Recommendation for Roger Masters
for Phi Beta Kappa

March 18, 1954

1. On a scale of ten, rating of the student in re following qualities
   Intell. Curiosity - 9
   Originality - 8
   Accuracy and thoroughness - 10

2. Please cite specific instances or evidence of the above qualities
See Number 4.

3. How many tutorial students who have worked with you in the past five years have shown greater promise than this student

Three of my students have shown greater promise

4. General Remarks about the candidate.

Roger Masters has a good mind if not a particularly original one. His capacity is self-discipline and getting the maximum out of the material he has absorbed. His approach to a problem is systematic and thorough. His conclusions are always of the highest order, but they will rarely be something where one has the feeling that they affected him inwardly very greatly. I think he would be an excellent candidate for Phi Beta Kappa.

March 18, 1954

March 18, 1984

Beta Kappa.

Beta Kappa greatly. I think he would be an excellent candidate for Phi
where one has the feeling that they affected him inwardly very
always of the highest order, but they will surely be something
to a problem is systematic and thorough. His conclusions are
the maximum out of the material he has ascertained. His approach
original one. His capacity is self-discipline and betting
Roger Masters has a good mind if not a battlefully

3. How many tutorial students who have worked with you in the
best five years have shown greater promise than this student

See Number 4.

3. Please cite specific instances or evidence of the above qualities
Accuracy and thoroughness - 10

Originality - 8

Intell. Curiosity - 9

1. On a scale of ten, rating of the student in the following qualities

March 18, 1984

for Phi Beta Kappa
Recommendation for Roger Masters

It has become increasingly apparent that any mature attempt to study epistemology at this stage in the development of the Western Civilization must transcend the limited philosophical attempts of the past. It is necessary to look toward modern science for two things - one an explanation of the "scientific method" of knowing (or operating), the other an insight into the nature of man himself. There have been many who have been willing to put forward the "essence" of the scientific method; few have attempted to apply modern psychology to epistemology. Yet without applying first the hypotheses which psychologists have made about the thought process, it is hard to evaluate an operational method of thinking. Thus although psychologists are not at all in agreement on the hypothetical nature of the thought process, it is necessary to venture out on the thin ice of tentative working hypotheses. The essential question which will be asked of psychology is: just what is the relationship between the human brain and that mass of perceptual data which is loosely termed the "external cosmos." It must be admitted that psychologists cannot agree on just what a perception is; this unfortunately forces me to make a tentative definition as a working hypothesis. Since the most explicit formulation of the behavior of organisms has been made by the "behaviorist" school of psychology, the most fruitful approach to this problem will be to accept some of their terms.¹ Hence, I will define perception as the act of an organism called a "discriminative response" to a stimulus,² although this act of perception is also a stimulus to the perceiving organism.³

Charles Morris has presented the most radical attempt at a theory of signs in behaviorist terms.¹ The first qualification which must be made is that of the relationship of the sign to the stimulus object, as is implied by the definition of perception. In behavior of the respondent reflex type,

Page 2

the question arises as to whether the stimulus object is itself a sign. Morris declines to state a position, but experimental evidence gives some indication of a possible answer. Tinbergen's many experiments on this sort of reflex in animals would seem to indicate that what the human observer would call the object is not at all what the organism itself responds to as a stimulus.

When an infant bird gives his feeding response to any black object greater than 3 cm. in diameter, then the quality of "blackness greater than 3 cm. in diameter" has become a sign denoting the parent bird in Morris' definition.⁵

The "perception" of a stimulus would appear to be the formation and reception of a sign which is one of many possible "unique" features of the stimulus object.⁵ª A similar inference would appear to be valid in the case of operant behavior.⁶ The point to be emphasized is that perception involves the discrimination of a stimulus which is achieved by the selection of some but not all of the features of a stimulus pattern to which an organism physiologically responds. Thus, even if the above definition of perception as signal behavior is not accepted, the fact that perception involves a discrimination process must be recognized as a basis for all sign behavior. This is, in other words, psychological evidence in favor of the philosophical concept that "objects-in-themselves" are never "really" perceived in their totality.

Turning more specifically to Morris' sign theory, which is the basis for an approach to human behavior as a type of animal behavior, the important distinction to be noted is that between signals and symbols. Only the latter is defined: a symbol is a sign produced by its interpreter which acts as a substitute for some other sign. Since Morris defines language as a set of "comsigns,"⁷ it must be a social phenomenon. But furthermore, if the tentative definition of perception advanced here is accepted, all such "comsigns" are symbols insofar as their denotatum is not identical with the sign-vehicle itself.⁸ It is true that in this approach language systems

page 4

Hence the mental damage to the aphasic results in an inability to use language in the defined sense (cf. note 7), but essentially centralized in a difficulty with comsigns. Schizophrenics are subject to similar treatment. Their linguistic abnormality seems to be largely along the lines of using commonly accepted language symbols as personal symbols (which are "abstract" in the sense that they are generalized and plurisituational, but which are personal (being based upon some psychological disturbance), exhibiting more directly a failure to "detach the ego" in sign behavior.

From the foregoing evidence, and from the hypothetical process of language acquisition called "the Original Word Game"¹¹a it is possible to postulate some definition of the phenomenon of "consciousness." There seems to be a set of processes in which the human brain excels all others quantitatively (and perhaps qualitatively); these processes can be stated in two ways, either as discrimination learning of symbols qua symbols,¹⁵ or as "ego-detachment."¹⁶ Symbols are, in themselves, perceived signs; the point to be emphasized however, is that they are representations of other perceived signals - representations opposed to qua representation.¹⁷ Consciousness, then, is a behavioral function of certain types of responses to stimuli developed to which is given such a vast quantitative ability to practice complex sign behavior that we are forced to treat conscious behavior as qualitatively different from non-conscious behavior,¹⁸ labelling it roughly as "ego-detached discrimination learning."

Turning now to the actual functioning of conscious human thought through the medium of language symbols, the most revealing conception is that of Whorf's Weltanschauung thesis. Sign theory implies that a given signal need not be a completely reliable "ascriptor" for its "denetatum." This also applies to language symbols of course, so that it can be said that it is not inherently essential for different symbols to use the same signification when denoting a given stimulus object. Whorf presents much

Page 5

empirical evidence to buttress this thesis of a differing structure of reality imposed by language on the individual members of the cultural group. As is implied by the brief description of the original word game (note 1a), the crucial test in learning language symbols is the signal which is discriminated from an external stimulus. Once these signals are learned and grouped, the proper substitution of a symbol can be secondarily reinforced.¹⁹ The learning of a set of consymbols must result in a patterning of perceptive signals which is both the use of certain signals in preference to others (e.g. spectral wavelength in preference to brightness in naming colors) and the combination of certain of the accepted signals which will be represented by one symbol (e.g. those wavelengths of light which receive the name "blue").²⁰ In closing this all too brief application of sign theory to human language, the main conclusions to be emphasized are: 1) perception can be treated within sign theory as a type of signal behavior; such treatment is fruitful because it emphasizes the selective aspect of the discrimination of stimuli which is the essence of "perception;" 2) human language involves the use of symbols in a social context and in a conscious manner; 3) consciousness can be tentatively defined as ego detached sign behavior in which the sign is discriminated from its significatum and denotatum, such a qualitative operation or "attitude" being derived from basic sign processes; and 4) perceptions as well as all signs are arranged and "structured" in the consciousness of a human by that system of symbols used by his social group.

Now I think that some conception of the validity of human thought can be attempted.²¹ It is often charged by the nihilist that all ideas are "abstractions" from "reality" in the sense that they are not equal to sense impressions. Although this is certainly true, psychology gives evidence that not only are sense impressions in themselves "abstractions" to a certain degree from the actual stimuli-in-themselves, but that sense impressions are structured by the implicit "ideas" which underlie any language. This leads on to

Page 6

believe that perception need not of necessity be considered to be the only
"reality." But even if ideas are essential to a conscious conception of
"reality," it is first necessary to discuss the problem of whether or not
an external reality "exists." This is the sort of question the scientist
shies away from answering, not because he doesn't have an opinion about it,
but rather because he intuitively sees that empirical proof is useless.²²
It is both economical (sign theory assumes, and in some cases measures stimuli
which must be accounted for if there is no "reality" outside of the "mind")
and fruitful (sign theory, and indeed all scientific theory in general,
becomes sceptical mockery if it denotes nothing) to assume that there is an
external reality which is responded to consciously by the human organism
by means of complex sign behavior. Assuming then that an external reality
exists, and given that perception itself is not an unfailing clue to reality,
how can the individual relate himself to this "reality?" That is to say,
how can the human organism set up reliable symbols denoting reality such that
he can validly "know reality." By assuming that reality is in some degree
external, the possibility that reality is entirely composed of the abstract
thoughts of man is eliminated; the psychological evidence conversely implies
that reality is not merely human perception.²²a If this were, in itself,
the total scope of human thought about epistemology, then any possible
claims of validity could be dismissed.

