THE "WHY" OF MAN'S EXPERIENCE,

byHadley Cantril '28. Macmillan, 1950, Pp.xiii, 198, $2.75.

Cantril, in common with many others, finds the current formulations of psychology inadequate to explain man as he is, not only in the intricacies of his intellectual and emotional life, but even in his everyday perceptions. Cantril urges that we discontinue our subservience to mechanical principles of science derived from physiology and from an outmoded physics, and proceed with as lucid, logical, and precise statements as possible to explain man as he really acts, letting science catch up with more precise formulations later.

In brief, the basic principles of man's behavior, as Cantril understands it, are these: The outstanding characteristic of man is his capacity for making value judgments. Underlying these value judgments are assumptions which grow out of his past experience and are harmonious with his present purposes. These assumptions he . tests and modifies through his multifarious actions.

One acquainted with the author since his undergraduate days can detect the origins of these principles in his study with Spranger and Allport, can observe their growth in the progression of his published work, and can readily believe that a significant development of this thesis took place in the discussions of the UNESCO conference of which Cantril was the chairman, and out of which grew the volume, Tensions That Cause War, of which Cantrip was the editor. In addition, directly in the preface, and indirectly in the text, the author pays tribute to Adelbert Ames for stimulations which Ames' experiments and conversations with Ames have given to Can tril's psychological thinking. The original ideas, however, and the synthesis of these in fluences have afforded us a book which is uniquely Cantril.

In his books in general, but in this work in particular, this young Oregonian has pioneered a trail of thought which will be of signal help in the progress of psychology as a mature and useful discipline, and which may even clarify somewhat the desirable course of political action in a very confused, prejudiced, and fearful world.