This volume, the Frank Gerstein Lectures for 1963, is the second
series of Invitation Lectures to be delivered at York University.
The theme "Imagination and the University" was appropriate for, as
President Murray Ross states in this Foreword, it is in its early
years that a university is sufficiently flexible to utilize
imagination in its structure and in its curriculum. York University
was in its third year when the Lectures were given. Four
distinguished scholars present their views on the importance of an
imaginative approach to the different academic disciplines, and to
the conduct of life in contemporary society as a whole. Jacob
Bronowski, speaking on Imagination in Art and Science, draws a
clear and striking analogy between the role of imagination in
mathematics and in poetry, drawing on his own experiences and
contributions in both areas. He stresses that all creative works in
art or science, must conform to the universal experience of mankind
and to the private experiences of each man: the work of science, as
of art, moves us profoundly, in mind and in emotion, when it
matches our experience and at the same time points beyond it. Henry
Steele Commager shows how important is the contribution to be made
by an imaginative approach to politics, where, as in other fields
of human experience, it must not be separated from reality, if it
is to find expression in something more than words. He points to
examples from the past and the present and asks for more
imagination in public thinking, it fit our actions to the reality
of change, citing the urgency of such twentieth-century phenomena
as the status of Communist China, the predicted population
explosion, and the threat of nuclear war. Professor Commager
believes that the universities provide the key to this kind of
approach, being a supreme example of the creative capacity of
mankind, whose function it is to serve the commonwealth of
learning. A different kind of insight is offered by Gordon W.
Allport, whose subject is Imagination in Psychology. He believes
that the present "impertinence" of psychology can best be cured by
endowing it with more imagination. He demands a pluralistic
approach to psychological investigation, which would not deny the
insights yielded by traditional methods, with their characteristic
minute analyses, but whose goal would be to fashion a conception of
the human person that would exclude nothing that is valid, and at
the same time preserve an ideal of rational consistency. This could
lead, in turn, to a clear definition of the root motives of
mankind, even to discovering new formulas for international peace
by offsetting particularistic political demands. Finally, Paul H.
Buck describes the Harvard House Plan as an example of Imagination
and the Curriculum. This plan, modelled on the Oxford-Cambridge
College system which is also followed in some Canadian
universities, is an attempt to make all aspects of undergraduate
life a process of education. And a truly liberal education for
today and tomorrow, Professor Buck is confident, will combine a
programme of general education, a programme of specialism, and a
collegiate way of living.
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