Psychological evidence derived from sign theory makes it apparent,
however, that reality is recognized by a combination of perception and consciousness.
The existence of conscious symbol behavior, and which is inherent in
this operational mechanism, requires this solution. Once the symbol is
distinguished from its significatum and denotatum, the existence of a reality
which is "described" by symbols is assumed.²⁴ Short of denying the existence
of conscious sign behavior, the existence of some degree of validity for
thought which related the human to the cosmos must be accepted. Two serious

which is universal for only a transitory length of time. This need not be,
however, a state of "ontological anxiety." Once man is accepted as an
imperfect organism this relativity should not be considered so devastating,
especially since at any one point of time the only conscious possibility is
to accept a hypothesis as absolutely valid.²⁹ Perhaps the process of
human knowledge is best summarized by the Hegelian dialectic of the constant
overturn of a temporarily accepted validity by an antithetical validity
lying outside of the first, resulting in a synthesis which will itself be
overthrown. Or as Prof. Stevenson has put it, it is like traveling toward
the horizon: we know we will never get there, but at least we can enjoy the
journey.

Page 10

3 (continued) - After hypothesizing this relationship it appeared necessary to check some contemporary psychological mechanisms to see if this was totally incompatible with current thought. I found Charles Osgood's conception of the mediated response to be similar. He describes conditioned generalization and sign theory in general as mediation, which is diagrammed as follows:

Where: S = stimulus object; RT = total response pattern to S; s = sign, a generalized stimulus which when appearing alone elicits detachable responses only; r<sub>m</sub> = the detachable responses - a mediated reaction; s<sub>m</sub> = self-stimulation.

In using Osgood's terms in the application of the mediated response to perception, the only variation that need be made is that r<sub>m</sub> must be a non-detachable response, since for the organism S·s<sub>m</sub>. Therefore, perceptive patterns will be called non-mediated signals, and will be diagrammed:

with r<sub>n</sub> = r, and s<sub>n</sub> = s, etc. in the previous diagram of perception. Thus the perceptive formula describes simple S-R patterns on the same basis as conditioned responses and signs in general - which is the goal here. Note that s<sub>n</sub> may be either learned or "innate," and may even vary rapidly (especially in certain aphasics and in optical illusions where r<sub>n</sub> is "migratory" - i.e. hard to distinguish from the field consistently). Translating the above formula into Morris' general terms for signs: r<sub>n</sub> = significatum - the specific conditions under which an organism respond, i.e. fulfillment of the denotatum; s<sub>n</sub> = denotatum - anything - i.e. the general class - which permits completion of the response; r<sub>n</sub> → s<sub>n</sub> process = interpretant - disposition to respond. For a more general definition of perception, relating it to sign theory in general, cf. n. 11.

4 - His definition of a sign is as follows: "If anything, A, is a preparatory stimulus which in the absence of stimulus objects initiating response sequences of a certain behavior family causes a disposition in some organism to respond under certain conditions by response sequences in this behavior-family, then A is a sign." This raises certain problems as Osgood has suggested, since the final response may be outside of the behavior family of the original stimulus. But as I developed the basic conception from Morris' more general terms, there does not seem to be any further insurmountable gulf (as the translations of Osgood's symbols into Morris' words in n. 3 would imply). Hence I will use Osgood's symbols and Morris' words interchangeably (but, of course, always in my own sense, as is inevitably the case).

5 - More specifically, perception is signal behavior since the feature of the stimulus object which elicits response is derived from the stimulusobject itself, and not from another sign (cf. n. 6a).

6a - This is not to be taken, incidentally, to imply that all perceptive-signals are relearned by each organism (although this seems to be so to a larger extent in the normal behavior of humans than with other animals). Such signals are apparently inherited in much if not all of reflexive behavior. Cf. my paper on the Inherited - Conditioned - Response for a possible explanation. ("The Structure and Origin of Animal Societies" 1953).

6 - Cf. Tolman's "spatial orientation" experiments, implying a structuring in operant behavior which could perhaps be best interpreted as a discrimination of certain stimuli as a signal of the stimulus pattern as a whole.

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6a - Again this must be modified somewhat. The word substitute is to be interpreted as a discriminated substitute (otherwise the concept of symbol would become needlessly enlarged with conditioned response sequences, etc.).

7 - "Comsigns" are signs with the same signification to the communicator and the communicatee. Morris includes as other essential criteria for a language: a plurality of signs, a limited number of patterns of combineability, and pluristational signs. I would add that "comsigns" have, in human language, the same denotation (to a lesser degree) to the communicator and the communicatee. The key distinction, which seemsto he implied in the term "comsign," is the distinguishment by the organism of the sign from the signification and thedenotation. Combineability andplurality of signs are merely quantitative extensionsof a great enough degree that they can be qualitatively labelled.

8 - Morris' reluctance to consider language as symbolic is due, it seems to me, to an unjustified view of behavior, since he does not recognize the distinction between respondent and operant behavior. Or rather, he seems to imply that signal behavior is reflexive and symbol behavior operant. This does not seem bo be as theoretically useful an approach as does the definition of signals as either operant or respondent. Since even a word which denotes an internal need-state is not identical with that state (in the senseof the "blackness" of the above noted example), such words should be considered as symbols. Abstract words denoting a non-perceivable object present a different problem to be studied below (note 22a). Incidentally, it is interesting to note here that when the clinical psychologists treats an aphasic's language attempts as indications of his motor skill, then he istreating such an utterance as a perceptive signal.

9 - This is one of the many apparent contributions of Mead to Morris' theory, outside of the general approach.

10 - While both processes can be learned, the latter implies the added discrimination learning process involved in the concept of any language sign being a symbol (i.e. the distinction between the symbol-vehicle and the stimulus object). It is, in other words, theadded feature of treating the symbol as a stimulus and a response; this is the justification for the unusual treatment of perceptions.

11 - A tentative outline of such a spectrum appears in Chart 1, p. 12.

12 - Cf. Goldstein (1, 2).

13 - I am assuming that if any meaning can be imputed to the word "abstract" it is that of a categorization of distinct qualities of perceptions. Accepting the definition of perception above, however, it would appear that any pluristational perceptive signal (e.g. the "blackness") is abstract in this sense. Indeed discrimination learning is a reversal of the "abstractive" process of generalizing stimuli. Cf. Skinner. Thus in general terms, any perceptive signal involves a discrimination of the stimulusfrom the field, abstraction of a classification into which this stimulus fits, and reaction to the stimulus (signal) as a member of this class (cf. note 3). This process is apparently basic to all perception and mediated signal behavior, although it has a great range of possible varying complexities.

page 14

15 - That isto say, not merely discrimination learning of a stimulus, which is common enough in the animal kingdom, but a differentiation of the sign- as a response by the organism - from the perceptive signal. As Skinner has pointed out, such a differentiation requires a reinforcement of the one stimulus while the other stimulus is extinguished. The reinforcement of the sign as a distinct stimulus to an organism can come outside of a social group (classical conditioning); reinforcement of the sign as a response cannot, since it requires a common rïen and sïen.

16 - That is to say, the sign is responded to by the organism to some degree as an external stimulus. Yet Morris carries his point too far, for the essence of ego detachment (or discrimination learning of symbols qua symbols) is that the sign is treated as a response as well as a stimulus. The fact that a sign is distinguished as a different stimulus from a perceived stimulus- signal (with which it is not linked in a chain response) is, nevertheless, basic to this phenomenon.

