Book Reviews : Foundations of Capitalism. By OLIVER C. Cox. (New York: Philosophical Li brary, 1959. Pp. 500. $7.50.)

Published date01 June 1960
Date01 June 1960
DOI10.1177/106591296001300221
Subject MatterArticles
527
Bloomington,
September
18-20,
1958,
the
volume
reveals
the
availability
of
in-
struction,
in
other
than
Western
cultural
materials,
for
students
attending
college
in
Indiana.
It
is
stark
evidence
that
American
higher
education
is
imprisoned
within
Western
culture.
The
study
must
be
examined
to
be
appreciated.
Courses
in
world
civilization,
world
literature,
and
elementary
instruction
in
major
European
languages
are
insufficient
to
meet
the
needs
of
liberal
education
in
these
times.
The
Efficiency
of
Freedom
affords
an
approach
to
the
environmental
prob-
lems
of
state
universities
and
colleges.
The
Committee
had
three
objectives
in
making
the
study:
to
define
the
relationships
that
might
exist
between
state
governments
and
higher
education;
to
identify
areas
in
which
state
control
has
appeared
to
exceed
proper
limits;
and
to
suggest
&dquo;remedial
lines
of
action.&dquo;
The
volume
seeks
to
reassure
governors,
legislatures,
and
state
officers.
At
the
same
time,
reassurance
is
attempted
on
behalf
of
the
state
universities,
their
expanded
role
in
the
American
economy,
and
the
need
for
legal
autonomy.
The
recom-
mendations,
found
in
chapter
3,
&dquo;Avenues
of
Reform,&dquo;
constitute
good
material
for
courses
in
state
government
and
administration.
Higher
education
has
be-
come
a
major
policy
and
financial
issue.
Academic
officials
need
to
do
more
to
explain
their
case
and
secure
proper
understanding
of
their
role
and
function.
Legislatures
will
hardly
raise
the
taxes
and
appropriate
the
funds
university
officials
think
are
needed
unless
they
understand
why
so
much
money
is
needed
and
how
it
will
be
spent.
G.
HOMER
DURHAM
University
of
Utah
Foundations
of
Capitalism.
By
OLIVER
C.
Cox.
(New
York:
Philosophical
Li-
brary,
1959.
Pp.
500.
$7.50.)
Written
in
the
grand
tradition
of
the
broad
and
artistic
interpretations
of
social
events,
this
historical
treatment
of
capitalist
social
organizations
by
a
sociologist
is
no
captive
of
narrow
disciplinary
bounds.
Professor
Cox
defines
capitalism
as
a
special
form
of
total
social
organization,
not
a
mere
market
phenomenon,
&dquo;constituted
elementally
by
a
peculiar
economic
order,
govern-
ment,
and
religious
structure ...
related
to
each
other
in
descending
order
of
importance.&dquo;
In
other
words,
the
very
foundations
of
capitalism
are
this
&dquo;pecul-
iar
economic
order,
a
government
dominated
by
business
men,
and
a
nation-
alistic
church....&dquo;
Given
these
elements
in
mutual
interdependence
but
not
equality
of
causal
importance,
the
special
ethos
and
other
cultural
elements
of
capitalistic
society
coincidentally
develop.
The
author
sees
capitalism
positively
as
having
contributed
to
the
&dquo;liberation
of
the
human
mind
from
the
fetters
of
religious
mysticism,&dquo;
the
secularization
of
the
dominant
culture,
the
establish-
ment
of
faith
in
science
and
technology,
the
bases
of
democracy,
and,
&dquo;ultimately,
demonstration
of
the
feasibility
of
purposively
organizing
the
societies
of
the
world
in
the
interest
of
human
welfare.&dquo;

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