Alfred Korzybski, etc.

The following represents the views of an individual (i.e. me) on the work by Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950) as an individual author — and its theoretical and historical ramifications.

This is not an exposition of general semantics ; it does not represent the views of the Institute of General Semantics (founded by Korzybski etc. in 1938) nor is it, so far as I know, in any way endorsed by the Institute.

This is an attempt at approximate organization of broadly available material. No pretenses are made by me to completeness, or to the exactness of all my interpretations.

I trust that the following does contain much fact (or, truth). Parts of it are arbitrary : no statements are being here made as "the last word" on anything (please do your own research, the reader.

Whenever your and mine conclusions, even if tentative, do tally — therein may some truth reside ; whenever they do not, there may be something missing somewhere and that, too, might indicate some datum or factor of importance.) — WPT

 

  * Alexander Vasilievich Vasiliev (1853-1929). Author of Space, Time, Motion, of a text on N. Lobachevsky, etc. ; a friend of Korzybski.

* William Emerson Ritter (1856-1944). Biologist, instrumental in the establishment of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California ; friend of Korzybski, participated in the seminars.

* Giuseppe Peano (1858-1932).   " . . my friend, the great mathematician Peano" (K's private latter of 5 March 1947) ; one conjectures personal acquaintance during K's stay in Italy the early 1900's.

* Henry Laurence Gannt (1861-1919). Economist, the creator of the Gantt Chart, a friend of Korzybski (see also W. N. Polakov).

* Cassius Jackson Keyser (1862-1947). Adrian Professor of Mathematics at Columbia University, author of numerous titles on mathematical philosophy, friend of K.

* William H. Wilmer (1863 - 1936).   Opthamologist. Professor, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins. The founder of Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute (circ Oct 15-16, 1929, Johns Hopkins), which is now apparently called Wilmer Eye Institute. (By the way : I find that one of the Liberty Ships, SS William H. Wilmer hull # 959 was named after him (in service between 1943 and 1947.)

?Count Korzybski�s viewpoint is very unique, fascinating, and, I think, very logical.  ?etc.
( W. H. Wilmer, in Scientific Opinions about the First Edition, 1933 of Science and Sanity. )

* William Morton Wheeler (1865-1937). Entomologist, philosopher, endorsed Science and Sanity.

* Cora Lenore Williams (1865-1937). President, Williams Institute (Berkeley, California), author, endorsed Science and Sanity.

* Herber Spencer Jennings (1868-1947). Zoologist.

'The attempt of Count Korzybski to formulate the world and its processes, keeping in view as a guiding principle the fact that no two things are identical, seems to me of the greatest interest and value. It is something that had to be done�, etc.
(H.S. Jennings, Scientific Opinions, 1933)

* Charles Judson Herrick (1868-1960). Premier American neurologist, an Honorary Trustee, Institute of General Semantics (1938).

* Charles Manning Child (1869-1954). Biologist, endorsed Science and Sanity.

* David G. Fairchild (1869-1954). Botanist, author, "the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami, Florida is named for him. He married the daughter of inventor Alexander Graham Bell", endorsed Science and Sanity.

* Arthur Fisher Bentley (1870-1957). Author of numerous titles including "Linguistic analysis of mathematics" (1932) on which he had reportedly consulted with Korzybski.

* George Ellett Coghill (1872-1941). Biologist, philosopher, an Honorary Trustee of the original Institute of General Semantics.

* Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945). Philosopher much credited by Korzybski. Some communication between A.K. and the widow Toni Cassirer in the late 1940's found on record, K's personal acquaintance with E. Cassirer seems possible (but ?).

* Edward Vermilye Huntington (1874-1952).   Logician, credited by Korzybski, had in turn himself credited the latter.

* Ralph Stayner Lillie (1875-1952). Biologist, endorsed Science and Sanity.

* Jerome Alexander (1876-1959). Organic chemistry, colloidal chemistry, etc. The New York Public Library catalogue features some correspondences between A.K. and Alexander (although one must be skeptical about what can be found in the libraries connected with any basic research due to the marxist etc. disinformation in the US etc.).

* Burges Johnson (1877-1963?).   Author, New rhyming dictionary, etc (New York and London, Harper, 1931). As Much As I Dare (New York, 1944) ; through him had A. Korzybski met Mira Edgerly ; B. Johnson had helped publish Korzybski's Manhood of Humanity (Dutton, 1921).

* Raymond Pearl (1879-1940).   Biology.

" I have known and followed Cont Korzybski's work for many years with the keenest interest. In this new book he makes, in my opinion, a contribution to human thought and understanding of the very first rank of importance. It states and develops a really new idea. The consequences of that idea will, in the passage of time, be far-reaching and fundamental. " etc.
(Scientific Opinions, 1933).

* Walter Nicholas Polakov (1879-?). Engineer, author of "Man and His Affairs", etc., friend of Korzybski, was also active at popularizing the work of H. L. Gantt.

Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950).

Definition of General Semantics

General Semantics formulates a new experimental branch of natural science, underlying an empirical theory of human evaluations and orientations.

... a necessary bridge between exact sciences ... and daily life and daily orientations.

(Source : An Outline of General Semantics by Alfred Korzybski, Lecture delivered on 1 June 1934, and in March 1935. Collected Writings, pp. 193 ff.)

Note   'semantics' deals with 'meanings', and general semantics deals with values. The two should not be mixed. The moment you deal with values, you are not in semantics, but in general semantics.

(A. Korzybski to S.I. Hayakawa, 8 July 1949, letter reproduced in Collected Writings, p. 840 etc.)

* Mira Edgerly Korzybska   Artist ; The wife of Alfred Korzybski : "If this book book proves of any value, Mira Edgerly is in fact more to be thanked than the author." (A. Korzybski, Science and Sanity, p. lxxxviii).

" In the early days of the first World War, two or three young women who had been students of mine were working for the Red Cross and the Food Administration in Washington and shared an apartment. Mira Edgerly was then painting portraits at the national capital and I wrote them that they should meet her. They invited her to tea where she proved to be the center of interest. Late in the afternoon a young Polish officer arrived, an engineer assigned by his government to inspect munitions purchased by Poland in America. According to the accounts of my young friends he settled down by the Edgerly's side for the balance of the afternoon and the two were there when everyone but the hostesses had gone. Two months later Mira Edgerly and Count Alfred Korzybski were married. " (Burges Johnson, As Much As I Dare, New York, 1944).

* Albert Einstein (1879-1955).   Mathematical physicist, much credited by A.K., had been in communication with Oliver Leslie Reiser, Jerome Alexander, possibly with K (perhaps re Gustaf Stromberg's work).

Caution   At a later date it had been observed that he "was surrounded with people who had been deceiving him" (General Leslie Groves). The history of these developments can get exceedingly "tricky" ; There can be no doubt that monstrous 'intellectual' crimes were being committed during the 20th century ; who exactly was hoaxing exactly whom is often far less apparent. "It is X who did it" could have been done by Y who later said that it was X who did it — or was implying the same in some surreptitious manner. Please be not misled, the reader, by 'categories'. — (WPT).

* Robert Daniel Carmichael (1879-1967).

    �Man�s . . . leading characteristics is the definite power he has of accumulating wealth, both material and intellectual and spiritual, and of transmitting it to his fellows and his children. In this respect he differs more profoundly from other living beings that in any other respect. As Count Korzybski has well said, man is a time-binder, a being who is able to gather up his experiences in time and to capitalize his past in the present and for the future. His law of progress seems to be that of the geometrical ratio.� Etc. (Page 144).

    "In a valuable article, Alfred Korzybski has emphasized the interest of a certain division of human history into three periods. The first he calls the Greek, or metaphysical, or pre-scientific period. In this period the observer was the center of all thought and the observed did not matter. The second may be called the classical or semi-scientific period when the observer was almost nothing and the only thing that mattered was the observed ; most sciences, Korzybski maintains, are still in this state. The third he calls the mathematical or scientific period. In it mankind will understand, and some men understand already, that everything which man can known is a joint phenomenon of the observer and the observed."
    (Page 222. The Logic of Discovery by R. D. Carmichael, Chicago-London : The Open Court Publishing Co. 1930.)

* Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)).   Noted American writer ; "I gratefully acknowledge the valuable comments of . . . Mr. H. L. Mencken . . ." (Korzybski, Introduction to the Second Edition (1941) of Science and Sanity, p. lxx).

Also note, Johnson, Burges, The lost art of profanity; foreword by H. L. Mencken, drawings by Orson Lowell. Publisher Indianapolis : Bobbs-Merrill Co., [1948]

* Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942). Anthropologist, an Honorary Trustee, the Institute of General Semantics, 1938.

* Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962). French philosopher, an Honorary Trustee of the original Institute of General Semantics, 1938. Author of La philosophie du non : Essai d'une philosophie du Nouvel Esprit scientifique (1940) which drew on the works by Korzybski, Oliver Leslie Reiser, etc.
(ISBN 2130549845 ; 2130419607 ; 2130525784).

    * Le nouvel esprit scientifique, par Gaston Bachelard. Paris, Librairie F��lix Alcan, 1934.

Note : knowing the exploits of some 'materialists' and the like one must be cautious about the authenticity of anything that can be found in the libraries. When considering Bachelard, please, especially the French reader, note that can be somtimes seen in the American libraries can raise up the hair on one's head. (This ultimately applies to anybody who would prefer not to be bombed or the like by people who operate with false data.) Yet false data are being manufactured daily — by some cowardly miscreants, usually hidden but sometimes plainly visible — and are being planted, often conspicuously in the public libraries in the USA (etc). The problem may be world-wide (consider the statements by various 'revolutionaries' of the 20th century, whose works had not yet been properly exposed and handled. — (WPT)]

    * La philosophie du non, essai d'une philosophie du nouvel esprit scientifique, par Gaston Bachelard ... Publisher Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1940. [1949, '62, '66, '70 ; Quadrige/PUF, 1981, ISBN 2130369456 (pbk.) ]
    * The philosophy of no; [?] a philosophy of the new scientific mind. Translated from the French by G. C. Waterston. New York, Orion Press [1968], xii, 123 p. 22 cm. Note Translation of La philosophie du non. Note Bibliographical footnotes.
[Note This should state, the philosophy of 'non' (and not of 'no') ; this applies to the non-Euclidean or non-Aristotelian, etc., systems. I have no faintest idea why such a blunder. (WPT)]
    * The new scientific spirit / Gaston Bachelard ; translated by Arthur Goldhammer ; foreword by Patrick A. Heelan. Boston : Beacon Press, c1984. xxiv, 190 p. ; 21 cm. Translation of: Le nouvel esprit scientifique. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0807015008 :

Caution certain publications seen by me in the catalogues about this author by a Mary McAllester Jones leave me (for one) most highly skeptical. — (WPT).

* Robert Howard Lord (1885-1954).   An historian and writer. "I gratefully acknowledge the valuable comments of . . . Mr. Robert Lord, . . , etc." (Korzybski, Introduction to the Second Edition (1941) of Science and Sanity, p. lxx).

* William Burridge (1885-1955).

    * Excitability; a cardiac study, by W. Burridge ... London, Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford [Oxford, Printed by John Johnson at the University Press] 1932. ix p., 1 �., 208 p. diagrs. 23 cm. Series Oxford medical publications. "References": p. [200]-201. [UC ; not at NYPL]
    * A new physiological psychology, by W. Burridge...with a foreword by Sir Leonard Hill... London, E. Arnold, 1933. vii, 158 p. diagrs. 19 cm. "References", p. 154. [UC ; NYPL]
    * Alcohol and anaesthesia / by W. Burridge. London : Williams & Norgate, 1934. 65 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63) and index.

Also listed,
    * Burridge, William. Title Destiny Africa: Cardinal Lavigerie and the making of the White Fathers. Publisher London, G. Chapman, 1966. Description 195 p. front. (port.) 23 cm.
[UC ; NYPL : was it really so, Professor ? the 'subject' is neither alcohol nor anesthesia nor excitability, so I am skeptical. WPT]

Note on Sir Leonard Hill :

Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866. The rheumatic diseases : a course of lectures arranged by the Medical Staff of the St. John Clinic and Institute of Physical Medicine / 1938 2 Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866. Philosophy of a biologist, 1930 3 Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866 Common colds; 1929 4 Gamgee, Katherine Mary Lovell The artificial light treatment of children in rickets, anaemia & malnutrition, 1927 5 Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866. Health and environment / 1925 6 Hill, Leonard Erskine, 1866- Sunshine and open air, their influence on health, with special reference to the Alpine climate, 1924 7 Great Britain. Medical Research Committee. The science of ventilation and open air treatment, 1919 8 Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866. The Influence of the atmosphere on our health and comfort in confined and crowded places, 1913 9 Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866. Caisson sickness and the physiology of work in compressed air. 1912 10 Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866. Further advances in physiology, 1909 11 Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866. Recent advances in physiology and bio-chemistry. 1906 12 Hill, Leonard, Sir, b. 1866 The physiology and pathology of the cerebral circulation : an experimental research / 1896

* Calvin B. Bridges (1889 - 1938).   Biology, heredity, had co-worked with Jerome Alexander etc.

". . . The reformulation of biological concepts is made ultimately inevitable, and is greatly hastened and aided in transition by the generalized point of view established in the non-aristotelian system of Korzybski. " etc.
( C. B. Bridges, in Scientific Opinions about the First Edition, 1933 of Science and Sanity. )

* Marjorie Kendig (1892-1981). Long-term associate of Korzybski, editor of the Collected Writings 1920-1950 ; etc.

* Joseph Samuel Bois (1892-1978). Author, had discovered Korzybski's work in the 1940's and had continued in the vein.

* Oliver Leslie Reiser (1895-1974). Philosopher, writer.

Note Probably one of the best friends of A.K. ; and one of the staunchest popularisers of K's work. Reiser is also prominently mentioned by Gaston Bachelard in La philosophie du non which would obviously connect with the French research.
    This author much availing himself of A.K's methods in research, within his writings one finds a plentitude of historic and scientific detail which could seldom be found elsewhere. The title, "The Integration of Human Knowledge" itself may be not without some special significance (though it does not contain such a systematic integration but rather a collection of material).
    In order not to leave any stones unturned, the careful researcher of the period, or of history of science in general and in the US in particular probably should consult his works, albeit wants can be spotted here or there within them.
    On the political side he was a sort of innocent novice, his idea being of some kind of non-marxist 'socialism'. This should be overlooked (in my opinion), and forgiven. This was an author of unassailable personal integrity. — (WPT).

* Lancelot Hogben, FRS (1895-1975), England. An Honorary Trustee of the Institute of General Semantics, 1938.

* Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983). Premier American engineer, participated in at least one of Korzybski's seminars (the late 1940's), had delivered the Korzybski Memorial Lecture (in 1954 so far as I know).

* Roy J. Kennedy (1896?-1986?). Experimental physicist, Professor of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, endorsed Science and Sanity.

* Elwood Murray (1897-1988). He "directed the School of Speech at the University of Denver from 1932 until his retirement in 1962."   "In 1949 he initiated the founding of the National Society for the Study of Communication, and served as its president in 1953. He served as director of the Institute of General Semantics from 1967-1969."

* Paul Weiss ( 1901 - 2002 ).  Student of Whitehead, co-editor of Charles Sanders Peirce's papers ; author, The Theory of Types (reprinted as Supplement II in Science and Sanity), numerous other works. One of the sponsors of A. Korzybski's Lecture at the Yale University (February 1949). The teacher of, among others, William F. Buckley.

* Thomas Clark Pollock ( 1902 - ? ).   Author, The Nature of Literature, etc., etc.

* Laura Maud Thompson (1905-2000).   Anthropologist, writer, participated in some works of the Institute of General Semantics (per AK : Collected Writings data).