17 - All evidence in the origin of written language points to such representativeness, and there is some evidence of a similar trend in oral speech (cf. Faget). What is essential for the origin of comsymbols however, is not iconicity, rather precisely the opposite - while the sign must "signify" a perceived signal, if it is completely iconic it is that perceived signal repeated, and therefore would be nearly impossible to differentiate from the perceived signal. Hence it is more probable that what appears to the sceptic as "far-fetched" implication by Faget is a good picture of a partially iconic symbol which can both represent a perceived signal and easily be distinguished from it by social reinforcement. It is in this light that the representational verbal gesture takes on meaning as the source of language. Hence the representational sign can be reinforced as a discrete stimulus and as a discrete response only when it is a symbol (can refer to a given commonly held signal, and so be socially reinforced) and when it is distinct enough qua sign not to be confused with the perceptive signal when produced in isolation. (Perhaps this is why speech had to originate before writing, since representational writing could not be learned as distinct from ordinary visual stimuli by early man - assuming as we must that early man had to some degree less ability to practice the processes basic to symbol useage which modern man has "learned" to use so well.)

18 - I say qualitative because of the impossibility of measurement. It may be theoretically true that "ego-detachment" is merely an advanced type of operant behavior; yet operant behavior is difficult to treat quantitatively since the quantity of the stimulus is vertically unrelated to the response by definition. Hence it was that Goldstein was forced to use qualitative measures of testing in his work with aphasics. I am not unaware of the ultimate circularity involved in defining consciousness as a function of "ego-detachment." To be sure, such behavior can only be experimentally viewed as conscious to start with. Since, however, we can never perceive "consciousness" as an external phenomenon without using our own conscious behavior, the definition is only an attempt to bring the concept into closer harmony with sign theory.

19 - If this is so it might be well to ask what is the difference between human symbols and animal perceptive signals, since the basic process is being stated as an agreement on perceptive signals rather than as a symbol-process. The answer is twofold. Firstly, animal perceptive signals (and the question of whether they are "learned" or in some sense inherited is purposely being avoided) require the perceptive signal and the significatum. The process of adjusting perceptive signals so that symbols may be substituted for them is based on the implicit assumption of such a distinction.

page 15

Secondly, in the process of making mistakes, the child further learns that at least some perceptive signals are not identical with the denotatum. This is the attitude of "ego-detachment" which is necessary for acquiring language, and which the human must learn to use with tremendous skill.

20 - Whorf's own presentation of this thesis is weakened by his recognition of only the latter phenomenon. In studies of aphasics we see an example of the use of non-accepted perceptive signals by a patient when he responds to a request to group colors to match a sample by picking bright colors irrespective of hue. It is true that cultures the world over appear to accept the same perceptive signals in many cases, but this is not an experimentally verified generalization and is certainly non-essential for sign theory. I should be sure to emphasize, however, that the physiological features of a species impose some definite limitation on the signals perceived from an external stimulus; the structure of the human eye makes possible differentiation of visual stimuli on the basis of color, but not on the basis of polarization, for example (in contrast with the bees, who apparently can also do the latter).

21. - A word (or rather, quite a few) on the relationship between behavioristics and epistemology. Behaviorists have often been accused of lowering all behavior to the least common denominator in the search for an operational constant in all animal behavior. Admittedly, the tentative hypothesis advanced here do just this. Yet it must be emphasized again and again that there is such a vast quantitative difference between human and animal behavior on virtually every axis of complexity that the only theoretical way to distinguish them is on a qualitative basis. An operational method - even if verified as a constant for all animal behavior - should not be considered, per se, sacred. It is an origin, not a conclusion. Thus when human behavior is treated as such, it is necessary to orient any operational mechanism to the observed behavior being studied. This is not to say that mentalism is a necessity, but rather that the fear of any qualitative measurement which plagues many behaviorists in dealing with human behavior is unnecessary. The fact of the matter is that any operational mechanism is qualitative at base; limitation to merely one qualitative mechanism of the lowest common behavioral denominator is just not fruitful because its necessary concomitant is insufficient treatment of human behavior as such. Skinner is guilty of this in many of his implications as I understand them. And in turning to epistemology, one will have to admit that quantitative proof is not going to be found. For epistemology is a form of study using formative symbols (to use Morris' term for them). Even if it be granted that such symbols are ultimately based on perceptive sign behavior, epistemology need not thereby be seen as empirical. As a matter of fact, once the nature of the symbols used in epistemology is studied, the role of empiricism as such is ended. We cannot consider that one operational assumption can prove its own validity empirically. We may believe this, but we can't prove it. Most that the scientific method can demand is that our hypothesis be an economic treatment of the observed sign-processes (the organization of perceptions in language - which is itself a non-perceptual phenomenon) and that our hypothesis be fruitful in its application to future behavior and sign usage.

22. - Psychological evidence supports the concept that metaphysics is not subject to empirical validation, as has been stated. Therefore the question of the "existence" of external reality must be answered a priori.

Page 16

22a - The assumption of an external reality is buttressed by the apparent dependence of all signs, even formulators, upon some external stimulation in order to develop the operational ability to use symbols. On the other hand the non-perceptibility of reality is emphasized not only by the analysis of the perceptive signal, but by the work of other sciences outside of psychology. "Abstract thought" - i.e. non-semantic formulators, symbols which denote the unperceivable is difficult to handle in sign theory. Clearly abstract thought depends on a past experience of sign behavior and symbol use which implies some perceptive and linguistic basis for the structuring of symbols into non-semantic formulators. The distinctive thing about such abstract thought is that it is a method by which symbols are organized into new categories, categories which can include the verbalization of the denotation of symbols as well as the symbols themselves. Hence "semiotic" is as "abstract" as modern physics in its symbol usage. It is in this sense that human language has a certain added reliability available, since it is possible to verbalize and communicate the criteria for sign usage. The reliability of such formulators - i.e. in this case the degree to which they are consigns with constant denotata - is in a sense lower than symbols since it is impossible to test them directly with perceptive signals. Yet just for this reason their reliability can be higher (cf. n. 26). Once the perceptive signal is not equated with the stimulus object (i.e. some reality is thought of as non-perceivable), this type of relationship is the only way of consciously symbolizing the added dimension ascribed to reality.

23 - This is especially so since traditional attempts at epistemology have attempted to prove that either validity inheres in perception or in abstract thought (being based, as they were, on some conception of man as either determined or free). E.g. Hume and Kant.

24 - Whatever the external cosmos "really" is, we can only perceive it consciously by an apparatus which canals all of our perception into categories established by cultural signal behavior. Whatever the differences are between reality and that thought, the ability to cognize reality to some degree can only be denied at the risk of denying consciousness. To be sure we cognize only by analogy; the process of inferred generalization of criteria into which further perceptions and abstract ideas can be included does not guarantee validity. But because a hypothetically perfect cognition of reality by a human would have to be valid for a human (even if it were not so for an atom qua atom), should we therefore deny the concept of validity completely? We are men, not omniscient gods (for all our striving). Thus the current propensity to deny validity to generalizations as such (once quaintly expressed as the reductio ad absurdum: "All generalizations are false") overlooks the fact that human language is a complex of interrelated assumptions and generalizations.

24a - These may be of several types. Osgood refers to "assigns" as symbols denoting a perceivable object not actually perceived by the organism using the symbol. One might also note "cosmological formulators" denoting non-perceivable physical reality (e.g. magnetic fields, etc.), semantic formulators denoting relationships between symbols, and metaphysical formulators denoting non-perceivable, non-physical objects. (Many scientific concepts are now being conceived of as formatters of the latter type which are analogous to "something" physical - e.g. the more current concepts of a magnetic field). Indeed, one might consider all such symbols as merely structuring other symbols, and assuming as denotat "objects" for mere convenience of use and communication.

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25 - It has been implied throughout that the major test of the validity of an idea is its universality - i.e. that a categorization can apply to all segments of reality. This discussion has attempted to substantiate that fact, given consciousness as a datum of reality, ideas stemming from consciousness have at least some relative degree of validity as a picture of the cosmos. Although an understanding of sign behavior gives rise to the attitude that any hypothesis can be doubted, validity must still be granted to some relative degree. When the area of totally abstract thoughts is reached (e.g. thoughts about unperceivable reality), it would seem that the limitation of relative validity - which is tolerable in abstraction about perceivable reality because there is always the check of actual data, and the subsequent methodological criteria of economy and fruitfulness of hypotheses - would become so great as to destroy any possible universality whatsoever. Hence metaphysics is treated today as substantially "subjective" in opposition to the "objectivity" of conceptions about the physical world. That the reverse is so is at once astounding and probably true. It is here that the Kantian metaphysic has its greatest merit.

