The Great Bookster
Sir:
After reading your article on Mortimer Adler in the March 17 issue, I was astonished but pleased to learn that someone has, at last, done something to eliminate the automatic acceptance of biased philosophy, and has offered something that is not so one-sided which will give the student an opportunity to think for himself and draw his own conclusions . . .
PHILIP M. C. ARMSTRONG JR. Annapolis, Md.
Sir:
In regard to the caption ["Should professors commit suicide?"] on the March 17 cover: HELL YES! The educational system of the U.S. would be a lot better off if some of them did.
C. CRAIG FRITSCHE Lexington, Va.
Sir:
If Mortimer Adler gets his way, I'm going to quit school at 16.
PETER RATCLIFFE Lincoln, Neb.
Sir:
For his long, hard effort against the Dragon of Deweyism, Huckster Adler deserves the fur-lined spittoon. But before he sallies forth again, he should straighten out his armor. His recent encyclopedist tendency, his readiness to defend either side of a contradiction (made out to be a virtue in your article), his over-all intellectual hedgehopping show the same irreverence and inconclusiveness that make the philosophies of William James and John Dewey what they are: anti-wisdoms. Mr. Adler may have provided his own criteria for what he chooses to call "Great Ideas," but he has yet to discover a criterion of truth.
THOMAS S. KLISE Peoria, Ill.
Sir:
. . . As a Great Books discussion groups enthusiast, I have known and admired Mortimer Adler for years, but I little suspected the amazing contribution he is and has been making to the improvement of mankind until I read your article . . . Pragmatism has never been or intended to be the philosophical panacea for the world's ills and weaknesses. Peirce and James never so intended it. Nor Dewey, as far as that goes. At least not during his most creative period. In its proper philosophical fields—politics, education, sociology—pragmatism served (and is still serving) a useful purpose . . .
GINO J. SIMI Washington, D.C.
Great Screwworm Plot
Sir:
Your March 10 account of Entomologist R. C. Bushland's method of reducing the population of screwworm flies [by breeding sterile males] reminds me of the conceit that
There was a young farmer named Graham, Who, though bugs ate his crops, wouldn't spray 'em. He explained: "I've a droll But effective control: I just catch all the females and spay 'em."
Yours for fewer screwworms, by whatever means.
H. C. CROOK East Pembroke, Mass.
The Case of the Singing Spy
Sir:
A footnote to your footnote re TIME's March 10 movie review of 5 Fingers ["20th Century-Fox publicists . . . claim that the spy 'Cicero' conveniently turned up in Ankara when the picture was shooting on location"] :
In the interest of truth, and in defense of 20th Century-Fox's excellent publicists, I can corroborate, and if necessary substantiate, the fact that "Cicero conveniently turned up in Ankara . . ." I was there myself . . . and I do know that this statement is correct.
OTTO LANG Producer of 5 Fingers 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. Beverly Hills, Calif.
Sir: