan Bloom...
curriculum.
Buchanan spent the next twenty years struggling to establish an institutional base for this radical vision. Buchanan's initial efforts at the People's Institute were followed by his establishment of the
Great BooksGreat Books refers to a curriculum and a book list, as well as a method of education which was famously favoured by the philosopher Allan Bloom...
"Virginia Program" at the
University of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, where Buchanan was a Professor of Philosophy between 1929 and 1936. He was then invited to the
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...
by its president Robert Maynard Hutchins in order to help form a "Committee on Liberal Arts" in association with Buchanan's former People's Institute associates
AdlerMortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo...
and
McKeonRichard McKeon was an American philosopher.-Life, times, and influences:McKeon obtained his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1920, graduating at the early age of 20 despite serving briefly in the U.S. Navy during the First World War...
. However, this effort failed almost immediately due to philosophical differences and academic politics.
Fortunately, another opportunity quickly arose in the form of
St. John's CollegeSt. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
in
Annapolis, MarylandAnnapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It has a population of 36,524 , and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington D.C. Annapolis is part of the...
, a venerable institution with a heritage that reaches back to the colonial period, but which by 1936 had nevertheless lost its accreditation and was in desperate need of reorganization. In 1937, the trustees invited Buchanan and his associate
Stringfellow BarrStringfellow Barr was a historian, author, and former president of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, where he, together with Scott Buchanan, instituted the Great Books curriculum.Barr was the editor of Virginia Quarterly Review from 1931-1937...
to make a fresh start. With Barr as president and Buchanan as dean, the two men reorganized the school that year around the
Great BooksGreat Books refers to a curriculum and a book list, as well as a method of education which was famously favoured by the philosopher Allan Bloom...
"New Program". This radical new curriculum quickly achieved national fame and survives today. It is the achievement for which Buchanan is primarily remembered.
Buchanan left
St. John's CollegeSt. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
in 1947 after a successful but disillusioning legal struggle with the U.S. Navy, which had been trying to seize the
St. John'sSt. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
campus as part of a plan to enlarge the nearby
United States Naval Academy-Institutions:* The United States Naval Academy* The Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy of Bulgaria* The Imperial Japanese Naval Academy* The École Navale of France* The Britannia Royal Naval College of the United Kingdom* The Turkish Naval Academy...
. After spending the next two years directing
Liberal Arts, Inc.Liberal Arts, Inc. was the name of an unsuccessful corporation founded in late 1946, which intended to create a Great Books-based liberal arts college in Stockbridge, Massachusetts...
, a failed venture to create a Great Books-based college in Massachusetts, Buchanan's democratic vision for the revival of the
liberal artsLiberal arts are the skills derived from the Classical education curriculum.-Definition:The term liberal arts denotes a curriculum that imparts general knowledge and develops the student’s rational thought and intellectual capabilities, unlike the professional, vocational, technical curricula...
turned from the academic to the political arena. Except for a brief period in 1956 and 1957, when he was a visiting lecturer at
Princeton UniversityPrinceton University a private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and is considered one of the Colonial Colleges....
and also served as chairman of the Religion and Philosophy Departments at
Fisk UniversityFisk University is a historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
, he held no more positions in academic institutions. In 1948 Buchanan worked actively in the
Progressive PartyThe United States Progressive Party of 1948 was a political party that ran former Vice President Henry A. Wallace of Iowa for president and U.S. Senator Glen H. Taylor of Idaho for vice president in 1948....
presidential campaign of
Henry WallaceHenry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the 11th Secretary of Agriculture , and the tenth Secretary of Commerce...
, and for several years afterwards was consultant, trustee, and secretary of the Foundation for World Government. In 1957 Buchanan accepted an invitation by Robert Maynard Hutchins to become a senior fellow at
Center for the Study of Democratic InstitutionsThe Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California was an important think tank from 1959 to 1977, declining in influence thereafter. The Center held discussions in a variety of areas that it hoped would influence public deliberation...
, a liberal political think tank in
Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
. Buchanan remained at the Center for the rest of his career, and one of the projects to which he contributed was the Center's efforts to publicize the work of
Jacques EllulJacques Ellul was a French philosopher, law professor, sociologist, lay theologian, and Christian anarchist. He wrote several books about the "technological society" and the intersection between Christianity and politics, such as Anarchy and Christianity —arguing that anarchism and Christianity...
in the English-speaking world.
Buchanan died in
Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
in 1968. He was survived by his widow, the former Miriam Damon Thomas, and their son Douglas.
Works
Buchanan's first book was
Possibility, published in 1927 as part of
Charles Kay OgdenCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.-Basic English:...
's famous
The International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific MethodThe International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method was an influential series of monographs published published 1910–1965 under the general editorship of Charles Kay Ogden. This series published some of the landmark works on psychology and philosophy, particularly the thought...
. This work was published simultaneously in the same series with
Mortimer AdlerMortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo...
's own first book
Dialectic, and each book refers to the other.
John DeweyJohn Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been very influential. Dewey, along with Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, is recognized as one of the founders of the philosophy of pragmatism and of functional psychology...
praised
Possibility as a "significant intellectual achievement".