26 - It is in this sense that a logical metaphysic is always true, once its assumptions are granted (and assuming logical consistency - as all though must in the short run). The more dependent upon conceptions qua the unit of reality that a hypothesis is, the less probable it is that particular and non-universal perceptions will invalidate the hypothesis. Hence Physics is more exact than biology, mathematics more exact than physics.

27 - Take the example of the Kantian categorical imperative, which takes as data the consciousness of human beings (which is equally valid in each individual since no one person can conceive of reality perfectly). It has often been contended that the weakness of the categorical imperative (the "Golden Rule" as the only universally valid morality) is that it is an-applicable to any particular instance, and therefore not truly universal. This is based on the assumption, however, that all the particular aspects of physical reality can be reduced to a perfectly valid structure; in this attempt the human mind is bound to fall short, achieving only relative validity. The categorical imperative must be seen in the light of the fact that it will be applied by men and not gods. Neither is the consciousness of any two men exactly alike, nor is the cognition of no one man perfect; it cannot be expected that any two human beings can always react identically to the same circumstances. What therefore is provided by the categorical imperative is a universally valid conception which can only act as a norm of behavior toward which imperfect (but equally valid) conscious humans can ascribe. It is interesting to note that one of the essential features of consciousness as here defined ("ego-detachment") is postulated by Kant as the universally valid operational method for moral action!

28 - Hence the scientist who says he doesn't consider an hypothesis as real (since it is not denoting perceivable "reality"), stating that it is only "aesthetically pleasing" is only rationalizing his quest for certainty. I have never yet seen the scientist who could convince himself at bottom that abstract hypotheses were not valid in the sense of being working analogies of something real. I might add a note here concerning the validity of the psychological ideas expressed here. I hold no brief for any ultimate validity for ideas expressed as tentative hypotheses. But in the short run (i.e. the time of writing them), I think of them as absolutely valid; those shortcomings which are most obvious, as a matter of fact, are probably due to an inability to consider some of the ideas valid even in the short run! This belief

28 (continued) - in short run absolute validity would still be so even if I prefaced every statement with the words "it may be that" Otherwise, why write anything in the first place, including statements of doubt? After all, the statement of doubt assumes that "doubting" is valid. Note that it is considered abnormal in language useage to constantly express reservations before making statements, although if one were to be epistemologically correct this would be necessary. Of. Newman. Also it is interesting to note that once I took a stand for certain denotations for a given symbol (e.g. the word "sign"), I found it untenable to use this same sign-vehical with a different denotatum (e.g. in Langer's useage).

29 - The ironic tragedy of the nihilist is that he should believe so strenuously that he believes in nothing. If the sum of our symbol conceptions is not believed absolutely in the static sense, we immediately destroy any possibility of the interpersonality of these symbols; such isolation must inevitably doom consciousness. Of. Hume's conception of the "Necessary Beliefs."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Goldstein, Kurt, "The Problem of Meaning of Words Based Upon Observation of Aphasic Patients," 2 Journal of Psychology 301-316 (1936).

2) Goldstein, Kurt, and Scheerer, Martin, "Abstract and Concrete Behavior, An Experimental Study with Special Tests," 53 Psychological Monographs, No. 2, Evanston, Ill.: American Psychological Association, 1946.

3) Morris, Charles W., *Signs, Language, and Behavior*, New York: Prentice-Hall, 1946.

4) Newman, S. S., "Behavior Patterns in Linguistic Structure: A Case Study," in Spier, *Language, Culture, and Personality*

5) Osgood, Charles E., *Method and Theory in Experimental Psychology*

6) Paget, R., *Human Speech*, London: Kegan Paul, 1930.

7) Skinner, B. F., *The Behavior of Organisms*, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1938.

8) Whorf, Benjamin Lee, *Four Articles on Metalinguistics*, Washington, D.C.: Foreign Service Institute, Department of State, 1949.

9) Tolman, "Cognitive maps in Rats and Men," *SS Psychological Review* 189

Rhodes Scholarships

From the Secretary of the
Committee of Selection for

Massachusetts

Department of Economics

Williams College

Williamstown, Mass.

October 28, 1954

Referring to the application of Roger D. Masters

Dear Sir:

The man whose name is given above is a candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship before our Committee of Selection this year. I shall be grateful if you will send me a frank and confidential statement regarding his qualifications. Your prompt compliance with this request will be of great assistance to the applicant and deeply appreciated by the Committee of Selection.

In making its selections the Committee is governed by that section of Cecil Rhodes's will in which he specified the four groups of qualities he desired in his scholars: (1) literary and scholastic ability and attainments; (2) qualities of manhood, truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy, kindliness, unselfishness, and fellowship; (3) exhibition of moral force of character and of instincts to lead and to take an interest in his fellows; (4) physical vigor, as shown by fondness for and success in sports.

The selection is not made, however, on any system of averaging up a man's qualifications under all these heads. Committees are interested instead in men who show promise of outstanding achievement in later life in their particular callings. For this, distinction of intellect and character are the most important requirements and the Committee will be particularly interested in your critical estimate of the candidate on these points. You will naturally want to confine your remarks to those matters on which you can write from personal contact, as it is not expected that each individual will be able to speak about the candidate's qualifications under all these heads. It will be useful to the Committee if you can mention the names of additional persons who know the candidate well and are qualified to give an opinion of him on the basis of first-hand information.

Please do not hesitate to speak of the candidate's limitations as well as his strong points. Committees tend naturally to be dubious of recommendations which imply that a given individual has no limitations whatever.

Since the Rhodes Scholarship election this year takes place early in December, and since committees must study the credentials of the candidate before that time, I shall be grateful if you will reply by return mail. Your letter will be treated as strictly confidential and will be read only by those whose duty it is to pass upon the qualifications of the different applicants.

Yours very truly,

To: Dr. Henry Kissinger
Weld Hall, Room 10
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.

SECRETARY OF THE COMMITTEE OF SELECTION

Kermit Gordon

November 5, 1954

Mr. Kermit Gordon
Department of Economics
Williams College
Williamstown, Mass.

Dear Mr. Gordon:

I am very glad to be able to support the application of Roger Masters for a Rhodes Scholarship. He was my tutee for a year and I consider him the ablest tutee I have ever had. I came to this conclusion slowly, because as a student who spends a great deal of his time at home in what I take to be an essentially commercial environment he did not possess the smoothness or the precision in oral expression of some of my other students. He wrote three papers for me, however, one on the philosophy of history, another on the philosophy of Kant and Hegel, and a third on the connection between psychology and sociology, all of which were better than any comparable paper I received during that year in the graduate seminar I am giving with Mr. Elliott.

His style is not too polished, but adequate, and his capacity for analysis is superior. He is unassuming and friendly and free from the terrible orthodoxy that conflicts so many undergraduates. His major drawback is a certain lack of social poise.

I think he is an admirable candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship, and I cannot support him strongly enough.

HAK: jm

THIS SIDE OF CARD IS FOR ADDRESS

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
10 Weld Hall
Harvard University
Cambridge 38, Mass.

I am very glad to be able to support the application of
Roger Masters for a Henry Fellowship. He was my tutee for a
year, and I consider him the ablest tute I have ever had. I
came to this conclusion slowly, because, as a student who spends
a great deal of his time at home in what I take to be an essen-
tially commercial environment, he did not possess the smoothness
or the precision in oral expression of some of my other students.
He wrote three papers for me, however, one on the philosophy of
history, another on the philosophy of Kant and Hegel, and a third
on the connection between psychology and sociology, all of which
were better than any comparable paper I received during that year
in the graduate seminar I am giving with Mr. Elliott.

His style is not as polished, but adequate, and his capacity
for analysis is superior. He is unassuming and friendly and free
from the terrible orthodoxy that afflicts so many undergraduates.
His major drawback is a certain lack of social poise.

