Vital Center Research Articles

Relocating the Vital Center

I am indebted to all five commentators for deepening and extending the issues raised in my essay. I express particular appreciation to Professors Diggins and Lears for their willingness to hear me out, then to respond, each in his own thoughtful way. There are only a few matters that require further ink on my part. Jackson Lears possesses a powerful capacity to envelop diverse elements within his own original synthesis. In his article on cultural hegemony, arguments for and against use of that concept are presented in a delicate pas de deux. Perhaps, as he suggests, I stumbled at one point on his fancy footwork. In any case, I think we do share a sense of what the big problems are. He is right, for example, to identify oppositional culture in the twentieth century as a topic that desperately needs further analysis. While not entirely disagreeing with his initial skepticism regarding the potentialities of mass culture, I have wondered (elsewhere) whether part of our problem in the search for resistance does not arise from a recent tendency among social and cultural historians to overdramatize the traditionalism of earlier protest, thus leaving the modern era denuded of all capacity for radical transformation., The feisty reply ofJohn Patrick Diggins, my favorite pessimist, requires a bit more intervention. In my view his learned, if somewhat dyspeptic, commentary contains two very helpful points. First, those of us who invoke labor republicanism as a category of nineteenth-century analysis must more carefully distinguish it from the more formal tradition of classical, civic republicanism from which it derives. Whether the vulgarity of the laborite version nineteenth-century workers did not, after all, have the advantage of reading Hannah Arendt, Adam Ferguson, J. G. A. Pocock, or Diggins on the subject -really detracted from their political message is, of course, another question. Second, Diggins's questioning of the assumed ties between individualism and capitalist culture is provocative. No doubt he is right for the long haul, but I would suggest that there are moments, such as the late nineteenth century, where capitalist and individualist logic appear to coincide. In such moments, otherwise disparate brakes on possessive individualism -the nation, the workers, the community, the ethnic group, the family-may be summoned into service by the political opposition. In the case of the Knights of Labor, the family, for example, was heralded less as an inherent bastion of anticapitalism than as a

Yoga as a Therapeutic Component in Treating Chemical Dependency

The purpose of this article is to examine the parallel in yoga, addiction, and the therapeutic process. Chemical dependency is a self-destructive process that weakens and unbalances the individual physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Yoga is a three-fold process that can rebuild these aspects of self, serving to counteract further progression of the disease. Yoga and meditation can be effective in helping the patient regain his/her vital center of energy, satisfaction and stability while making positive changes in their lives. Emphasis is placed on how the application of yoga in conjunction with treatment can accelerate the rehabilitative process.

The New Adventures of the Avant-Garde in America: Greenberg, Pollock, or from Trotskyism to the New Liberalism of the "Vital Center"

The New Adventures of the Avant-Garde in America: Greenberg, Pollock, or from Trotskyism to the New Liberalism of the "Vital Center"

The Gnosis of Hawthorne and Melville: An Interpretation of the Scarlet Letter and Moby-Dick

THE SCARLET LETTER AND MOBY-DICK ABOUND IN REFERENCES TO hidden meanings and clues, mysterious master-words, unknown tongues, apparently expressive of the gothic romantic literary fashion. I propose to show that, above all, they reflect the very essence of those works which are both in their nature and form. Each is conceived as a liber mundi, that is, as being the manifestation of the divine and offering the revelation of the divine Wisdom, whatever its nature may be.' Reading thus becomes an initiatic quest leading to the revelation of the origins of life, of the Invisible, which is simultaneously the organizing principle or vital center of the volume = liber mundi = manifestation of the author's cosmic creation. The book contains what the author considers to be the original Word, which has been submerged by the crass materialism of America, the dominance of the White Man and his value system to the detriment and exclusion of those of the Red-Man and the Black Man. The indictment goes beyond America to Christianity, to the institutionalization of one creed, one truth to the exclusion of all others. To the reader who discovers or rediscovers the lost Word,2 the volume becomes