* Allen Walker Read (1906-2002). Lexicographer, editor of the Standard International Dictionary of the English Language (Funk and Wagnalls), etc.

* Charles Joseph Biederman (1906-2004). Artist, author of "Art as the evolution of visual knowledge" (1946), etc.

* Irving J. Lee (1909 - 1955).   Author, The language of wisdom and folly (New York, 1949), numerous other publications.

* Alan Watts (1915-1973).

"Sciences and religions do not differ psycho-logically, etc."
(A. Korzybski, What I Believe).

On Korzybski's Work and on Religion

The above quotation is one of the few statements known to me by Alfred Korzybski about 'religion'. In other words, so far as I have seen — and I think I have read most of what he wrote — he seldom used the term 'religion' in any statements or in any context.

I have not seen any statements by A. Korzybski against 'religion' or any religion. He was not much, it seems, in favor of 'theology' but that is not "the same thing" as religion and can be very far removed from it.

Anybody evoking his work in any statements against religion had either misunderstood the work or is plainly trying to sabotage it by spawning irrelevant 'discussion' ; and/or by trying generally to disinform others to some ulterior motives.

There may have been a case of an imposter, so far as I know the scene, who pronounces against some elementalistic objectified 'religion' (quotation marks). In other words, the individual does not even attack anything in particular ; he would attack any 'religion' (quotation marks) and any connection with any 'religion'.

Any such actions, without representing anything in particular, are of course objectifications of a term. Please do clear Korzybski's definitions, such as 'objectification'. I mean, his definitions and not anyone else's "explanations".

Can you find a more rampantly present (and harmful) elementalism as the verbal split of 'science' or 'religion' ? — when spoken (or fought) about with no reference to anything particular ?

WPT

* Mary Jan Yates

Note   ... "Mary Jane (or Jano, as she had called herself from babyhood) was from the mountains of Wyoming, but was well versed in the urbane ways of the world through serving as the first woman reporter on the Kansas City Star—reveling in the musical aspects of the black subculture of that city—and through several years' sojounr in New York spent mostly as chief public-relations lady for Mobil. The catalyst that brought us together was Korzybski's General Semantics, she being a director of the New York chapter of this discipline, which had invited me to tell them about the mystiers of Zen. " etc.
(Alan Watts, Autobiography, New York : Pantheon Books, 1972, page 306).

Note on Zen, Chan, Dhyana, Sema.

Zen is a Japanese variant of the Chinese Chan (Ch'an) which is a variant of the Indian Dhyana which is, not a variant of but, akin to the Greek sema.

These of course do not mean "the same thing" ; but the sense-developments may be of some interest. (WPT)

* David Bourland (1928-2001). Popularized the E-prime ('is'-less form of the English).

Note : The suggestion of an 'is'-less language came from an other person whom Dr. Bourland was not able to locate (cf. Samuel Bois).
    Most of the arguments against E-prime I have seen would seem misplaced due to their authors' forgetting one important factor : there is nothing obligatory to E-prime and a writer might use it or not use it as he (she) sees fit.
    In favor of E-prime could be said : it does illustrate the functional (actional) definition of the language, whether by reading it or by essaying to write in it.

* Robert Pula (1928-2004). Co-editor with Kendig and Charlotte Schuchardt Read of the Collected Writings, author, Introduction to the 5th edition of Science and Sanity, was long-time Director of the Institute of General Semantics, etc.

 

Talented Also-Runs

* Percy W. Bridgman (1882-1961).   Author, The logic of modern physics, New York : Macmillan, 1927 (1928, 1932, 1958, 1961).

�Three important terms have been suggested to me ; namely, �envirogenetic' by Doctor C. B. Bridges, �actional' by Professor P. W. Bridgman, and �un-sane' by Doctor P. S. Graven, which debt I gladly acknowledge."
( Preface to the First Edition, Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzybski, 1933 ).

?. . . Among the few . . . attempts . . . to provide a technique by which the vicious consequences of verbal habits may be avoided, I believe that of Count Korzybski must be rated as of the very first importance. I have been acquainted with his work for a number of years ; not only do I believe it to be fundamentally sound, but I have always found his points of view most suggestive and stimulating . . .?
( P. W. Bridgman, in Scientific Opinions about the First Edition, 1933 of Science and Sanity )

Comment   In some later years Bridgman and Korzybski had a sort of falling out one with the other ; the presence of some �third party" seems nearly certain. To me, the last writings by Bridgman look vague in some respects. — (WPT).

* Eric Temple Bell (1883-1960).

* Stuart Chase (1888-1985). Author of "The Tyranny of Words", etc. (as economist deceived by J.M. Keynes).

* Thurman Arnold (1891-1969).
    * The symbols of government. New Haven, Yale university press; c1935. 278 p.
    * Etc., etc. An entirely reliable author for the most part ; had been a friend of Harry Truman so far as I know. He had fallen for the sorts of psychiatrification, so to speak, which had proved unrealistic due to the marxist-leninist 'materialist' sabotage of the Western societies after 1945. One would not panic over how difficult these issues are ; but these are the most difficult of all the issues presently to be coped with, the reader. "Don't worry", saith a Prophet ; just discriminate (i.e. evaluate any data carefully and without hasty conclusions). — (WPT).

* Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa (1906-1992). Only the very first edition of his "Language in Action" can be considered as reliable (cf. A.K's letters to Hayakawa, Collected Writings). His political, other, writings would command consideration.

* Willard Van Orman Quine (1908�2000).

      Hunting after some essences, this author had been exposed to Korzybski's work but did not get the fundamentals.
      Pluming himself in his discovery of 'use' and 'mention'* (which was likely inspired by Korzybski's "order of abstractions" — and) which seems some use, W. Quine had at one time published an article on "Identity" not a credit to him ; and far less credit to other authors who quoted a part of it, a sort of "joke" which however was not exactly true ; probably meant as a 'facetious' remark, in the hands of others it could have turned entirely misleading.
      If I had known only this "Identity" by W. Quine I would have suspected deliberate mischief. This seems not to have been the case ; his overall writings seem entirely straightforward in so far as he himself understood what he was speaking about (which was not always).
      Check out every detail very carefully, Professor ; lest some new 'specialists' appear with some new spin on 'identity'. (There have already been a slew of such). — (WPT).

      * "In my own words" : to mention an object we use a term (word) ; to mention the term (word) we use quotation marks ('*'). But please consult the statements by Quine himself ; do not rely on mine lest some new confusion appear, Professor. (WPT).

    * Quine, W. V. (Willard Van Orman) Mathematical logic. Rev. ed. Cambridge, Harvard Univ. Press, c1951. 346 p. Bibliography: p. 331-338.
    * Etc.

 

( Clearly Relevant )

* Postgate John Percival ( 1853 - 1926 ).

    * Semantics; studies in the science of meaning, by Michel Br�al ... Tr. by Mrs. Henry Cust, with a preface by J.P. Postgate ... Imprint London, W. Heinemann, 1900. lxvi, 341 p. 21 cm. Contents pt. I. The intellectual laws of language.--pt. II. How the meaning of words is determined.--pt. III. How syntax is formed.--Appendix: The science of meaning, by J.P. Postgate. [Fortn. rev., Sept. 1897] Note Includes bibliographical references.
    * The meaning of meaning; a study of the influence of language upon thought and of the science of symbolism, by C. K. Ogden ... and I. A. Richards ... with an introduction by J. P. Postgate ... and supplementary essays by B. Malinowski ... and F. G. Crookshank ... Imprint London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & co., ltd; New York, Harcourt, Brace & company, inc., 1923. Division Humanities- General Research- Rm315 Descript xxxi, [1], 544 p. 23cm. Series International library of psychology, philosophy, and scientific method Note "The problem of meaning in primitive languages, by Bronislaw Malinowski": p. [451]-510. "The importance of a theory of signs and a critique of language in the study of medicine, by F. G. Crookshank": p. [511]-537. Includes bibliographic references.