I think he is an admirable candidate for a Henry Fellowship
and I cannot support him strongly enough.

Social Science Research Council

WASHINGTON OFFICE

726 Jackson Place, N. W., Washington 6, D. C.

American Anthropological Association

FRED EGGAN, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
E. ADAMSON HOEBEL, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
GORDON R. WILLEY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

American Political Science Association

SCHUYLER C. WALLACE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
TAYLOR COLE, DUKE UNIVERSITY
V. D. KEY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

American Statistical Association

MORTIMER SPIEGELMAN, METROPOLITAN LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY
FREDERICK MOSTELLER, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
S. B. WILKE, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

American Economic Association

GEORGE W. STOCKING, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
JOHN P. MILLER, YALE UNIVERSITY
D. GALE JOHNSON, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

DOUGLAS MCGREGOR, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY
ERNEST R. HILGARD, STANFORD UNIVERSITY
CARROLL L. SHARTLE, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

American Historical Association

RAY A. BILLINGTON, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
GORDON A. CRAIG, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
ROY F. NICHOLS, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

American Sociological Society

CONRAD TAEUBER, BUREAU OF THE CENSUS
DOROTHY S. THOMAS, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
ROBERT E. L. FARIS, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Directors-at-Large

LUTHER GULICK, NEW YORK CITY OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
ROBERT B. HALL, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
ALEXANDER H. LEIGHTON, CORNELL UNIVERSITY
DONALD G. MARQUIS, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
PHILIP E. MOSELY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
HERBERT WECHSLER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
MALCOLM M. WILLEY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
DONALD YOUNG, RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION

Officers and Staff: PENDLETON HERRING, PRESIDENT; PAUL WEBBINK, VICE-PRESIDENT; ELBRIDGE SIBLEY, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE; BRYCE WOOD; ELEANOR C. ISBELL, JOSEPH B. CASAGRANDE; M. BREWSTER SMITH; ROBERT N. WILSON; CAROLYN E. ALLEN, FINANCIAL SECRETARY

Request for Confidential Report on a Fellowship Candidate

Your name has been given as a reference by a student who has held an
undergraduate research stipend from the Social Science Research Council.
This student is now a candidate for a first-year graduate fellowship.
Since the selection of fellows must be completed by mid-March, it would
be of great help to receive your evaluation of the student on the enclosed
sheet as soon as possible; we should then be able to circulate it among
members of the selection committee.

We realize that your acquaintance with the student may not be intimate
enough for a judgment which is wholly satisfactory to you, but we would
appreciate the closest evaluation you can make. The following points are
of chief interest:

1. His potential ability to do graduate work and to make a contribution to research.

2. His undergraduate performance; especially, evidence of originality and creative thought.

3. His personality characteristics, especially as a possible faculty member and research participant.

4. His relative rank among students of comparable experience whom you have known. Would you place him in the top 2 or 3 %, top 10%, top 25%, top 50%, or bottom 50%?

Thank you for your cooperation in making this confidential assessment.

Enclosure

I am very glad to be able to support the application of Roger Masters for a Social Science Research Council Fellowship. He was my tutee for a year and I consider him the ablest tutee I have ever had. I came to this conclusion slowly, because as a student who spends a great deal of his time at home in what I take to be an essentially commercial environment, he did not possess the smoothness or the precision in oral expression of some of my other students. He wrote three papers for me, however, one on the philosophy of history, another on the philosophy of Kant and Hegel, and a third on the connection between psychology and sociology, all of which were better than any comparable paper I received during that year in the graduate seminar I am giving with Mr. Elliott.

I think he is an admirable candidate for a Social Science Research Council Fellowship and I cannot support him strongly enough.

January 10, 1955

Editor of CONFLUENCE and Executive Director of the International Seminar
Harvard University

Harvard University

January 10, 1922

enough.

Research Council Fellowship and I cannot afford him strongly.

I think he is an admirable candidate for a social science

His major quibble is a certain lack of social bohem.

His style is not too bolivian, but adequate, and he capacity

for students is an imped.

His style is not too bollard, but adequate, and he capacity

seminar I am training with Mr. Elliott.

than any comparable baber. I received during that year in the graduate

connection between pathology and social, off of which were better

three baber for me, however, one on the philosophy of history,

breviation in oral expression of some of my other students. He wrote

commercial environment, he did not because thesmine or the

great deal of the time at home in what I take to be an essentially

I came to this conclusion slowly, because as a student who abides a

three for a year and I consider him the best three I have ever had.

Matters for a social science Research Council Fellowship. He was a

I am very glad to be able to afford the application of Roger

Pvt. Roger Masters
US 51 354 691
880th F. A. Bn.
A Battery - 3rd Platoon
Ft. Dix, N. J.
7 Aug 55

Dear Henry,

St sitting here in a service club an a rental typewriter, taking ad-
vantage of a Sunday, off which is a little breezier than most. Next
Tomorrow we start Basic Training proper, having spent the first
2½ weeks of my army career processing and doing details. So far,
however, things haven't been too bad at all, and I am pretty well
adjusted to the necessary search for mediocre competence which is
demanded of an army private in Basic training. At first, with typical
naïvite - despite all I had heard and knew in terms of cold fact, there
was the civilian drive which had become almost instinctive, to make my
own name something which others would remember. Now I have learned,
and I think just barely in time and by cold, hard example, that the
more easily the Sargeants eye glides over your name on that roster,
the better. It is just hard to learn without seeing it that there is
a way of life where that little extra effort merely gets you more
work and a worsening of your position. I could sit in your happy little
cubby hole for a year, nodding my head to the proposition, and not
get as much practical training in this lesson as I did on one morning
of a detail cleaning garbage cans !

I have little idea what the army intends to do with me after Basic
Training. We have had only one occupational interview so far, which
I must confess I did very poorly on - botched you might say. I tried
to find out something about the Military Government school from the
interviewer, and he either played dumb or was dumb, and got me side-
tracked in so doing, so that I don't know how much he put on my
record which will do me any good. Of course, he was supposed to only
fill in records anyway, and was not inclined to list any information
but the most rudimentary, so I have the clear idea that his interview
was not very important (though I could be wrong). At any rate, I know
from his interview that I did rather well on all my tests (though I don't
know the scores). Since I am a C profile, I won't be infantry and
at worst will end up clerk-typist.

I would like to do something more constructive of course, though
this largely depends on the breaks in all probability. It is a matter
of trying to fall into something nice at the right time. However,
I am curious as to the possibility of getting shifted off into
some branch of intelligence work (possibly that Military Government
school - although I really must confess a large degree of ignorance
of it outside of the fact that it is at Ft. Benning in Georgia). It is
might be that a properly timed letter coming into the personell files
from higher on up could do this, although I am not sure what time is
"proper." My guess from what I have heard about the process is that
so sometime between my 4th week of basic, when I get my next personell
interview (I think) and my 8th week, when assignment is definitely made.
It is possible that I could be wrong, but that is the best information
of the process I can get.

How has your summer progressed? From all I hear from home,
Boston (and Cambridge) have been hot enough for two summers. Here
too it has been blazing - but the feeling of perpetual discomfort is
merely endured and the heat is no real bother. How about the
seminar - does it continue to run smoothly (because I know that,
despite your remark to the contrary, such a thing does not run itself).

Do you expect any more time off? And have you made definite
plans for the coming year as I inferred from your remark concerning
increased salary? When I say you last I am afraid I was slightly on
the run trying to at least say hello-goodbyes. And now I'm in an
intangible fog of another sort - well, that is the way life progresses I suppose.

I assume that it goes without saying that if you find it at
all inconvenient to check on my chances for placement in the army,
you will let the matter drop without feeling guilty. I don't at all
mind the drifting in a sense - after all it is what we all sub-
consciously long for when overworking on some project of short run
all absorbing nature. I'm sure that after two years of it, I will
be champing at the bit (that is, whatever bit I decide to champ
at.)

My very best to Mrs. Kissinger and all at your office,

Yours,

September 6, 1955

Pvt. Roger Masters
U.S. 51 354 691
880th F.A. Bn.
A Battery - 3rd Platoon
Ft. Dix, New Jersey

Dear Roger:

You should know better than to write me during
the session of the International Seminar, and even
more than to write to me at my home where I immediately
lose all letters. However, it is only today, with the
Seminar over, that I can answer it.