His second book,
Poetry and Mathematics, was published in 1929 by The John Day Company. Developed from materials for Buchanan's lectures at the People's Institute, this book was recognized by
Richard McKeonRichard McKeon was an American philosopher.-Life, times, and influences:McKeon obtained his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1920, graduating at the early age of 20 despite serving briefly in the U.S. Navy during the First World War...
, who had studied medieval philosophy under
Étienne GilsonÉtienne Gilson was a French Thomistic philosopher and historian of philosophy. In 1946 he attained the distinction of being elected an "Immortal" of the French Academy.-Life:...
, as a rediscovery of the medieval trivium and
quadriviumThe quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities after the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" or "the four roads": the completion of the liberal arts. The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy...
. This insight of McKeon's, wrote Buchanan in 1961, is what led to the "radical reform of teaching and learning in a small province of the modern academy" for which Buchanan is remembered today. The American philosopher
Morris CohenMorris Raphael Cohen was an American philosopher, lawyer and legal scholar who united pragmatism with logical positivism and linguistic analysis. He was father to Felix S. Cohen....
praised
Poetry and Mathematics as "an admirable piece of work."
Symbolic Distance, Buchanan's third book, appeared in 1932 as part of
Charles Kay OgdenCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.-Basic English:...
's "Psyche Miniatures" series. Part of it had been published earlier in
Psyche, the journal of
Ogden'sCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.-Basic English:...
Orthological Institute. Although Buchanan later claimed that this work was inspired by a year's study of the English logician George Boole, it does not mention Boole. Rather,
Symbolic Distance was obviously written in collaboration with
Ogden'sCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.-Basic English:...
investigation of the linguistic theories of
Jeremy BenthamJeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He was the brother of Samuel Bentham. He was a political radical, and a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law...
, and
OgdenCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.-Basic English:...
cites
Symbolic Distance in his own book
Bentham's Theory of Fictions. This is the first of Buchanan's books to mention the medieval trivium and
quadriviumThe quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities after the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" or "the four roads": the completion of the liberal arts. The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy...
.
Buchanan's fourth book,
The Doctrine of Signatures: A Defence of Theory in Medicine appeared in 1938, also (like
Possibility) as part of
Charles Kay OgdenCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.-Basic English:...
's
The International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific MethodThe International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method was an influential series of monographs published published 1910–1965 under the general editorship of Charles Kay Ogden. This series published some of the landmark works on psychology and philosophy, particularly the thought...
. A portion of the first chapter had appeared earlier in the 1934 issue of
Psyche, the journal of
Ogden'sCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer.-Basic English:...
Orthological Institute, under the title "Introduction to Medieval Orthology".
Truth in the Sciences was completed by Buchanan in 1950 under contract to the
Encyclopedia Britannica for a project that never materialized. The manuscript was published posthumously in book form by the
University of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
in 1972.
Buchanan's final book,
Essay in Politics, was published in 1953 by the Philosophical Library in New York. Stemming from his involvement with the 1948
WallaceHenry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the 11th Secretary of Agriculture , and the tenth Secretary of Commerce...
campaign and later with the Foundation for World Government, Buchanan reflects on the problems of political representation and democracy that are posed by technology and industrialization. Buchanan continued to work on these ideas during his years at the
Center for the Study of Democratic InstitutionsThe Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California was an important think tank from 1959 to 1977, declining in influence thereafter. The Center held discussions in a variety of areas that it hoped would influence public deliberation...
.
See also
- St. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
- Liberal Arts, Inc.
Liberal Arts, Inc. was the name of an unsuccessful corporation founded in late 1946, which intended to create a Great Books-based liberal arts college in Stockbridge, Massachusetts...
- Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions
The Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California was an important think tank from 1959 to 1977, declining in influence thereafter. The Center held discussions in a variety of areas that it hoped would influence public deliberation...
- Robert Maynard Hutchins
- Mortimer Adler
Mortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo...
- Alexander Meiklejohn
Alexander Meiklejohn was a philosopher, university administrator, and free-speech advocate. He served as dean of Brown University and president of Amherst College.- Life and career:...
- Liberal arts
Liberal arts are the skills derived from the Classical education curriculum.-Definition:The term liberal arts denotes a curriculum that imparts general knowledge and develops the student’s rational thought and intellectual capabilities, unlike the professional, vocational, technical curricula...
- trivium
- Quadrivium
The quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities after the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" or "the four roads": the completion of the liberal arts. The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy...
- Adult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. This often happens in the workplace, through 'extension' or 'continuing education' courses at secondary schools, at a college or university. Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning...
- World government
World Government is the notion of a single common political authority for all of humanity. Its modern conception is rooted in European history, particularly in the philosophy of ancient Greece, in the political formation of the Roman Empire, and in the subsequent struggle between secular authority,...
- American philosophy
American philosophy is the philosophical activity or output of Americans, both within the United States and abroad. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that while American philosophy lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevertheless be seen as both reflecting and...
- List of American philosophers