Book Reviews and Notices : Planned Economy or Free Enterprise: The Lesson of History. By EPHRAIM LIPSON, ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. (London and Toronto: The Mac millan Co. 1946. Pp. viii, 318. 15s.)

• Author: Paul A. Eke
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400132
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

153

of

science

and

philosophy.

Approximately

one

fourth

of

the

new

history

will

be

concerned

with

the

philosophical

achievements

of

Lenin

and

Stalin.

&dquo;The

works

of

Lenin

and

Stalin

have

proved

to

be

the

greatest

achievement

in

scientific

thought....&dquo;

This kind

of

judgment

and

the

guiding

principles

which

determine

it

are

about

all

that

can

be

definitely

obtained

from

a

reading

of

the

outline.

As

would

be

expected,

the

funda-

mental

assumptions

of

the

entire

treatment

are

that

the

history

of

philos-

ophy

is

the

struggle

between

materialism

and

idealism,

and

that

the

evolution

of

this

struggle

is

determined

by

the

class

struggle

in

society.

The

primary

purpose

of

a

new

Communist

history

of

philosophy,

as

set

forth

by

Zhdanov

in

the

Foreword

of

the

prospectus,

is

&dquo;above

all

the

overcoming

of

the

incorrect

and

muddled

views

that

obviously

are

current

among

our

philosophers,

even

among

the

leading

ones.&dquo;

From

the

outline

of

the

chapters

dealing

with

the

later

developments

of

Marxist-

Leninist

philosophy,

it

can

be

inferred

that

Zhdanov

had

reference

to

the

Central

Committee’s

struggle

against

mechanism

and

Menshevistic

idealism

within

the

Party,

to

the

&dquo;errors&dquo;

concerning

German

idealistic

philosophy

that

were

committed

in

the

third

volume

of

the

History

of

f

Philosophy,

and

to

the

philosophical

role

of

the

Party

in

developing

communist

consciousness

in

Soviet

citizens.

An

evaluation

of

this

proposed

communist

treatment

of

the

history

of

philosophy

must

await

its

actual

production.

The

authors

indicate

that

separate

chapters

will

be

published

as

they

are

written.

Certainly,

the

publication

of

an

English

translation

of

them

is

to

be

desired.

University

of

Nevada.

FRANK

HINMAN,

JR.

Planned

Economy

or

Free

Enterprise:

The

Lesson

of

History.

By

EPHRAIM

LIPSON,

ADAM

AND

CHARLES

BLACK.

(London

and

Toronto:

The

Mac-

millan

Co.

1946.

Pp.

viii,

318.

15s.)

Lipson

has

used

his

wide

learning

in

economic

history

to

point

out

the

modern

trends

which

favor

a

&dquo;planned

economy&dquo;

in

contrast

to

the

&dquo;free

enterprise

economy&dquo;

exemplified

by

England

during

the

nineteenth

century.

He

concludes

that,

for

the

future,

in

free

societies

a

&dquo;compromise

between

two

extremes

which

combines

the

best

in

each

can

establish

the

necessary

check

and

balance

which

will

correct

the

defects

of

both.&dquo;

After

specifying

that

a

nonpartisan

governmental

planning

commission

should

be

the

activating

agency,

he

lays

down

the

following

principles:

(1)

resources

(natural

and

other)

are

to

be

used

for

national

welfare

first,

&dquo;not

for

profit&dquo;;

(2)

fulfill

requirements

for

national

security

in

wartime,

especially

in

agriculture

and

the

key

industries;

(3)

regularize

the

flow

of

production

to

avoid

booms

and

slumps;

(4)

facilitate

diversion

of