I do think that the Military Government School
would be a good thing for you. Incidentally, it is located
at Camp Gordon and not at Ft. Benning. Why don't you write
to an old friend of mine, Dr. Fritz Kraemer, Office of
Military Government, Pentagon, who will know all the
details. I shall drop him a line also. I will also drop
a line to my friends at CIC so that you don't get lost in
the shuffle.

Do let me know whether there is anything else I
might do for you.

All my best wishes.

MEMO:

16 September 1955

1. Information contained in attached letter has been reviewed with a view toward assisting Pvt. Masters to join Civil Affairs/Military Government. The following comments are considered pertinent:

a. Pvt. Masters inquires about taking advanced training in Civil Affairs/Military Government. There is no school in existence at the present time that would be adaptable to the request.

b. The basic training course at Ft. Dix, which Pvt. Masters is now attending, is an eight weeks course. After this course, Private Masters will be required to undergo eight weeks of Advanced Individual Training, thereby completing the Army required sixteen weeks of basic individual training. This second increment of eight weeks individual training would be within an Infantry, Armor, or Artillery Center for Combat Arms or would be with a Technical Service Activity for service forces. In the Technical Service or Special Activities Fields, the eight weeks of Advanced Individual Training may be conducted as "on the job" training while the individual is actually on assignment to such an activity. Assignment to the MG Group or one of the companies at Camp Gordon would fall in this category.

c. Private Masters has not been classified as "Scientific and Professional Personnel". Current procedures provide for the Special designation upon entry at a basic training activity. It appears that Private Masters does not meet requirement criteria for selection, probably due to lack of at least one year of practical experience or an MA degree. (Copy of current regulations attached).

d. Information available from TAG indicates that Pvt. Masters, as well as all other trainees in the same unit at Ft. Dix, were earmarked by classification and assignment during the fifth week of basic training for specific training during the second eight week training period. Any changes in this schedule would be subject to release by the service to which he has been made available.

2. It is suggested that Pvt. Masters continue in present training scheme and during the latter portion of the Advanced individual Training period, make formal request for assignment to the 95th MG Group at Camp Gordon, Georgia if he desires assignment to CAMG at that time.

js/ Glossop
Major Marvon Glossop

124 Cotton St.
Newton 58, Mass.

4 October 1955

Mr. Henry Kissinger
The Council on Foreign Relations
58 E. 68th Street
New York City, New York

Dear Henry:

While home on leave following the completion of basic training I dropped by your office in Weld yesterday. While not surprised to find you out, I was very much interested to hear that your work is now centering on the Council on Foreign Relations, and I wish you the very best of luck there. It's funny, however, that you should be planning to come to Cambridge just when I'm leaving, as I intend to go back to Fort Dix via New York on this coming Sunday.

I would like to thank you ever so much for the efforts spent on my behalf. As you suggested, I wrote to Dr. Kraemer, and received a very encouraging reply from his office, together with a memorandum of which I enclose a copy.

At the present time I have been assigned to the High Speed Radio School, which lasts for 13 weeks. As suggested in Point 2 of the memo, I am tentatively planning to follow along with this school while applying for an assignment to the 95th MG Group at Camp Gordon. Incidentally, my new address at Fort Dix will be:

Pvt. Roger D. Masters, US 51 354 691
B Battery, 881 F. A. Bn.
Ft. Dix, N.J.

While I do not know what the pass policy of the new company will be, I am fairly certain that I will have no opportunities to get to New York except on weekends. However, I will probably be able to reach you by phone since I should be left a little more time to myself in this course.

Once again, many thanks for your assistance. My very best to Mrs. Kissinger, and good luck in New York.

Apt 8, 3600 La Luz Street
El Paso, Texas

8 March 1957

Dear Ann and Henry:

The two years is slowly shriveling away, and now we are beginning
to make some plans for a return to civilian life. And, curiously, it
will mean that both Judith and I will be once again doing something
that we enjoy in place of something rather distasteful. It might be
expected that continuously retyping meaningless communications because
field grade officers have not learned to read a draft and make up their
minds once and for all is a bit tedious and unrewarding. Unfortunately
the chore of trying to teach the schoolchildren of the Southwest is even
more frustrating. A lack of discipline, respect, and desire for learning
on the part of a large number in each overcrowded class deprives Judith of
the energy and incentive (indeed, of the possibility) of helping anyone
with even normal interest to excell. A further blight on the scene is the
5:30 AM rising time which makes our "living space" (i.e. 4:30 PM to the time
when sleep closes in) all the shorter.

Our plans for next year are jelling. I am going to apply for an Early
Release to attend school, and will begin work at Chicago in the Summer
Quarter. One reason for this is that I frankly would not enjoy a long summer
of vacationing; I have had two years of vacation from something that I would
like to be doing and that is enough. Judith is now planning to go to school
also next year, an she will start in the fall quarter, which will give her time
to get settled and brush up on her French (she will be studying French Litera-
ture). I might mention that although I wouldn't call her a "copy-cat," she too will
be studying under a Woodrow Wilsonian giant.

While thinking of making plans for the transition from the army to
civilian occupations, I wonder if I may impose on you a bit. I have become
very friendly, while in the army, with a very intelligent fellow by the name
of Bill Dickson; in fact, when he got married we found him an apartment in
the same court. He has not made any plans for civilian employment, but
happened to mention the other evening that he wanted to work in New York or Washington\—for an organization which deals with some aspect of international or
governmental policy. He went to Yale and Fletcher School for an M.A.,
and seems both bright and likeable. At any rate, I suggested that you might
know something of the possibility of job openings, either at the Council or
elsewhere. I would appreciate any leads that you might have in this direction,
and I am sure that Bill would also.

I can well imagine that you are busy as ever. Are you still commuting
to Cambridge to work on Confluence? (I certainly wouldn't know from the
point of view of the availability of the magazine, as the local college,
Texas Western, lacks something in the way of a library).

I will have to close this here and get back to some military duties,

Best wishes

Battery D, 53d AA<sup>th</sup> Bn
Ft Bliss, Texas

3 May 1956

Dear Henry,

For some time I have been meaning to write, but the inspiration - or
what else is it that makes a shortage of time irrelevant? - has been lacking
and I haven't gotten around to doing so.

Some very good news for me - and which I have wanted to share....I am
going to get married. And, fortunately, rather rapidly too, as the date is
the 6th of June. The future Mrs. Masters is Judith Rubin, the girl whom
I brought over to your apartment one pleasant evening for a short while.
Believe me when I say that at that time I had no definite plans, because
things didn't start to fall into place and decisions weren't made until after
I had been here about a month.

I believe that things here will really be wonderful. Not only is El Paso a very reasonable city in which to live, but Judith has already been accepted as a teacher in the El Paso public schools, which will give her plenty of time off and an interesting challenge for her work. My job here is a little silly in the sense that there is little constructive to do, but the arrangements are so good for getting time off, there is plenty of time for writing letters, and little hard work of any sort - so I don't complain. As a matter of fact, I ask nothing else of life but to remain just where I am - and where I have been ever since I arrived. Which Proves the parting remarks you had for me concerning the impossibility of planning army careers.

Last night I was browsing through the Texas Western College library,
and I picked up "Foreign Affairs" almost by magnetism, and since it was the
April issue it is not necessary for me to say what the first thing to hit
my eyes was. I wish that I could really make some remark or other which
might imply that I was really up to my best, but nothing comes to mind.
I have been doing some thinking in an occasional good mood, but on the
general topic of the long range directions of power relationships. Crystal
ball gazing.

It seems to me very fortunate for me that I find myself in a position
where the lag between the decision to marry and the event is rather short.
"Yes" was said on the 15th of March, and the last month or so has really been
a drag to get through. It is just that we will be having so much more fun
out of life together than we have ever enjoyed previously.....

My very best to Anne, and of course, to you. Incidentally, if you are
going to be at all in Cambridge in the period from May 29 to June 5 I might
be able to break away from the whirl to say hello. My better judgment warns
me, however, that I should let you know what type of a week that is going to
be, since my brother is getting married on Monday (and I on the next Wednesday !)
There should be some economies of scale!

