CONVOCATION ADDRESSES INVOLVE A DOUBLE MYSTERY. THE
FIRST MYSTERY IS WHY ONE IS INVITED TO SPEAK. PRESUMABLY
ONE IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE WISDOM, OR ENTERTAINMENT, OR
BOTH. I HOPE THOSE EXPECTATIONS MAY NOT BE COMPLETELY
DISAPPOINTED TODAY.

THE SECOND MYSTERY IS WHY ONE ACCEPTS SUCH AN INVITATION.
PROBABLY, ONE HAS THE ILLUSION OF HAVING SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT
OR ENTERTAINING TO SAY. ONE’S SENSE OF HUMOR DECREASES WITH
AGE, WHEREAS THE NUMBER OF SUCH INVITATIONS INCREASES. THE
DANGER, HOWEVER, IS THAT ONE MAY BEGIN TO TAKE ONESELF
SERIOUSLY, WHICH IS THE WORST SIGN OF AGING AND DECAY.

I DO NOT MEAN, OF COURSE, THAT ONE SHOULD NOT TAKE
ANYTHING SERIOUSLY. THAT WOULD BE A PLEA FOR CYNICISM,

I ONLY MEAN THAT ONE SHOULD NEVER YIELD TO THE TEMPTATION

OF CONSIDERING ONESELF SIGNIFICANT IN SOME ABSOLUTE SENSE.
WHENEVER ONE BEGINS TO FEEL PLEASED WITH ONESELF, SATISFIED
WITH ONE’S STANDING OR ACHIEVEMENTS AND INCLINED TO
PONTIFICATE, ONE SHOULD GO BACK AND REREAD ALBERT CAMUS’
BOOK, THE FALL. ESPECIALLY, ONE SHOULD READ THE PASSAGE

IN WHICH THE HERO, JEAN-BAPTISTE CLAMANCE, FEELING SUCCESSFUL
AND WISE, WELL-BEHAVED AND SELF-PLEASED, SUDDENLY ONE EVENING,
ON A QUAI ALONG THE SEINE, HEARS BEHIND HIMSELF A SUDDEN
LAUGHTER -- A MOCKING LAUGHTER, COMING FROM NOWHERE AND
DEFLATING AT ONCE AND FOREVER THE HOLLOW PRETENSIONS OF #15
SHALLOW LIFE. CONVOCATION SPEAKERS BEWARE -- IT CAN HAPPEN
ANYWHERE, ON A SPEAKER'S PODIUM AS WELL AS ON THE QUAIS OF
THE SEINE.
TRUTHFULLY, ONE ACCEPTS THE INVITATION TO GIVE A
CONVOCATION ADDRESS BECAUSE OF A MIXTURE OF VARIOUS EMOTIONS:
THERE IS VANITY; THERE IS, IN THIS CASE, GRATITUDE TO AN
INSTITUTION BY WHICH | HAVE BEEN HONORED; AND, LET US ADMIT
IT, THERE IS SOME LOVE OF PAGEANTRY. COLLEGE COMMENCEMENTS,
FOOTBALL GAMES AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ARE ALL THE COLOR-
FUL PROCESSIONS THAT ARE LEFT IN OUR DRAB SOCIETY. MoRE
SERIOUSLY, ONE ACCEPTS THE INVITATION BECAUSE OF THE
CHALLENGE OF TRYING OUT SOME IDEAS ON AN INTELLIGENT AUDIENCE.

I HAVE TAKEN AS MY TOPIC TODAY GROWING UP SENSIBLE, A
VARIANT ON THE TITLE OF PAUL GoopmaN’s Book GrowinG Up Apsurp.
MosT OF YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT PAUL GOODMAN, WHO BY THE WAY
WAS LIKE MYSELF A SOCIALIST, MEANT BY HIS TITLE THAT OUR
SOCIETY IS FULL OF ABSURDITIES$ THAT OUR EDUCATIONAL APPARATUS,
AS WELL AS OTHER INSTITUTIONS, CONVERGE TO PROGRAM THE
INDIVIDUAL INTO A DOCILE MEMBER OF THAT ABSURD WORLD. THIS
CONVOCATION SEEMS TO BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO CONVERSE
ABOUT THIS SUBJECT WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELVES
WHO HAVE HAD EVERY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY, AND TO ASK
WHETHER AT THE END OF YOUR FORMAL EDUCATION YOU SEE IT AS
A TRAINING FOR ABSURDITY OR AS A LIBERATION FROM ABSURDITY.

