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Department of Genetics

9-29-69

Mr. Michael Davy 22 Tudor Street
Observer London, E.C. 4, England

Dear Mr. Davy-- (privately)

Your piece of the 2lst, on the Nobel-14 symposium, was right on
the mark. I won't even quarrel with yeur characterization of my philo-
sophical outlook, or lack thereof; though I may have some further con-
ment en it, in a spirit of friendly discussion.

I was surprised to be reminded of Bofors, having forgotten if I ever
knew it that this was Nobel's commercial successor. In fact, there was
a certain amount of by-play about the arms trade, but it was no sense
ef delicacy that kept it from being a more prominent topic of discussion;
rather that this, and a thousand ether,evils were inevitable side-effects
of the werld conflict. I would be interested te know whether the Nobel
Feundation has any "interest" in Bofors; in any case, I think you did in-
treduce it in a way that might confuse some readers about the possibility
that this meeting, too, was another effusion of the military-industrial
complex! The atmosphere among students in the U.S. is such that what
you wrate would set them off just that way contrary, I am sure, to any
intention on your part besides some subtle irony.

 

The Pearson report, as refflected in Guth's paper, surely will have
-gome strong criticism of military assistance as a substitute for economic
development:

About my non-ideology, I simply have to reflect that it is probably
easier to make an effective argument that a course of action is foolish.
than immoral (e.g. BW). If expressed a personal moral conviction, what
‘particular right would I have to urge wn it on anyone else. And on eschato-
logical matters, particularly, I have to join myself with the species in
insisting on our fallibility. I have found this kind of positive agnosti-
cism to be of some help in formulating moral policies (possibly in the
same sense that Heisenberg-unknowability of position and momentum, when
consistently applied, leads to very strong conclusions in physics.) I
believe that moral issues, which tend to divide peeple, should be translated
as far as possible into technical ones, for which explicit and convergent
solutions can be sought.(In my talk, I pointed out that ideological wars
had wrought far more misery than private immoralities of any kind.) Ulta-
mate moral questions do have to be faced, but always with the certainty
of our own limitations in dealing with them -- we should therefore do the
utmost to keep options open for future reversal.

Perhaps this anti-ideology is itself ideological. Or at least I should
pretend so; feeble passions don not move mountains.

“Ringing the bell on a glue company" does seem a mole hill.

Appreciatively,
wwe Lu
LT, J. P. KENNEDY, JR. LABORATORIES FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE, DEDICATED TO RESEAKCH IN MENTAL RETARDATION

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY HEREDITY NEUROBIOLOGY DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE =

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