May 20, 1957

Dear Roger:

By now I am sure you have given up expecting a quick reply
from me. I was delighted to hear from you although I am distressed
to learn that you have not taken my advice and that you will be
entering academic life after all. You will live to regret it but I wish
you much luck. I nearly joined you in Chicago but then I decided
to go back to Harvard after all in spite of my reservations about the
place.

As for your friend, the best would be if he came to see me
when he comes through New York. I simply do not know about
available jobs in general but after talking with him, I might have
some ideas.

Best regards,

Mr. Roger Masters
Apt. 8, 3600 La Luz Street
El Paso, Texas

June 5, 1956

Dear Roger,

I hope you do not construe my long
silence as lack of interest in you. This
time I even have a somewhat valid excuse. I
had to undergo an emergency appendectomy
which kept me out of circulation for several
weeks.

I was delighted to hear of your
wedding. Since I know your fiancée, I can
only congratulate you on your choice. My
work here is progressing satisfactorily.
We both hope to see you when you come
through here again.

With kindest regards.

Sincerely yours,

24 May 1957

Dear Henry,

Thank you for your letter, which I hasten to answer <u>un</u> because at
the moment I haven't too much to do for Uncle Sam, and I feel that I might
as well put his typewriter to some use.

My friend Bill Dickson has no further job worries at the present, since
he has a position with the USIA. Of course, it doesn't appear that Congress
looks too highly on that agency, but he is quite excited about the job as
a starter, and he should have an interesting time with them.

It looks as if I am all set for returning to school. My request for
early release was approved, so I will be discharged on the 17th of June,
and we will leave for Chicago either that day or the next. I can't say
that I will be sad to be leaving El Paso, although we have had fun here,
since we are both excited about being in a metropolis again (even if there
are reports that Chicago is the largest small town in the world).

Judith is looking forward with great anticipation to May 30th, which
may be Memorial Day up north, but is Emancipation Day for Teachers here in
Texas.... There aren't many Holidays here, however, and everything is opened
for business as usual on the 30th except that the schools close down and unleash
the youth (the Future of American) on their parents. From what Judith tells
me about these children, I don't really like to think of them as the Future of
America, if only because it will come out spelled "Amareca."

From your stationery, I notice that you are busy doing new and different
things....yet you don't sound overly excited about returning to Harvard,
though I have no idea what you will be doing there. Your remarks about the
academic life were amusing to me, as you doubtless may have guessed....
Maybe this is because everyone has to find out for himself, but I doubt it...
after all, I have met a good many graduates of Law schools and I am not
convinced from them that a legal education is a road to salvation. In fact
I am really very anxious to get going, and to be doing something that I think
is worthwhile. (After all, it does get boring retyping letters merely to
substitute the words "Under the Provisions of" for "In compliance with.")

While here in El Paso Judith has been teaching me French, and I am proud
to report that as a teacher she has been very successful.... I took one of the
Army's Subject Examinations, and passed it at First Year College level.
I can even get credit for it at the U of C, I think!

Nothing much further to report from the far Southwest ..... my best
to Anne.

THEMASTERS

1440 East 52d Street, Apt 26

Chicago 15, Illinois

October 4, 1957

Prof. Henry Kissinger
c/o Department of Government
Harvard University
Cambridge 38, Mass.

Dear Henry,

I am sending this to you at Harvard because I don't know exactly how you are dividing your time right now and I think it will reach you more quickly this way. As usual you seem to be busy enough for two people, as I found out on my vacation. You were in New York when we dropped by Cambridge, and you were in Cambridge when we were in New York! Judith and I were both sorry to have missed connections, but maybe we will have better luck the next time we go traveling.

The Summer Quarter here went well. I found the return to school exciting - it's a pleasure to be doing something that seems to be worth while. I was very impressed with the role played by techniques (of writing, reading, and talking) which I had forgotten in the army. The fact that the summer is a little slower in tempo made the re-adjustment a little easier (i.e. two or three days a week were spent studying on the shores of Lake Michigan). Judith used the summer to fix up the apartment and learn Italian, which is required for her studies in French Literature (which begin this fall).

As seems to be the case most usually at this stage, the fall is a time for planning for the next fall, rather than one for enjoying the start of a new year. Next year I would like to France or England if possible, and I'm in the process of filing applications for a Fulbright and Marshall as a first step in that direction. I feel rather uncomfortable about bothering you at a time when you must be overloaded with new detail work, but I wonder if I may trouble you again for a reference? Incidentally, while in Cambridge I asked concerning the Knox Fellowship, and was informed that nomination was through the faculty. I believe that I am eligible, and wonder if it is a possibility.

In addition to the more general reasons for wanting to get overseas, I think I have a ~~project~~ on which I can do some useful work. During the summer here I took a course from Prof. David Easton on Systematic Political Theory and became interested in his theoretical model. I have begun to do some broad thinking concerning theoretical concepts which might have applications for political systems in general. Specifically I am interested in how demands

1140 E. 52d Street
Chicago 15, Illinois
October 6, 1957

Dear Henry,

It seems that I have just finished one letter, and here
is another. Not only that, but I am being impolite enough to
enclose a reference for my Fulbright application without waiting
for a reply to my last note.

To tell the truth, however, it seems wise to get this off
so that the November 1 deadline will pose no problem. Knowing the
limited time you will have for this sort of paperwork, I'd rather
not be sending you the official blank toward the end of this month.
This all demonstrates that I was really looking forward to seeing
you in person during our vacation.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the fall quarter here. This
must sound late, since Harvard began classes when we were vacationing
in New York. But this <del>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</del> shows the advantages of the quarterly system
(not to mention the joy of going on Christmas vacation knowing that a
unit of study is over and done with).

Thank you once again for letting me bother you for such
business as this.

[cc]

1140 East 52d Street
Chicago 15, Illinois
October 16, 1957

Dr. Henry Kissinger
Dept. of Government
Harvard University
Cambridge 38, Mass.

Dear Henry:

I am afraid that I am back again, bothering you for another of these pesky references. I feel a little misused by the bureaucracy of the IIE on this one, because I have been trying to get the applications since early this summer, and when I was in New York I was told they were not printed and that the deadline would be February 1. I was therefore both surprised and activated by a squib in the New York Times noting that the deadline was November 1, and as a result I just got the applications. I hate to bother you with this sort of thing, but I guess it is just all part of the game.

At this time of the year it is funny to be feeling that the Autumn Quarter's courses are just getting under way, but that is the case. In addition to several courses on aspects of the political process, I have the pleasure of Leo Strauss' seminar on Aristotle's Politics. He is really the scholar, and extremely enlightening.

I hope that your commuting schedule is settling down and that you are enjoying being in Cambridge. At any rate I doubt whether you are troubled with the international problems of the man from Buffalo, N. Y., who has complained that the radio signals from the sputnik open his automatic garage doors!

Thanks once again for your help with the reference, and best wishes to Ann.

October 23, 1957

Mr. Roger Masters
1440 East 52nd Street, Apt 26
Chicago 15, Illinois

Dear Roger:

Thank you for your various
letters. I have sent the letters of
recommendation and you certainly have
many irons in the fire.

I am still commuting between
New York and Cambridge, which is a
rather unsatisfactory existence.

It was good to hear of your
work in Chicago. I don't know whether
you have heard, but at one stage I was
planning to teach at Chicago this year.

Best regards.

March 26, 1958

Mr. Roger Masters
1440 East 52nd Street, Apt. 26
Chicago 15, Illinois

Dear Roger:

I have been intending to answer
your letter for a long time, but my life
now is such that I write only to those
people to whom I must write rather than
to those people to whom I would like to
write.

I am still commuting, although
from Boston to New York now instead of
from New York to Boston.

Do let me know what you will
be doing and where you will be.

With all good wishes.

Henry V. Krausinger

Sincerely yours,

With all my love.

be going and where you will be.

Do let me know what you will

I am still commuting, although
write.

to those people so whom I would like to
behave tomorrow I must write rather than
now as such that I write only to show
myself further for a long time, put my life
I have been intending to snail

Dear Roger:

Chicago 12, Illinois
1100 East 25th Street, Wht. 50
Mr. Roger Masters

March 50, 1928

May 12, 1958

Dear Roger:

Thank you for your letter of
May 3rd. It is good to know that you
will be here this summer. I am going to
be in Wyoming but only for a week, and
in Cambridge July and August.