Do YoU FEEL COMMITTED TO THE ABSURD WORLD OR DO YOU HAVE
THE WILL IO GROW UP SENSIBLE? WHAT HAS YOUR EDUCATION DONE
FOR YOU? OR RATHER, HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELVES READY TO

MAKE USE OF IT?
PauL GOODMAN QUOTES A COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION FOR
THE STATE OF NEW YORK AS PROCLAIMING “THE NEED FOR YOUNG
PEOPLE TO LEARN TO HANDLE CONSTRUCTIVELY THEIR PROBLEMS
OF ADJUSTMENT TO AUTHORITY.” “TO LEARN TO HANDLE
CONSTRUCTIVELY THEIR PROBLEMS OF ADJUSTMENT TO AUTHORITY.”
THIS IS A STRANGE DEPARTURE FROM THE EDUCATIONAL PHILO-
SOPHIES OF SOCRATES OR OF JOHN DEWEY. WHAT AUTHORITY MUST
ONE BE PROGRAMMED TO ADJUST TO, MAY I ASK? THE AUTHORITY
OF THE TEACHERS, OR THAT OF THE BOSSES, OR THAT OF
BOURGEOIS MORALITY? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HANDLE SUCH
PROBLEMS CONSTRUCTIVELY? [O BE READY TO FIT PASSIVELY INTO
SOCIETY, AS AN UTTERLY REPLACEABLE ELEMENT IN AN IMMENSE
COMPUTER? OR TO BE ABLE AND WILLING TO EXAMINE SOCIETY
CRITICALLY, TO DRAW ONE’S OWN CONCLUSIONS AS TO THE ENDS
AND MEANS OF THE SOCIAL PROCESS, AND TO CHOOSE WHERE ONE
MAKES ONE’S STAND?

IF I HAD TO TRY MY HAND AT PRESCRIBING WAYS OF ACHIEVING
FREEDOM FROM ABSURDITY, I WOULD PUT FORWARD TWO SUGGESTIONS.
THE FIRST IS FREEDOM FROM GLIB SOLUTIONS; THAT IS, REJECTION OF
THE PASSIVE ACCEPTANCE OF CANT AND PREJUDICE IN ANY FORM,
THE SECOND PRECEPT IS COMMITMENT TO BE COMMITTED. LET ME
TRY TO DEAL WITH THESE TWO SUGGESTIONS ONE AT A TIME.

FREEDOM FROM GLIB SOLUTIONS SOUNDS SIMPLE ENOUGH, AND
YET IS MOST DIFFICULT TO PRACTICE. ALL RELATIONS BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS, AND THE FORMS IN WHICH THESE RELATIONS ARE
EMBODIED, ARE AFFECTED BY SOME KIND OF WIDELY ACCEPTED
“TRUTHS”! NATIONALISM, STATISM, RELIGION, PROPERTY RIGHTS,
AND SO ON, EVERY SOCIAL RULE AND DEVICE THAT MAN HAS INVENTED
TO FACILITATE COMMUNAL LIVING TENDS, WITH TIME, TO BECOME
OSSIFIED INTO SOME KIND OF ABSOLUTE, CLAIMING VALIDITY
INDEPENDENT OF THE COMMUNITY THAT THE RULE WAS ORIGINALLY
MEANT TO SERVE. WHETHER IN ECONOMIC OR SEXUAL MORALITY, IN
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES, IN RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS OR
ORGANIZATIONS, WHEN SOCIAL CONDITIONS CHANGE, THE RULES
BECOME HINDRANCES TO THE EXPLORATION AND EVOLUTION OF NEW
PATTERNS OF LIFE. THEY BECOME THE MAINSTAYS OF THE BANAL
LIFE. THEY BECOME PREJUDICES. HE WHO INTERNALIZES
PREJUDICES GROWS UP GULLIBLE; HE GROWS UP ABSURD,