Poor Relief in London During the English Revolution

In recent years the interest of English historians in poverty and poor relief during Tudor-Stuart times has grown appreciably. Besides new research on certain cities, towns, and counties, a number of studies, both published and unpublished, focus attention on the vital center of English poor relief operations — the parish. This growing emphasis on parochial responses to the problems associated with poverty and the poor in England reflects the view of a recent student of English poor relief, Geoffrey W. Oxley, who has insisted that there really can be no history of poor relief per se, “only the history of poor relief in particular parishes.”It is common knowledge that London parish records have enormous value for students of English poor relief. A careful survey of essential documents such as accounts of the churchwardens and overseers of the poor, vestry minutes, and parish registers which survive for London's 108 parishes led to the selection of the seven parishes in this study. Regrettably, the ravages of time and circumstance have destroyed a substantial proportion of the City records of this type which once existed for the period. Almost without exception the larger, densely populated, and generally poverty-stricken parishes outside London's walls suffered the greatest losses. Consequently, the study which follows represents only the range of responses for ameliorating poverty which emerged within a limited sample of smaller, less highly congested, intramural City parishes.At the same time this group of London parishes provides a fuller awareness of the ways in which England's poor relief regime developed and functioned in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Clinical and pathological study of rebleeding of intracranial aneurysm--based on 7 cases expired by rebleeding during hospital stay (author's transl)

Seven patients who had expired due to rebleeding of ruptured intracranial aneurysm during hospitalization were studied clinically and pathologically to evaluate the risk factors and the warning signs of rebleeding, and to evaluate therapeutic methods in acute stages of ruptured intracranial aneurysm. It was evident from clinical observations that rebleeding was preceded by increase or fluctuation in blood pressure lasting from several hours to several days. And also this instability of blood pressure, which was followed by rebleeding, was caused by several psychological and physical factors, such as transportation to the neurosurgical ward, defecation and voiding, angiography and brain scan, ventricular drainage and deterioration of the neurological state. There were 20 episodes of rebleeding in these 7 cases; 15 of which occurred within 14 days after the previous attack. Among the risk factors concerning the clinical feature, all factors mentioned above which resulted from the increase or instability of blood pressure, prolonged headache and nuchal rigidity suggesting minor leakage from aneurysm and acute stage after bleeding were considered to be of great importance. Age and sex had no significance. Both hypertension in the past and upon admission were of less significance as risk factors. The grade of the patient upon admission was also not meaningful because five patients were in good condition, Grade I or II. In the risk factors examined angiographically, aneurysm over 10 mm in size, aneurysm with loculi and vasospasm were all significant, but there was no special localization to suggest the tendency of rebleeding. As warning sign of rebleeding, increase or instability of blood pressure, deterioration of the neurological state and worsening of the headache and nuchal rigidity seemed to have great significance. Postmortum study was performed on 4 cases. Extensive brain edema was seen in all of them and cerebral herniation in three (Cases 2, 3 and 4) ; Case 2 had a small hematoma in the insule, Case 3 showed large cerebral infarction in the contralateral hemisphere to the ruptured aneurysm and Case 4 had intraventricular hemorrhage. The cause of death in Case 1 seemed that the vital center suddenly ceased to function because of severe ischemia. Ruptured intracranial aneurysm should be treated surgically beofre rebleeding. However, if an early operation was impossible due to the patient's poor condition or some other reasons, conservative treatment is inevitable under high risk of rebleeding. Rebleeding of aneurysm depends upon two major factors; the first is the intensity of the ruptured aneurysmal wall, i.e. thrombus and adhesion around the aneurysm vs. fibrinolytic process; the second is the intensity of the power acting on the wall, i.e. blood pressure. Therefore, antifibrinolytic therapy and control of the blood pressure are essential in nonsurgical treatment of ruptured aneurysm, and control of increased intracranial pressure due to brain edema and/or hemorrhage is important. Close observation of the patient's condition, especially of the blood pressure and of the neurological state, is of great importance in the prediction of rebleeding.