Your thesis sounds interesting,
though I hope you do not fall into the
habit of your other colleagues who are
almost unreadable.

All good wishes.

25 rue Jean Dolent

Paris XIV, France
November 22, 1958

Dear Henry,

Although I've been meaning to drop you a note for some time, the distractions of Paris (and elsewhere) have been so absorbing that time seems to fly by especially relentlessly. As the above address suggests, we've found a personal solution to the French housing crisis. In fact, we did so in our first week here, and left for a month and a half of vacationing with a home to return to; not only are we extremely comfortable with a quiet tree-shaded private alley to look out upon, but being across the street from the Prison de la Santé, we occasionally hear the Algerian folk songs of its inmates wafting across the Parisian twilight.

During that 6 weeks of tourism we had the pleasure of seeing Burgundy, Provence, some of the French alps, and Geneva from the two seats of a rented scooter. This gave me a chance to get some excuse for French as a spoken language down to familiarity, and brought us through a myriad of beautiful and charming places. We were especially pleased by Arles and Aix-en-Provence, which are delightful towns, and the lake region around Annecy with its towering hills and quaint village. Since returning to Paris, we've been taking numerous little side trips, including one weekend visiting the Chateaux of the Loire. And since we also succumb to the pleasures of Paris itself - theatre, concerts, museums, and even an occasional movie - I can't say that I feel myself in an Ivory Tower here.

I'm finding the pace of studying here very much to my liking (for I am doing some work, as is Judith). I think that I've found studying Rousseau on my own (together with auditing some courses at Sciences Po) an extremely pleasant - and fruitful - occupation.

Rousseau much more comprehensible (when read slowly and carefully with an effort to see what he had to say) than were the commentaries on his philosophy that I remember hearing and reading. I think that it is possible to reconstruct the unity of his thinking without great inconsistency nor violence to his own texts. Furthermore, I have the idea that traditional theories, such as that of Rousseau, can be very usefully applied to the study of contemporary phenomena. What I have currently in mind is an analysis of the change in French constitutions which uses Rousseau's theory as a framework. This may be too ambitious, but it seems to have many exciting possibilities.

I am enclosing an article which appeared recently in *Le Monde*; although it probably has found its way to Cambridge, I send it along on the chance that you haven't seen it.

Will your travels bring you in the direction of Paris this year? If so - and if you had that impossible commodity (spare time in Paris) - we'd enjoy the chance to say hello again. At any rate, best wishes for a good year,

Sincerely,
Roger Masters

25 rue Jean Dolent
Paris XIV, France

March 24, 1959

Dear Henry,

Spring is in the process of coming to Paris, the birds outside the windows chirp merrily, and its been drizzling off and on -- the perfect combination of circumstances to get one's mind off studies and on to correspondence. And, though I could hardly say that we have stopped enjoying life here for a moment in order to work, I suddenly realize that perhaps I have achieved something simply by spending time reading slowly (with the objective of understanding, rather than that of checking items off a course reading-list). Therein lies my major complaint about the American organization of studies. But, by means of comparisons with the French parallels -- most particularly, as a result of auditing courses at Sciences Po -- I have to admit that we're much more fortunate in the U.S. Not only is it simply uncomfortable and discouraging to attempt to study in libraries here, but I'm afraid that I'm not completely convinced that "group research" is superior to individual analysis (especially after some of the exposés I've heard).

French political life continues in its rather unfamiliar stability (on the surface); I have the feeling, despite the beginning of open manifestations of discontent (today is the first bus strike since we've been here), that in general the government is still in that period of overall popular confidence which often lasts from 6 months to a year after a major election. And since nothing succeeds like success, resolution of economic problems and the Algerian war would indeed be nice to predict, and would certainly serve to maintain popular confidence in the regime and the government. I guess the most disturbing thing is the continuation of habits of newspaper seizures and the forbidding of meetings, which developed under the IVth Republic; then it was at least an understandable reaction to governmental insecurity, but now such actions seem to bereally unnecessary and dangerous. It is just that when we plan to go to a politically oriented gathering, I don't expect it

by the Ministry of the Interior, to be called off, nor do I find it pleasant to see the hall surrounded by helmeted members of the "Garde républicaine", machine guns in hand. I wouldn't consider the present government "authoritarian", but this sort of thing (especially when combined with the policy of "grandeur") makes one wonder about the chances for success -- and about the good faith of the current government. As far as international affairs are concerned, general apathy reigns; "grandeur" is a very good thing for the French "en principe", but they seem quite willing to let us do the fighting (if any) over Berlin. They've got their own war in Algeria -- and of course, if they lose it's the end of the entire Western civilization....

Enough of such reportage, which is probably much clearer in the NY Times. Will you be getting to Paris to see what's happening in person? If so, I do hope you get to contact us; after all, a year's research in Paris isn't only spent looking at books. (Incidentally, I have seen a number of "French intellectuals", including Aron -- I've also listened to a seminar he has been giving on "Political Elites", which has been disappointing -- and some people nearer my own age.)

Our plans for next year are to return to Chicago, with a stop off in the Boston area early in September. I'll be settling down to finish up the necessary course work, and Judith hopes to be able to continue studying (she's been writing some long papers due at the U of C during this year -- and is just about to finish this work with a long sigh of relief).

I trust that, for being "hectic", life in Cambridge (and commuting elsewhere) has not ceased to have its pleasures and its compensations -- one of which is undoubtedly the chance to watch the green come to the trees and lawns of the Yard. Judith joins me in sending our best to you both,

Personal Data Concerning

ROGER D. MASTERS

STATISTICS:

Born June 8, 1933, Boston, Mass.
Height: 5 ft., 11 1/2 in. Weight: 145 lbs.
Married. One Child.

ACADEMIC
TRAINING:

NEWTON HIGH SCHOOL, Newtonville, Mass. (1948-51)

HARVARD COLLEGE, Cambridge, Mass. (1951-55)

A.B. 1955, Summa cum Laude (Government)

Thesis topic: "Workable Competition: A Case Study of the Relationship between Economic Analysis and Public Policy"

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Ill. (1957-present)

A.M. 1958 (Political Science)

Thesis topic: "The Political System of the National Association of Retail Druggists"

Expect to receive Ph. D. (Political Science) in 1961.

Thesis will be on the Structure of Rousseau's Political Thought

PH. D.
FIELDS:

Political Theory Political Sociology
Comparative Government Public Administration
International Law and Diplomacy

HONORS:

At Harvard College: Detur Book Prize (1952); John Harvard Honorary Scholarships (1953, '54, '55); Undergraduate Research Stipend of Social Science Research Council (Summer, 1954); Phi Beta Kappa (1954); Bonaparte Prize (1955).

At University of Chicago: Joint Woodrow Wilson - S.S.R.C. First Year Graduate Fellowship (1957-58); William Rainey Harper Fellowship (1959-60); Louis E. Asher Fellowship (1960-61).

EXPERIENCE: U. S. Army - intermediate speed radio operator and battery clerk (1955-57)
Independent Research - Fulbright Fellowship to France to study
the political theory of Rousseau (1958-59).

PUBLICATION: "Une méthode pour mesurer la mobilité des attitudes politiques," *Revue Française de Science Politique*, September, 1960.

MEMBERSHIPS: Political Science Association, University of Chicago
American Political Science Association (Student Member)

REFERENCES:

Vocational Guidance and Placement Office
University of Chicago
Chicago 37, Illinois

November 23, 1960

Mr. Roger Masters
836 East 56th Street
Chicago 37, Illinois

Dear Roger:

I am enclosing some copies of letters
which prove that sometimes I even do what
I promise to do. I have also returned the
recommendation to the University of Chicago
and written to a few other people, and hope
something good will turn up for you.

I thought your paper was very good and
quite subtle. Would it be all right for me
to keep it?

All the best.

All the best.

to keep it?
Would it be all right for me
duite adept.

something good will turn up for you,
and written to a few other people, and pape
recommendation to the University of Chicago
I promise to do. I have also returned the
which prove that sometimes I even do what
I am enclosing some copies of letters

Dear Roger:
Chicago 31, Illinois
826 East 26th Street
Mr. Roger Masters

November 23, 1960