* Leon Chwistek (1884 - 1944).   Mentioned in Science and Sanity, numerous other influences.

The limits of science; outline of logic and of the methodology of the exact sciences. Publisher London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner [1948] Description lvii, 347 p. diagrs. 23 cm. Series International library of psychology, philosophy, and scientific method [editor Charles Kay Ogden] Note "First published in 1935 under the title Granice nauki. The present edition has been revised and supplemented by the author."

* Ludwig Wittgenstein (1888-1951).   First edition of the Tractatus (in German) was published by Wilhelm Ostwald. (Note : L. Wittgenstein had in a letter to Frank Ramsey described the typography of that edition as 'wretched', to me this seemed a flippant remark, in a non-too-grave letter to a friend. Any more such complaints published at a later date seem fabricated — unless they were taken verbatim from a letter by Wittgenstein to B. Russell which letter the latter was said to have destroyed : this is a mere guess). The Tractatus was later translated into the English by Ramsey and Ogden with Wittgenstein's cooperation — and I certainly would not recommend any other English translations of this work.

* Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957).   "The only determined attempt made, so far, to deal with the symbolic problems whose importance is emphasized in the present work is that of the Orthological Institute" (Korzybski, Science and Sanity, page 52).

    * The history & theory of vitalism, by Hans Driesch ... Authorised translation by C. K. Ogden ... Rev. and in part re-written for the English ed. by the author. London, Macmillan and co., , 1914. viii, 239 p. illus. 19cm.
    * Tractatus logico-philosophicus, by Ludwig Wittgenstein, with an introduction by Bertrand Russell. London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & co.; New York, Harcourt Brace & Co., 1922. 189, [1] p. 23 cm. Translated by C. K. Ogden. "The proofs of the translation and the version of the original which appeared in the final number of Ostwald's Annalen der Naturphilosophie (1921) have been very carefully revised by the author himself ; and the Editor further desires to express his indebtedness to Mr F. P. Ramsey, of Trinity College, Cambridge, for assistance both with the translation and in the preparation of the book for the press." Note German and English on opposite pages. Series International library [etc] [ Personal advice : Omit the introduction ; do not buy the other translation (ca. 1959). — (WPT)]
    * The foundations of mathematics and other logical essays / by Frank Plumpton Ramsey ; edited by R.B. Braithwaite ; with a preface by G.E. Moore. London : Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1931 Series International library of psychology, philosophy and scientific method [editor C.K. Ogden]
    * The nature of mathematics, a critical survey, by Max Black. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, ltd. 50. [ca. 1934] xiv, 219 p. 22 cm. Bibliography: p.211-214. Series International library of psychology, philosophy and scientific method [editor C.K. Ogden] From Liner Note : "The contributions of Chwistek, Ramsey, Wittgenstein, Weyl, and others to logistic theory are described and considered . .", etc..
    * The limits of science; outline of logic and of the methodology of the exact sciences, by Leon Chwistek. London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner [1948] Description lvii, 347 p. diagrs. 23 cm. Series International library of psychology, philosophy and scientific method [editor C.K. Ogden] Note "First published in 1935 under the title Granice nauki. The present edition has been revised and supplemented by the author."

* Frank Plumpton Ramsey (1903-1930). Author of The Foundations of Mathematics and a number of papers ; co-worked with Wittgenstein and Ogden on the English translation of Tractatus by W.

* Max Black (1909- ).

 

The Spiritual Side

 

Była sobie dusza prosta ; Ktoś powiedział, "Tyś jest prosta". Jakoż sie rozpoczęły Rozmaite powikłania.

Note The idea represented above has been borrowed by me from an American engineer and writer. (WPT)

* William James (1842-1910).

    * A pluralistic universe; . . . by William James, New York, [ ? ] Longmans, Green, and Co., 1909 [1912, '16, '25, '28, '32, etc.]

* Henri Bergson ( 1859 - 1941 ).

�In the writing of this English translation of Professor Bergson�s most important work, I was helped by the friendly interest of Professor William James�, etc.  . . . �Professor Bergson has himself carefully revised the whole work.�
(Arthur Mitchell, Translator�s Note, Creative Evolution by Henri Bergson, New York : Holt, 1911, page v.)

* Wincenty Lutosławski ( 1863 - 1954 ).  

    In a 'hamlet on the Spanish sea-shore, opposite Corunna, in the last two and a half months of 1897' Progress of Souls was written by W. Lutosławski. The manuscript, wrote he, 'went round many publishers in England and America, without being approved. I then rewrote the whole work in German and found easily, through my friend Wilhelm Ostwald, a paying publisher in Leipzig. The book was published by the firm of Wilhelm Engelmann, under the title : Seelenmacht, Abriss einer zeitgem�ssen Weltanschauung, early in 1899. I sent a copy to my friend William James, whom I had visited in Harvard in 1893, and who since then remained in correspondence with me until his death. He wrote me enthusiastic letters on this work', etc. (W. Lutosławski)

    * Seelenmacht; abriss einer zeitgem�ssen weltanschauung, von Wincenty Lutoslawski. Leipzig, W. Engelmann, 1899. xvi, 301 p. 23 cm.
    * The world of souls, by Wincenty Lutoslawski ... with a preface by William James. London, G. Allen & Unwin, ltd. [1924] Descript 224 p. 22 cm. Note Chapters 1-6, hitherto unpublished in English, were written in 1897 and formed part of a work in 10 chapters, which, rewritten in German, was published under title: Seelenmacht, abriss einer zeitgem�ssen weltanschauung (Berlin, 1899) Chapter 7, "A new theory of sex," was published in Mind in 1922.

* Hans Driesch ( 1867 - 1941 ). Biologist, philosopher, author. See also The Searchers by Gustaf Strömberg.

    * Der vitalismus als geschichte und als lehre, von Dr. Hans Driesch Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1905 246 p. diagrs Series Natur- und kulturphilosophische bibliothek; Bd. III Language German
    * The history & theory of vitalism, by Hans Driesch ... Authorised translation by C. K. Ogden ... Rev. and in part re-written for the English ed. by the author. London, Macmillan and co., , 1914. viii, 239 p. illus. 19cm.
    * Neuland der seele, von J. B. Rhine. �bers. und eingeleitet von Prof. dr. Hans Driesch. Stuttgart, Berlin, Deutsche verlags-anstalt [1938] 236 p. 21 cm. Note Translation of: New frontiers of the mind. Note "Literaturverzeichnis": p. [235]-236. Language German

* Gustaf Strömberg (1882-1962).  

Am I a piece of matter . . . ?

Inquired the incredulous Gustaf Strömberg, The Soul of the Universe, (Philadelphia, 1940, '48).

Astronomer, author of The Soul of the Universe (in co-operation with mathematician Einstein, astronomer Eddington, etc). Please note Korzybski's Foreword to The Autonomous Field by Strömberg (ca. 1946).

    * Strömberg, Gustaf, b. 1882. Title Universums själ. Förord av prof. Knut Lundmark. Publisher Stockholm : Bokförlaget natur och kultur, [1938] Description 182 p.
    * Strömberg, Gustaf, 1882- Title The soul of the universe Publisher Philadelphia : David McKay company, 1940, 2nd ed. 1948 Description xviii, 244 p. double plates. 21 cm.

* Harold Saxton Burr (1889-1973).   Neurologist, author of "The Fields of Life" (also incorrectly published as 'blueprint for immortality'), etc. See also The Soul of the Universe by G. Strömberg.

* Joseph Banks Rhine (1895-1980). Credited by Oliver Leslie Reiser, apparently was in communication with the latter ; mentioned by G. Strömberg, mentioned by Hubbard. His New frontiers of the mind (New York, 1937) translated into the German by Hans Driesch (Berlin, 1938).