Powre above Powres I

Review:Miguel Bernad actually writes about the history of Euro-American drama in a heavily acculturated Philippines. He makes up for the book's modest title by subtitling it A History of Three Decades, 1921-1952. Either title is accurate within the subject's range: no one knowledgeable about Philippine drama can deny that for the mentioned thirty years the vital center of Philippine stagecraft - even that of the short-lived but active pro- fessional stage of World War II - was indeed the Ateneo de Manila, many of whose faculty and alumni actually helped shape Philippine history at the same time. Review by: A. L. McLeod

Connections between the pulvinar nucleus and the prestriate cortex in the squirrel monkey as revealed by peroxidase histochemistry and autoradiography

Summary Connections between the pulvinar nucleus and the dorsolateral prestriate cortex in the squirrel monkeys were demonstrated by means of retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and orthograde transport of tritiated leucine ([3H]L) in two sets of animals. The HRP experiments showed that a significant portion of both the inferior (PuI) and lateral (PuL) subdivisions of the pulvinar nucleus project to the dorsolateral prestriate cortex. The labeled cells form laminae or slabs which extend in a rostroventrolateral to caudodorsomedial direction, parallel to the external surface of PuI and PuL respectively. The lateral and medial slabs in both PuI and PuL differ in that large labeled neurons are prominently found within the lateral slabs, whereas the medial slabs are composed mainly of densely packed medium-sized neurons (PuL) or small neurons (PuI). There is continuity between the medial slab in PuL and that in PuI so that functionally these two subdivisions may be more closely related than has previously been recognized. The autoradiographic experiments also revealed a laminar or slab-like pattern of distribution of corticopulvinar projections that span again in a rostroventrolateral to caudodorsomedial direction, thus complementing the laminar distribution of pulvinocortical cells. Each slab is interpreted as a composite of rostrolateral to caudomedially oriented parallel columns of labels following a dorsal to ventral row of injections in the dorsal prestriate cortex. The relationship between the prestriate cortex and PuI-PuL complex is topographical, reciprocal and well-organized. This study points to the importance of PuL, in addition to PuI, as a vital subcortical visual center mediating a thalamoprestriate pathway that is parallel to the primary geniculostriate pathway.

The Vital Center, the Fair Deal, and the Quest for a Liberal Political Economy

The Vital Center, the Fair Deal, and the Quest for a Liberal Political Economy Get access Alonzo L. Hamby Alonzo L. Hamby Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The American Historical Review, Volume 77, Issue 3, June 1972, Pages 653–678, https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/77.3.653 Published: 01 June 1972

The Vital Center, the Fair Deal, and the Quest for a Liberal Political Economy

EVERY SEGMENT of our population and every individual has a right to expect from our Government a fair deal, declared Harry S. Truman in early 1949. In 1945 and 1946 the Truman administration had almost crumbled under the stresses of postwar reconversion; in 1947 and 1948 it had fought a frustrating, if politically rewarding, battle with the Republican Eightieth Congress. Buoyed by his remarkable victory of 1948 and given Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, Truman hoped to achieve an impressive record of domestic reform.1 The president systematized his past proposals, added some new ones, and gave his program a name that would both connect his administration with the legacy of the New Deal and give it a distinct identity. The Fair Deal, while based solidly upon the New Deal tradition, differed from its predecessor in significant aspects of mood and detail. It reflected not only Truman's own aspirations but also a style of liberalism that had begun to move beyond the New Deal during World War II and had come to maturity during the early years of the cold warthe vital center.