EDUCATION, IN PRINCIPLE, IS A STRUGGLE AGAINST PREJUDICE,
AGAINST THE UNTHINKING ACCEPTACE OF THE READY-MADE, TRIVIAL
WAY OF THINKING, IT SHOULD BE THE ROYAL WAY TO GROWING UP
SENSIBLE. YET, WITHIN EDUCATION ITSELF, EVEN EDUCATION OF
HIGH CALIBER SUCH AS YOU HAVE RECEIVED, THE DANGER OF GLIB
SOLUTIONS EXISTS. LET ME TAKE AN EXAMPLE, QUR EDUCATIONAL
PHILOSOPHY HAS BECOME SPLIT BETWEEN DISCIPLINES JUST AS OUR
CULTURE HAS BECOME SPLIT. MANY OF YOU HAVE CERTAINLY READ
C. P, Snow’s BOOK THE Two CULTURES, IN WHICH SNOW DEPLORED
THAT SCIENTISTS AND NON-SCIENTISTS SEEM UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND
EACH OTHER’S LANGUAGES AND PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS. THIS
SPLIT EXISTS AND TENDS TO CREATE OR REINFORCE A VARIETY OF
PREJUDICES.
SCIENTISTS, PROUD OF THEIR POWERFUL METHODOLOGY, TEND
TO LOOK UPON NON-SCIENTISTS AS PEOPLE WHO DEAL WITH AREAS
OF CULTURE THAT ARE IMMATURE, NOT YET INTERPRETABLE IN
TERMS OF DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, BUT ULTIMATELY TO BE
AMENABLE TO THE FRAMEWORK OF SCIENCE. SOCIAL SCIENTISTS,
ON THE OTHER HAND, TRY TO CREATE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURES
THAT MIMIC THOSE OF NATURAL SCIENCE, WITH VARIOUS DEGREES
OF SUCCESS, AND DO SO AT THE RISK OF IGNORING SOME OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT, NONQUANTIFIABLE ASPECTS OF THEIR SUBJECT
MATTER -- ITS HUMAN ASPECTS. LEAST AMENABLE TO QUANTITA-
TION ARE THE HUMANITIES, THE ARTS AND LITERATURE, WHICH
DEAL WITH HUMAN EMOTIONS AND HUMAN PREDICAMENTS AND WITH
THE RELATION OF MAN WITH THE SURROUNDING UNIVERSE. SOME
SCIENTISTS MIGHT BELIEVE THAT THESE CONCERNS ARE ILLUSORY,
BY-PRODUCTS OF THE SERIES OF EVOLUTIONARY ACCIDENTS THAT
HAVE PRODUCED THE HUMAN MIND AND HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS:
BuT THE HUMANIST REPLIES THAT IT IS EXACTLY THIS ACCIDENTAL
ENDOWMENT OF MANKIND THAT CREATES PROBLEMS SUCH AS THE
STRUCTURE OF THE MIND, THE NATURE OF THINKING, THE MEANING
OF FREEDOM, PROBLEMS THAT EVEN A DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THE
NETWORK OF THE BRAIN WOULD CERTAINLY NOT SOLVE. IF A
MECHANISTIC SOLUTION OF THE MIND WERE TO BE FORTHCOMING,
THIS WOULD BY NO MEANS DIMINISH THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
HUMANISTIC APPROACH TO LIFE AND CONSCIOUSNESS. IN FACT,
EVEN IN SCIENCE THE MOST CREATIVE EVENTS ARE NOT THE
QUANTITATION OF FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE BUT THE ACHIEVEMENT OF
MAJOR GENERALIZATIONS, TRULY ACTS OF ARTISTIC IMAGINATION.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO I BECAME CONCERNED OVER THE GROWING
PREJUDICES OF SOME OF MY SCIENCE STUDENTS AGAINST THE WORLD
OF NON-SCIENCE, AND EVEN MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PREJUDICE
OF MY NON-SCIENTIFIC COLLEAGUES AGAINST SCIENCE. So |
UNDERTOOK A LITTLE EXPERIMENT. | OFFERED TO THE FIRST-
YEAR GRADUATE STUDENTS IN OUR BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT A SEMINAR
ON WORLD LITERATURE, WHICH CONSISTED IN READING ONE BOOK A
WEEK, MEETING AT MY HOME ON SUNDAY NIGHTS, AND MATCHING MY
AMATEURISH INTEREST IN LITERATURE WITH THEIR RECENT COLLEGE
EXPERIENCE. ITHE SEMINAR FLOURISHED FOR THREE YEARS, THEN
ONE YEAR IT FOUNDERED ON THE ROCKS OF THE IRRATIONAL ~~
FROM EASTERN MYSTICISM TO EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION. I WAS
DISGUSTED AND GAVE UP; BUT THIS PAST YEAR -- 1974-75 --
| STARTED AGAIN, AND ONCE AGAIN IT WORKED BEAUTIFULLY. WE
CHOSE OUR BOOKS WITHIN A SPECIFIC FRAMEWORK -- THIS PAST
YEAR IT WAS THE EXISTENTIALIST APPROACH TO CONFLICT. WE
EXPLORED WHAT THE WAYS OF SCIENCE CAN CONTRIBUTE AND WHAT
THEY CANNOT, AND THE RELATIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TWO
DOMAINS, SCIENCE AND ART. WE REFLECTED ON THE ROLE OF
RATIONALITY; THE MEANING OF IRRATIONAL IMPULSES, AND THE
SOURCES OF VALUES THAT RATIONAL AND IRRATIONAL IMPULSES
PROVIDE TO SOCIETY. WE DISCUSSED THE NATURE OF THE FORCES
THAT GENERATE CONFLICTING VALUES WITHIN SOCIETY AS WELL AS
WITHIN INDIVIDUALS. WE EXPLORED OUR OWN PREJUDICES AND
EVEN SUCCEEDED IN ELIMINATING SOME OF THEM, SOME OF US
FACED FOR THE FIRST TIME THE SEXIST OR THE RACIST WITHIN
OURSELVES. I BELIEVE WE ALL EMERGED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE
AS FREER AND MORE RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUALS. WE BUILT, |
MIGHT SAY, A MINICOMMUNITY OF INTELLECTUALLY RATHER HONEST
PEOPLE: SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT FROM AN ENCOUNTER GROUP,
POSSIBLY LESS THERAPEUTIC, BUT CERTAINLY LESS PHONY,