    * Extra-sensory perception, by J.B. Rhine ... with a foreword by Professor William McDougall ... and an introduction by Walter Franklin Prince ... Boston, Mass., Boston Society for Psychic Research, 1934. Description 2 p. l., iii-xiv, 169 p. front. (5 port.) 2 pl., diagrs. 23 cm. Language English
    * New frontiers of the mind; the story of the Duke experiments, by J. B. Rhine ... illustrated with photographs. Publisher New York, Farrar & Rinehart [c1937] London, England ; New York, N.Y., USA : Arkana, 1989. 275 p. front., plates. 21 cm. Note "The first technical report on the Duke experiments to be presented in book form--Extrasensory perception--appeared in 1934."--p. 229. "Additional reading": p. 275. Language English
    * Neuland der seele, von J. B. Rhine. �bers. und eingeleitet von Prof. dr. Hans Driesch. Stuttgart, Berlin, Deutsche verlags-anstalt [1938] 236 p. 21 cm. Note Translation of: New frontiers of the mind. Note "Literaturverzeichnis": p. [235]-236. Language German
    * The encyclopedia of the unexplained: . . . Editor R. Cavendish. Special consultant on parapsychology: J. B. Rhine. Publisher New York, McGraw-Hill ; London, Routledge & K. Paul, [1974] London, England ; New York, N.Y., USA : Arkana, 1989. Paging 304 p. illus. 29 cm. Notes Bibliography: p. 286-297. ISBN 0710076991 ; 0070102953
    * Encyclopedia of the unexplained. Persian. Safar bih m�varaʾ / niv�sandigan J. B. R�yn [and others] ; mutarjim : Am�r-ʻAlʻi R�straw. Edition Chap-i 2. Publisher Tihran : Payk-i Farhang, 1377 [1998] Paging 384 p. : ill. ; 21 cm. Notes Translation of: The Encyclopedia of the unexplained.
[Los Angeles Public Library]

* Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000).

It is rather indirect connections with Korzybski's work that I notice ; but the affinity seems clear enough to warrant this author being considered here.

"What, if anything, is is that makes the human species ... superior ... ? ... It is the capacity ... that only language ... makes possible ... This ... is well called the symbolic power. Maps, graphs, mathematical and musical notations, arrows indicating directions, red indicating stop or danger, various gestures, are all included. these are what set us apart, so far as we are set apart, from the other creatures. We now know that chimpanzees have this power in some degree . . ".¹

(C. Hartshorne, Wisdom as Moderation, New York, 1897, p. 31).

Note 1 . . "Animal abstracting stops somewhere" — the early experiments by I. Pavlov with dogs and bells, metronomes etc. had showed, and beyond any doubt, that the 'symbolic power' by a brute beast is but extremely limited (although Pavlov himself had not seen some of the possible applications of his own research). Man can substitute one symbol for another in principle without end. That man differs from the beast was nothing new and should be obvious were it not that some sorts of propaganda had appeared in the course of the 18th century based on some "scientific" misunderstandings. (WPT).

* * *

"One of the marks of human superiority is the following. As we go down the scale of creatures, we find individual differences within a species diminishing until with species of atoms or molecules they seem to disappear altogether. Individuation has degrees, and the higher the species the greater the individual differences. This distinguishes us from all other creatures."

(Idem, p. 32).

Comment There is no need to prove human superiority ; this should be seen by anyone who is not a total idiot (or a certain sort of 'philosopher'). Yet the problems of fake "science" seem to persist ; in the main the sources are usually some politically-oriented disturbers of the public peace (e.g. some marxist-leninist worshippers of some false god called, this time, 'socialism').

"In the name of science" some bunk "science" is often being taught ; the fundamental issue is scientific and has little to do with theology — this might be one source of the confusion which it seems one should be careful to avoid. (WPT).

* Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (1911-1986).

"Know your general semantics ?"

L. Ron Hubbard, The Evolution of a Science, 1948, (Los Angeles, 1979, page 68).

On Korzybski's Work and on the Data Series

The first article of the Data Series (1970) contains a critique of Korzybski's work. After some "in-depth" research one concludes, there were some things the Ron Hubbard did not know.

Thad has been corruption of the term 'semantics' going on ; and it was quite deliberate, by certain authors. (Do not take my word for any of this, the reader, but pray make sure to examing the human records the 20th century, including but not limited to the items given below).

NOTABLY :

    * Carnap, Rudolf, 1891-1970. Title(s) Introduction to semantics ... Cambridge, Mass, Harvard university press, 1946. 263 p. Series Studies in semantics ; v. 1 Bibliography: p. [253]-256.

    * "What Is Semantics?" by Anatol Rapoport. An article in American Scientist, January 1952. (See more notes below).

    * Schaff, Adam. Introduction to semantics. N. Y., Pergamon, c1962. 395 p. 23 cm. Includes bibliography.

There may also be some more to this story. Has the term 'semantics' been corrupted ; and, if so, who exactly had done something of the sort. The above titles, and a few other articles (please check this out on your own if you de not believe this, the reader), show that there had been an organized action of tampering with the terms.
      Korzybski himself had pointed this out and complained against it on numerous occasions ; this can be found in the records of his writings.
      Ron Hubbard's statements on the corruption of the term in question could be indeed a classic instance of a "third party" activity, by Ron Hubbard's definitions ; albeit he himself had not spotted this one.

WPT

---

Note   I report strenuous "third party" activities ever since ca. 1945 — which went altogether unnoticed.

    The statements by LRH in the early 1950's about the initial research round 1945 on Dianetics (trademark owned by Religious Technology Center) are unequivocal. The jump was from Spencer to Breuer to Korzybski to Dianetics. The apparent trend consisted, among other articles, in :

    a) The psycho-analytic approach ; more particularly the early 'cathartic method' by Josef Breuer — see the reports on the case of Bertha Pappenheim ("Anna O.") ; cf. the "Preliminary Communication" by Breuer and Freud (1893).
    Korzybski had merely pointed this out (as the way to go so to speak) : "make the 'unconscious' 'conscious'" (Science and Sanity, 1933, page 492 etc ; though K only mentions Freud) ; Hubbard (1945 etc.) had developed the techniques which he called auditing.
    b) Non-identification (Korzybski had 'non-identity', primarily on the foundations of mathematics — co-terminous with the foundations of any language). It seems that 'non-identification' can be substituted for 'non-identity' in any non-mathematical usage.
    c) The 'engineering attitude' (A.K.), or, the 'engineering approach' (LRH) ; this also ties with the works of many an other engineer (e.g. B. Fuller).
    d) The postulational method (see also C. J. Keyser, R. D. Carmichael, etc.) ; see the Axioms of Dianetics and the Axioms of Scientology on one hand and Postulates on the Know to Mystery Scale on the other hand.
    e) The non-animalistic concept of Man, pivotal with Korzybski (see Manhood of Humanity, 1921, etc.), also clearly stipulated by Hubbard within his framework.
    f) Sanity a question of degree (Korzybski) — and not of 'kind'. Please note that the Tone Scale is "also a scale of sanity".
    g) The multi-ordinal terms (for example, 'the book of books', 'the lord or lords', 'the history of history', etc.) ; not necessarily just quibbles, were systematically approached by Korzybski. I have never seen Hubbard mention the 'multi-ordinal' terms but confer 'the awareness of awareness unit', the 'knowing how to know', etc.
    h) Non-elementalism (Korzybski) — or, no artificial verbal splitting. Confer "Mind and body."  .  . "Who said they were separate?" (Hubbard, The Evolution of a Science, 1948, Los Angeles, 1979, pages 37-8).
    These definitions, albeit technical, can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary. The problems of elementalism (artificial verbal splitting which has no bases in the facts) have been and are present in practically every issue today. Korzybski had left a good deal of treatment to these ; Hubbard had not used the given labels ('elementalistm' and 'non-elementalism') — at least I have never seen them within his writ — but he had a fundamental understanding of the type of problem and there can be tens (if not hundreds) examples found within his writings, instances of such verbal difficulties mentioned and most often resolved in some fashion.