Encomienda and Hacienda: The Evolution of the Great Estate in the Spanish Indies

W1 EHAT THE SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD added to pre-Columbian America can be described briefly as the contents of two complementary master institutions, the Spanish city and the great estate. Historians have now begun to penetrate deeply into these subjects, and soon it will be possible to deal with Spanish American colonial history from its vital center rather than from its surface or periphery. While the colonial city is the less well explored of the two themes, its study can proceed on a firm footing, since the continuity of location, function, and even formal organization must be evident to all. Understanding the great estate has proved more difficult, for the estate had a greater diversity of forms and changed more than the city, both in law and in substance. The most serious problem, not always recognized as such, has been the apparent lack of connection between the encomienda of the Conquest period and the hacienda of the mature colony. Earlier in this century some scholars assumed, quite logically, that the encomienda must have evolved directly into the hacienda. The restricted rights of the encomendero were thought to have become gradually confused with land possession through some process never revealed in detail. Then in a series of publications written mainly during the 1930s, Silvio Zavala and Lesley B. Simpson proved to general satisfaction that this identification was false.' The encomienda had no juridical connection with land, and as time passed, it grew weaker rather than stronger, until, in Mexico at least, it was little more than an annuity. Most historians today would no doubt agree that there is some sort of equivalence between encomienda and hacienda, as well as a

Diseases of the Retina

At the vital center of visual function is the retina, and at the vital center of ophthalmology is the study of retinal disease. Thus, any publication on retinal disease demands attention, but the appearance of nearly 900 pages by a world authority on the subject is a once-in-a-lifetime publishing event. In terms of scope, of content, of authoritativeness, of illustrations, there is not even any near competition from existing books. The organization of subject matter follows the lines of the section on the retina in the 1940 volume of Duke-Elder's textbook. The main headings are "General Considerations" (anatomical and pathological principles and the healing of wounds), "Disturbances of the Circulation," "Inflammation of the Retina," "Retinopathies Associated With General Disease," "Degenerations and Dystrophies," "Cysts and Tumors of the Retina," "Detachment and Folding of the Retina." The treatment is at its very best when it deals with ophthalmoscopic and histopathological pictures of

Status Rivalry and Cultural Evolution in Polynesia1

CULTURAL evolution, to rephrase Maitland's classic remark, will be history or nothing. If it is to be history, its proper focus is the culture area, or to be more precise, the comparative study of culture areas. A culture area comprises historically related societies each showing significant variations from a common area pattern. In these variations-their nature, origin, and direction-are revealed the basic processes of cultural development in the area, that is, its cultural evolution. It is from a comparison of culture areas rather than from the comparative study of historically unrelated societies that the more general and more meaningful laws of development may emerge. Boas (1896) was the first to suggest such a comparative procedure as a way to avoid the pitfalls into which the old comparative method had led the nineteenthcentury evolutionists. For a number of reasons, Polynesia is a particularly suitable area for sutch a comparative study.2 Since the area was populated rather late, perhaps within the last 3,000 years (Spoehr 1952), its underlying historical unity is still abundantly clear-even linguistic variations are relatively minor (Elbert 1953). At the same time, Polynesian cultures vary in a continuous series from the simple atoll societies of Ontong Java and Pukapuka to the highly organized feudal kingdoms of Hawaii. These variations suggest an evolutionary sequence, which is borne out by evidence from tribal historical traditions (presumably reliable for comparatively recent events) and from other sources. The present paper takes as its starting point the dominant values of Polynesian culture, those involving concern with social status. Polynesian society is founded upon social inequality and, despite an aristocratic doctrine of hereditary rank, permits its members to compete for position, for prestige, and for power. In one way or another, then, the history of every Polynesian society has been affected by status rivalry, and under the proper conditions the effects of this rivalry have been felt in every vital center of the culture. Rivalry raises issues and provokes conflicts that can never be fully resolved. It promotes a sequence of culture changes that take their character and direction in part from the momentum of status rivalry itself and in part from the particular physical and cultural setting of each island. Thus, the differing ecologies of atolls and high islands, variations in population density, varieties of subsistence techniques, levels of economic productivity, systems of property relations, the role of migrations and military conquests, diffusion, and, finally, the specific historical accidents that occur in wars, migrations, and contests for power-all influence and are in turn influenced by the dominant motive of status rivalry. Many facets of culture, on the other hand, are only barely