THERE ARE MANY MEANS OF HELPING EACH OTHER TO GROW UP
SENSIBLE INSTEAD OF GULLIBLE; TO FACE NEW IDEAS AND NEW
SOCIAL RELATIONS WITH AN OPEN AND RECEPTIVE MIND}; TO REJECT
THE PREJUDICES THAT SO MANY PEOPLE USE AS PROPS OF THEIR
SHALLOW LIVES. IF WE SUCCEED IN DOING SO, WHAT PROPS SHALL
WE PUT IN THE PLACE OF PREJUDICES?

IN THE PREFACE TO THE PLAY MAN AND SUPERMAN, GEORGE
BERNARD SHAW WROTE: “THIS IS THE TRUE JOY IN LIFE, THE
BEING USED FOR A PURPOSE RECOGNIZED BY YOURSELF AS A MIGHTY

“

ONE.” COMING FROM AN INTELLECTUAL TEASER LIKE SHAW, THIS

IS A RATHER AMBIGUOUS FORMULATION. IT MIGHT BE INTERPRETED
AS REFERRING TO A BELIEF OF BEING ONE OF THE ELECTED FEW,
MOTIVATED BY SOME SORT OF COSMIC DRIVING FORCE, IN OTHER
WORDS, IT MAY SOUND AS IF IT MEANT TAKING ONESELF SERIOUSLY,
AND AS SOON AS THAT HAPPENS, AS | MENTIONED EARLIER, ONE
HEARS BEHIND ONESELF THE MOCKING LAUGHTER THAT DEFLATED
JEAN-PABTISTE CLAMANCE -- AND ONE'S PRETENSE COLLAPSES INTO