Comment : to propose that landing Man on the Moon is possible and actually to land one there might be widely remote stages of attainment. Such a compariston may very well apply to some of the propositions by Korzybski (the notable 'make the unconscious conscious' has been a sort of constant within many authors of the psycho-analytic bent).
    As the world went forward, the one thing which has changed little during the progress from Korzybski to Hubbard has been the modus operandi. Derived from the physical sciences, the idea of a method has been known during the most of Man's recorded history, the particular developments having been the domain of each individual researcher one sees invariances between them.

On Dianetics and Scientology

The spiritual side has rather to do with Scientology — which was evolved from the earlier study called Dianetics. This earlier work by Hubbard is of more mechanistic character. On the spiritual side, Korzybski was not much of a soulist, usually (S & S) rather far from it (but a few remarks by him in Manhood of Humanity, etc., do align). A statement somewhere on the possible influence of one's "engineering friends" could perhaps elucidate these stories.

Caveat Emptor

Please safeguard very carefully (or try to obtain) any early, including the earliest, editions of the works by L. Ron Hubbard — such as would likely be authentic. Even if you should seem to disagree with the author.

Before you can either reject or accept any such work, the reader, you must make sure that you are evaluating authentic statements by its author — and not some fabrications by some third parties.

(Incidentally, this would apply to any author at all, anyway).

As of this writing (by me here, October 2006), there are muliple articles being published, attributed to L. Ron Hubbard, not infrequently by some "Scientologists" (quotation marks) including in the official publications of the Church of Scn. (or so it is stated on them, anyhow) — which are either pure fabrications or are distortions of the original texts by L. Ron Hubbard.

In my opinion, the people who do so are the main persons responsible for the present war in Iraq with any of its casualties ; etc. Why : the work by L. Ron Hubbard does contain solutions to such problems (or models of or for solutions, this noted especially for some picky skeptic).

Were this work not targeted for sabotage, clearly visible already in the 1980's (for example, an edition of Science of Survival with the possibly most important page in it omitted — one which relates the work by LRH to the entire history of the human progress) — were this work in its pure and unaltered form available and really applied, none of the latter conflicts should have occurred ; for any of those conflicts had stemmed mainly from wants in the intelligences by its authors.

Another example seen by me with my own eyes a week or two ago : "x is wrong", this attributed to L. Ron Hubbard, the value of the x being a major religion. (The people who have been concocting any such forgeries are not even any clever ; such a statement is plainly contrary to everything on the matters of religion that L. Ron Hubbard had ever stood for).

These are no small matters (though it might seem so to some puny criminals who have been able somehow to gain at least partial control of L. Ron Hubbard's copyrights and to mislead millions of people with inaccurate or plainly false information).

Were these statements about 'Scientology' published by the official sites of the Church made by L. Ron Hubbard ?   No.   Then commit their authors to the flames, for any non-source data being presented as Scientology are no other than Suppresive Acts (High Crimes) — by the definitions found in the Scientology Ethics book by that author. (And are the plainest fraud by the standard legal definitions in the US ; of anybody's accepting money for falsely advertised product.)

Note   It is my feeling (rather than knowledge) that large parts of Scientology world-wide (a high number of the individual Scientologists) may be still little affected, or unaffected, by the apparent corruption. I have no idea how broadly the issues described by me here may have been noticed ; and many persons (or entire orgs) might continue with their work in spite of any aberrations being present elsewhere, possibly in some inconvenient position in the midst of some absurd pressures by some few "bad apples".

Suppose, you, the reader, find my protests somewhat persuasive. What can be done with this situation, by you and/or me. All I can think of is, insist on the original work by Hubbard, in case of any doubt make triple sure you are using his data — and not any other, insofar as the subject is to be called Scientology ; beware of anybody who would tell you, "this was old", especially of such data as the Axioms of Scientology — such antics seem to have occurred. Beware of anybody who would tell you this issue is "not important" and would explain it to you (usually without end). One cannot be reasonable on this issue (confer the special definition of 'reasonable' by LRH). The story had begun with the axiom, Survive !. Is that "old" ? It may be that survival is only one of the facets of existence — but which direction would you prefer, of you or me to take ?

WPT

* Alan Harrington ( 1919 - 1997 ). Author of several popular titles.

"Perhaps . . . a young Korzybski will be needed to help pin down the biochemical-semantic content of each new theory, to determine how much it really differs from all the others."
(A. Harrington, The Immortalist, Millbrae, California : Celestial Arts, 1969, ?7, page 268).

Note on Aleister Crowley

* Aleister Crowley (1875-1947).

"We place no reliance on Virgin or pidgin ;
Our Method is Science, our Aim is Religion."

 

"Hear me, Ye People of Sighing,       The Sorrows of Pain and Regret Are left to the Dead and the Dying,       The Folk that not know me as yet."

—A. CROWLEY (Liber Legis, 1904).

Usłyszcie mnie, wy wzdychajacy :       Wsze smutki, zale i boleście Zostaja dla martwych i mracych —       Dla ludku co nie zna mnie jeszcze.

—(translated by me, W. Paul Tabaka, ca. 1993).

Note   As a matter of non-elementalistic attitude one does not disregard any material that might be producive of relevant invariances. ("Leave no stone unturned", urged Count Korzybski ; which, by the way, was probably not original with him but rather a statement of an ages-old principle of science.)
      So far as I could tell by my own reading, Korzybski had not known any A. Crowley's works ; had he ever seen some of them he might have dismissed them. (Parts of Crowley's early material might look inscrutable indeed and on a casual glance perhaps even unmeaning).
      Had Crowley known K's work ? This seems somewhat probable. It seems certain that among the authors broadly considered some have been important, notably, A.N. Whitehead, E. Cassirer, also Lancelot Hogben. These were K's sources and were also, among others, sources to A. Crowley.
      A shift in Crowley's style beginning, at the latest, circa 1940 can be easily observed. This seems connected to his statements about Mathematics for the Million (Hogben) ; although the statements I have seen were inexact ('Arithmetics for the Million', etc).
      A.C.'s translation of Tao Teh King (by Lao-tsu) begins with, 'The name is not the thing named'. Not far from 'a word is not the thing' (Korzybski). Crowley's version of Lao-tsu was first done circa 1918 ; a revised form was published circa 1940. It seems possible and somewhat probable that this translation may have been influenced during the course of the linguistic revisions Crowley had at some point undertaken ; by connections with Hogben, Cassirer, and, directly or indirectly, with Korzybski.
      One would claim some indirect connections with certainty : (there having been a sort of milieu in operation). Crowley also mentions the 'mixing of planes', which is quite nearly equivalent to the 'confusion of the orders of abstraction' ; either expression denoting fallacies which have been and are present in most any publications, whether 1930's or 2000's.
     However, the statements by Israel Regardie, a follower and for a time a secretary of Crowley, linking the latter with general semantics, must be disregarded. The subject was not about 'clarifying the referents', or any 'referents'. There may have been some oblique connections with the works by other authors ; but, please note well, Professor, Korzybski's work had first of all do to with the natural order of evaluation. This is not about 'referents' and anybody's blunder of saying so is arch-fundamental. (WPT).

Note :   " Since psychiatry has become more active, there is increasing danger that some of our activities will be taken over in the service of devious political aims." (Joost Meerloo, psychiatrist, 1952).

* Jean Martin Charcot ( 1825 - 1893 ).

    * Lectures on localization in diseases of the brain, delivered at the Facult� de m�decine, Paris, 1875, by J. M. Charcot ... Ed. by Bourneville. Tr. by Edward P. Fowler .. New York, W. Wood & co., 1878 Note Translation of: Le�ons sur les localisations dans les maladies du cerveau Note Includes bibliographical references
    * Hysteria, hypnosis and healing: the work of J.-M. Charcot [by] A. R. G. Owen New York, Garrett Publications [c1971] Bibliography: p. 247 ISBN 0912326255

* Eugen Bleuler ( 1857 - 1939 ).

    * Textbook of psychiatry, by Prof. Dr. Eugen Bleuler .. Authorized English ed., by A.A. Brill .. New York : The Macmillan Company, 1924 635 p. 25 cm

* Smith Ely Jelliffe (1866-1945).

* William Alanson White (1870-1937).

"I met him in 1923, and since then, until his death, we were warm friends and sort of co-workers. Through his help I was permitted by the Department of the Interior to study in St. Elizabeth's hospital for two years. I realized that I needed for my further work to have first-hand informations about psychiatry, not only through theoretical studies but also through empirical observations of actual psychobiological reactions, and White was my teacher and guided my researches in the study of mechanisms. White realized his need of scientific methodology, and in this respect I trained him in the new methodological aspects of modern science, which with me was equivalent to training in extensional physico-mathematical orientations." (A. Korzybski, letter of 10 May 1946, Collected Writings, etc., 1990, p. 899.)

Comment   Should anybody, the reader, try to tell you that there is anything "old", or antiquated in the physico-mathematical orientations, you would be practically certainly dealing with a fool or a fraud (some body's propagandist).

One is merely having a name, more exact than many other names, of a method. Briefly, in my own words : any theory, any language (including mathematics), if it be capable of being applied to the non-verbal (physical) levels then its soundness can be proved, or disproved as the case might be. We want to know what we are speaking about, after all (do we not?). There have been many statements to such an effect on the record ; this is but a sketch in lieu of some actual exposition. — (WPT).

* Abraham Arden Brill ( 1874 - 1948 ).

    * Psychanalysis; its theories and practical application; by A. A. Brill Philadelphia and London, W. B. Saunders, 1913. [etc. etc.] 337 p. 24 cm
    * Fundamental conceptions of psychoanalysis, by A.A. Brill Publisher New York : Harcourt, Brace, 1921 [etc. etc.] 344 p. 19cm
    * Lectures on psychoanalytic psychiatry [by] A.A. Brill ... New York, A.A. Knopf, 1946. 292, 22 cm. "First given in 1924 in the old Pathological institute (Ward's island) ... Repeated annually from 1929 to 1943, in the New York State Psychiatric Institute as part of the postgraduate courses in neurology and psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University."--Introd. Note Bibliographical foot-notes.

* Philip S. Graven.   Psychoanalytic psychiatrist ; Science and Sanity (Korzybski), bibliography, lists two titles by Dr. Graven published in Psychoanalytical Review, July 1924 and April 1925. Member of the American Psychosomatic Society (listed in 1953) ; to him attributed Social Sanity and the Birth of Words, Part 1 listed among Buckminster Fuller papers (but I would be cautious about the authenticity of this item).

"I have read Science and Sanity . . . and I must admit I have never encountered a work so rich in fundamental suggestions." etc.
( P. S. Graven, in Scientific Opinions, 1933 ).

* Hans C. Syz ( circa 1885 - circa 1992 ).   Had done some research on psychogalvanometers : this psychiatrist does not look too bad, for a psychiatrist — (but this was some kind of "old school" before the Kremlin's Psychopolitik got into play). Whether this one and a Hans Syz collector of art (porcelain) were one person seems uncertain ; (please mind that psychiatry especially after 1945 has been ridden with corruption including the marxist-style disinformation and one has to be exceedingly sceptical on these areas. I see two persons by the name of Hans Syz listed in the University of California catalogue, a middle-initial 'C' one and a middle-initial 'G' one. But then, a 'C' could be easily taken for a 'G'. Please mind that the commies (others?) do not seldom try to multiply such data ; compare the astonishingly high number of Fritzes Fischers reportedly born round 1908 which could be found, at least not long before this was being written, in the University of California catalogue. How do they do it ? one wonders. Please, somebody who has access to personal information etc. of Hans Syz, make sure that no sorts of schizophrenia occur in this one case if you can. Just keeping this in mind might suffice).

    * Syz, H. C.   Psycho-Galvanic Studies on Sixty-four Medical Students (British Journal of Psychiatry, July 1926).

    * H. Syz, Of Being and Meaning, New York, 1981.

* Boris Brasol (1885 - ).

    * The elements of crime (psycho-social interpretation) by Boris Brasol ... with introductions by John H. Wigmore ... and William A. White ... New York, London [etc.] Oxford University Press, 1927. 433 p. diagrs. 24 cm. Bibliography: p. [391]-399.

* Harry Stack Sullivan (1892-1949).

A. Korzybski, in a letter (1946) to Sullivan, referring to the wants in the language of another psychiatrist.

Opinion   One of the men who could be perhaps with some truth described as a 'korzybskian' psychiatrist, H.S. Sullivan was reportedly able actually to help some of his patients. It seems he was not free from some aberrations of his own but then few were.

So far as I know his contacts of A.K. began in the early 1920's and there almost certainly was communication going between the two in the course of the following years. Significant may be a letter by A.K. in 1947 to Sullivan reprinted in the Collected Writings.

Based on the contents of that letter I am not sure of Sullivan. A.K. was actively urging publication of a review, of Science and Sanity — in the journal which Sullivan was then the chief editor of — and was getting at least a year worth of communication lag on that matter, so to speak.

In the meanwhile, self-same publication had featured a lecture, promptly printed, by one George Brock Chisholm ; which lecture K actually praised in said letter (etc), although with some reservations.

Please note that favorable mentions of G.B. Chisholm are found in A.K.'s papers, spanning the period of just about over one year. There are no other mentions of that psychiatrist in K.'s papers in so far as I have seen what it publically available.

This is a point of connection with one of the ugliest 20th century stories of certain masters of deceit designing to some "devious political aims" (J. Meerloo). Among the deceived ones was, to a small extent, even A.K. himself. (Confer the associations of said G.B. Chisholm with the Soviet moles in the US Government and with other psychiatrists involved.)

    * Sullivan, Harry Stack, 1892-1949 Title Conceptions of modern psychiatry. With a foreword by the author and a critical appraisal of the theory of Patrick Mullahy New York, Norton [c1940] xiii, 298 p Series William Alanson White memorial lectures, 1st / Washington : William Alanson White Psychiatric Foundation, 1947. vii, 153 p. ; 26 cm. / [etc.]
    * Interpersonal approach to psychoanalysis : contemporary view of Harry Stack Sullivan / by Gerard Chrzanowski New York : Gardner Press : distributed by Halsted Press, c1977 xiv, 242 p. ; 25 cm ISBN 0470990716 Language English Note Includes index Note Bibliography: p. 219-234 Subject Sullivan, Harry Stack, 1892-1949

    * Interpersonal approach to psychoanalysis : contemporary view of Harry Stack Sullivan / by Gerard Chrzanowski New York : Gardner Press : distributed by Halsted Press, c1977 xiv, 242 p. ; 25 cm ISBN 0470990716 Language English Note Includes index Note Bibliography: p. 219-234 Subject Sullivan, Harry Stack, 1892-1949
    * New dimensions in psychiatry : a world review, volume 2 / edited by Silvano Arieti and Gerard Chrzanowski Publisher New York : Wiley, 1977 Description xi, 509 p. ; 23 cm ISBN 0471033189 Language English Note Index [ Gerhard Chrzanowski (1913-2000) ]

* Edward Hunter (born in 1902). A journalist, if you must consult a psychiatrist there is one mentioned somewhere in his texts.

Note   Korzybski's high opinion on the work by Ivan Pavlov may have been justified in that A.K. had found some of its results use ; please see especially Historic Note on the Structural Differential which contains a sort of recapitulation of A.K's work done in an informal setting, as an interview which was taped.

What neither Korzybski nor even Pavlov himsef knew was that that research done in the USSR was being constantly monitered with purposes which had nothing to do with human progress but rather with ways of using the results "in the service of devious political aims" (J. Meerloo).

Pavlov himself may be not the proper person to blame, except perhaps for not seeing some solutions which he might have seen. (C.S. Sherrington had left a brief description of a visit in the Leningrad laboratories which can cast some light on that line of research.) Pavlov's work was in a way neutral, he only wanted to find some scientific truths in the course of molesting dogs and other animals.