IRRELEVANCE.
WHAT SHAW PROBABLY HAD IN MIND WAS SOMETHING VERY
DIFFERENT, JHE TRUE JOY IN LIFE IS THE CONVICTION OF BEING
DRIVEN FROM WITHIN BY SOME PURPOSE THAT ONE HAS FREELY CHOSEN
IN A REASONED AND CONSCIOUS WAY; A PURPOSE THAT ENCOMPASSES
MORE THAN ONE’S OWN PLEASURE OR WELL-BEING, OR SUCCESS OR
SECURITY; A PURPOSE THAT IS BIGGER THAN ONESELF, BIGGER
THAN COMFORTABLE HONESTY, BIGGER THAN RESPECT FOR TRADITIONAL
VALUES. A PURPOSE THAT HAS WITHIN ITSELF THE SEEDS OF
GROWTH BECAUSE IT IS A CHOICE AND NOT A PREJUDICE. JHIS IS
WHAT I CALL THE SENSE OF COMMITMENT: A COMMITMENT THAT IS
NOT BLIND AND UNREASONABLE, BUT ANGUISHED, SELF-SEARCHING,
AND YET EFFECTIVE, AND LEADING TO DEVOTION, TO EXERTION,
EVEN TO MARTYRDOM. AS SHAW STATED IN HIS NEXT SENTENCE, THE
JOY IN LIFE IS "BEING THOROUGHLY WORN OUT BEFORE ONE IS
THROWN ON THE SCRAP HEAP,

BEHAVIORIST PSYCHOLOGISTS AND PHILOSOPHERS MAY SAY THAT
ANY SENSE OF FREELY CHOSEN COMMITMENT IS BUT A DELUSIONS
THAT ALL MOTIVES, CHOICES AND ACTIONS ARE MECHANICALLY
DETERMINED BY A COMBINATION OF GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL
PROGRAMMINGS, WHETHER ONE AGREES OR NOT WITH IT, THE
BEHAVIORIST PHILOSOPHY IS IRRELEVANT TO MY PRESENT THESIS,
GROWING UP SENSIBLE CONSISTS IN BEHAVING AS IF IN FACT WE
HAD INFINITE CHOICES OPEN TO US; USING OUR FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE
AND RATIONAL THINKING AS HONESTLY AS WE CAN IN THE MAKING
OF CHOICES; CONTINUOUSLY REEXAMINING OUR OWN ATTITUDES TO
DETECT AND UPROOT ANY CANT, HYPOCRISY, OR PREJUDICE; AND
ACTING VIGOROUSLY TO PROMOTE THOSE CAUSES TO WHICH WE
PROFESS TO BE COMMITTED. INTELLECTUAL INTEGRITY -- THE
BELIEF IN THE PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM, JUSTICE, EQUALITY AND
HUMAN DECENCY -- IS MEANINGFUL WHEN IT IS COUPLED WITH
PERSONAL INTEGRITY -- THE COMMITMENT TO ACT ON BEHALF OF
THOSE PRINCIPLES,

ON A FAMOUS DAY, ON THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN SPOKE OF REDEDICATION. FOR THE INTELLECTUAL,
REDEDICATION TO INTELLECTUAL INTEGRITY AND TO PERSONAL
INTEGRITY IS A CONTINUING PROCESS. CAMUS’ ANTI-HERO,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CLAMANCE, WHEN SOME OF HIS VALUES WERE PROVED
PHONY DID NOT HAVE WHAT IT TOOK TO TRANSFORM HIMSELF INTO
A BETTER MAN -- AND HE COLLAPSED. HE HAD NOT GROWN UP
SENSIBLE. HE WAS PROBABLY NOT A GRADUATE OF A GOOD
GRADUATE SCHOOL. JODAY, MY WISH TO YOU IS THAT YOU
CONTINUE TO GROW UP SENSIBLE. YOUR UNIVERSITY HAS GIVEN
YOU THE MEANS TO DO SO,