His expertiments did prove that the 'symbolic' process with a brute beast is extremely limited ; and that was the part which Korzybski had used. The history went astray after 1950, so to speak, the following contain information much relevant to some parts of this history

    * Hunter, Edward, 1902- Title(s) Brain-washing in Red China. Vanguard Press [c1953] 341 p.
    * Hunter, Edward, 1902- Title(s) Brainwashing. Publisher N. Y., Farrar, c1956. Paging 310 p. 22 cm. Summary Its use as a psychological method to break down prisoners and how it can be counteracted. Enlarged edition contains two new chapters on the U. S. prisoner of war policy. For other editions, see Author Catalog.
    Hunter, Edward, 1902- Title(s) Brainwashing, from Pavlov to Powers. N. Y., Bookmailer, c1960. 329 p. 22 cm.

* Joost Meerloo (1903-?).   Author of Conversation and communication (1952), the bibliography lists, among others, A. Korzybski, Science and Sanity, also S. Chase, The Tyranny of Words ( New York 1939) and S. J. Hayakawa, Language in Action (New York 1941).

I have seen no evidence of connections by this writer with Institute of General Semantics but I do not know. He clearly was familiar with this work and was influenced. (WPT).

* Douglas McGlashan Kelley (1912-1958).  

"One of the most important values in civilization is what Korzybski has called "time binding"�the ability to learn from the past experience of others without having to go through it ourselves. It is imperative that we appreciate the horror of the Third Reich without experiencing it. The devastation of Europe, the deaths of millions, the near-destruction of modern culture will have gone for naught if we do not draw the right conclusions about the forces which produced such chaos. We must learn the why of the Nazi success so we can take steps to prevent the recurrence of such evil." (D. Kelley, 22 Cells in Nuremberg, New York, 1947, pages vii - viii.)

    * Kelley, Douglas M., 22 Cells in Nuremberg ; a psychiatrist examines the Nazi criminals. N. Y., Greenberg, [1947] 245 [1] p. 21 cm.
    * Kelly, Douglas McGlashan, 22 M�nner um Hitler. Erinnerungen des amerikanischen Adrmeearztes und Psychiaters am N�rnberger Gef�ngnis. Olten, Delphi Verlag [1947?] Paging 262 p. 21 cm.
    * Kelley, Douglas M., Drugs and criminal acts . . . [sound recording] : Tucson, AZ : Educational Research Group, [c1970] 1 sound cassette (25 min.) : 2-track, mono. Series Title Criminals at large.

* Albert Ellis (b. 1913).

Psychologist, author of the 'rational-emotive' therapy — which might have been influenced by the non-elementalism (non-separatedness) of 'intellect' and 'emotion'. Some of his texts written in E-prime (see Bourland).

* Thomas Stephen Szasz (b. 1920).

The historic development seems to have been more or less so :

    In one of his earliest papers Korzybski credits Whitehead, Russell, Einstein, Keyser. That was followed by :
    A. Korzybski, Time-Binding : the General Theory, two papers of ca. 1923 and ca. 1924, followed by :
    A. N. Whitehead, Symbolism, its meaning and effect (1927) which contains apparent allusions to A.K.'s formulations. (See also Whitehead's Memorandum on the logical work by Sheffer ; see also any works by Whitehead of the later period.) This was followed by :
    The work of Susanne K. Langer, a student of Whitehead. Her "Philosophy in the New Key" credits most of all Whitehead, almost so much so E. Cassirer ; does mention "The Tyranny of Words" by S. Chase. That was followed by :
    Pain and Pleasure by Szasz (1957) : �I have been influenced by two different—yet in many ways convergent—approaches. One is psychoanalysis, the other those branches of modern philosophy concerned with symbolism and semantics in particular and empiricism in general. Langer�s Philosophy in a New Key is a representative example of this school of philosophy.?( New York : Basic Books, 1957, p. 11). Mentioned in the text are also Whitehead, Max Black (note connection with Leon Chwistek's semantic esseys), etc.
    Such an approximate line of development can be seen :

I had once seen some remarks by Dr. Szasz, highly critical of Korzybski, in the main of some psychiatric associations, and some other. This seems due in the main to a "third party" activity (such as reported at the bottom of this page).

    The fundamental issue was (and is) the theory of sanity. It seems that in spite of an apparent scission the fundamentals by Korzybski and by Szasz were largely equivalent. 'Sanity' is a matter of degree and not of 'kind' (Korzybski) ; 'insanity' a misconception (Szasz ; "in my own words" — this perhaps can be made more exact).

R. D. Laing (b. 1927).

"... Laing worried that in the hands of the ... authorities, the diagnosis ... would inevitably become a self-fulfilling prophecy, etc."
(D. Burston, R. D. Laing, etc., Harvard University Press, 2000, p. 92).

* Peter Roger Breggin, (b. 1936).

* Lee Coleman (b. 1938).   Author of The Reign of Error (1984) in the main critical of the 'insanity' defense.

" . . . the expert witness is asked to do something that society does not ask of a man in any other capacity" (William Alanson White, Insanity and the Criminal Law, New York, 1923, p. 56).

I have happened on the following definitions which seem closely to apply to many observed situations :

Vulgar error is the name given to an opinion which, being thought to be false, is considered in itself only, and not with a view to any consequences which it may produce. It is termed vulgar with respect to the multitude of persons by whom it is supposed to be entertained. Fallacy is applied to discourse in any shape considered as having a tendency, with or without design, to cause any erroneous opinion to be embraced, or, through the medium of some erroneous opinion already entertained, a pernicious curse of action to be engaged in or persevered in.� etc. (J. Bentham, The Handbook of Political Fallacies, New York, 1952, �62, pages 5-6).

An Interpretation   As 'vulgar error' could be considered the popular notions that the psychiatrist can do "that society does not ask of a man in any other capacity"

See also :

From pathology to politics : public health in America / James T. Bennett and Thomas J. DiLorenzo. Publisher New Brunswick [N.J.] (U.S.A.) : Transaction Publishers, c2000. Paging 160 p. ; 24 cm. Notes Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-152) and index.

A sort of casual note, an example of a detail which might well serve as a (warning) sign regarding other details which can be found in the "scientific" literature. The following quotations are from an article in "Scientific American".

"Every statement in this square is false". [The preceding statement actually included in a square-shaped box. Then follows : ]

"Suppose the statement is true. Then, since it is the only statement in the square, it must be false. On the other hand, suppose it is false. Then, there must be true statements in the square." etc.

To make it more real I would rephrase that material as follows :

Every statement in this line is false.

Suppose the statement is true. Then, since it is the only statement in the line, it must be false. On the other hand, suppose it is false. Then, there must be true statements in the line.

The statement in the line is about the possible truth or falsity of the statement in the line. It does not represent anything other than the (given) propositional sign, or, "itself", (and its supposed truth or falsity). Therefore it cannot have any truth or falsity value except as in reference to itself.

The statement has no import whatever except as in reference to the sign (which sign does not have any other reference) ; therefore it cannot be either true or false in reference to anything other than the sign. Since it has no other reference than the sign it cannot be either true or false in reference to anything other than the sign.

It is therefore meaningless ; to say that it is true is then false.

To say that the statement in the line is false is a meaningless statement. From this to infer that "there must be true statements in the line" is a false statement ; for you cannot infer anything from a meaningless statement, the reader.

Did the author of the indicated flim-flam know full well what he was doing ? It seems so, and practically certainly so. A rather "sorry" story with many ramifications. (WPT).

* Rudolf Carnap.

In his "Semantics" of 1942 introduces some 'special semantics' and some 'general semantics' of his own. Korzybski did not consider this foul play but in view of the later developments the chaos does not look accidental, beginning with Carnap's 'special semantics' and 'general semantics' (which had nothing to do with Korzybski's stated definitions of his work, which Carnap could not but be informed about).

R. Carnap was reportedly member of at least one of the Communist front organizations in the US ; whether this had anything to do with his interest in 'semantics' is nowhere apparent but some connection seems probable.

WPT