The Relation of Religion to History in Early Christian Thought

THE RELATION OF RELIGION TO HISTORY IN EARLY CHRISTIAN THOUGHT T HE good tidings of the new and final Revelation, which proclaimed the arrival of the Savior and through Him the deliverance and redemption of mankind, mark for the early Christian the fulfillment of time and history. As the beginning of the final world-epoch, the coming of Christ, at the same time, also reveals the true meaning of the past, including that of creation and the fall of man. This insight, so far, had been partially hidden from man, leaving him without any real historical understanding. In addition, the New Testament also indicates clearly the means by which the faithful may attain to salvation and the life everlasting, thereby pointing to the true future through which the present as well as the past achieve their fullest significance. In this sense the coming of Christ integrates into one single and continuous meaning the whole of historical existence in its aspects of past, present and future. The result of such a realization was that the early Christian discovered the import of history in the actual manifestations of the manifold and continuous relations of God to man and man to God. This discovery was confirmed by the conviction that the all-pervading Divine Love was the decisive force throughout total history. It was fortified by the spiritual solidarity of mankind as the beloved children of God. It found additional support in the awareness of universal sinfulness, human weakness, and man's craving for salvation. It had its ultimate basis in the unshakable faith of a common deliverance and redemption. Thus this " God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son," became a conception of history of the first magnitude. The ultimate and true meaning of universal history, therefore , was to be recognized in that divinely ordained continuity 61 62 ANTON-HERMANN CHROUST which, as a religious (and ethical) conception of time and history, begins with creation and the original fall of man and his freedom to sin. Its highest overtones are reached in the redeeming message of the New Revelation and the atoning sacrifice of Christ. It concludes with the Last Judgment and the complete and irrevocable separation of good and evil, and the final victory of the good over evil. This conception of history makes Christ the vital center of universal history. For it is Christ Who forever decides the struggle between light and darkness, good and evil-the basic metaphysical problem of the :religious and moral interpretation of history advanced by the early Christians. Hence history, viewed from the depth of the irreversible Divine Resolve, is actually the unique stage of the single and continuous " world drama." In conforming to this conception of history the early Christians were able to achieve an identity of religion and history. At the same time they established that unity and continuity of time-events which constitutes the foundation of a metaphysics of history. Moreover, in an anticipatory mood, the early Christians considered the divine plan of revelation and salvation in its relation to time and time-sequence, the ultimate criterion of all history and historical actuality. These conceptions of the significance of time and history were greatly strengthened by the apocalyptic or eschatological expectations professed by the early Christians. These expectations or hopes were founded on Christ's own words that He would soon return in order to judge the world in righteousness. As a matter of fact, many people felt that the time of man's work had run out and, consequently, they not only saw the end of time as being imminent, but actually yearned for this final and conclusive event. The belief in t:Qe proximity of the final Kingdom of God as well as the realization that Christ's kingdom was not of this world, should also help to explain why some of the early Christians displayed an attitude of general indifference toward affairs and issues of a predominantly secular THE RELATION OF RELIGION TO HISTORY 63 nature. It should also serve to understand why some did not actively participate to any appreciable degree in the existing social, cultural, legal or political events of the day, except...

Social Thought in America by Morton G. White, The Vital Center by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr, An Essay for Our Times by H. Stuart Hughes

Book Review| January 01 1951 Social Thought in America by Morton G. White, The Vital Center by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr, An Essay for Our Times by H. Stuart Hughes Social Thought in America. By White, Morton G.. New York: Viking Press, 1949. Pp. 260. $3.50.The Vital Center. By Schlesinger, Arthur M.Jr. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1949. Pp. 274. $3.00.An Essay for Our Times. By Hughes, H. Stuart. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1950. Pp. 196. $2.75. John H. Hallowell John H. Hallowell Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google South Atlantic Quarterly (1951) 50 (1): 122–124. https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-50-1-122 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation John H. Hallowell; Social Thought in America by Morton G. White, The Vital Center by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr, An Essay for Our Times by H. Stuart Hughes. South Atlantic Quarterly 1 January 1951; 50 (1): 122–124. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-50-1-122 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsSouth Atlantic Quarterly Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright © 1951 by Duke University Press1951 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom

Journal Article The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom Get access The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom. By Arthur M. Schlesinger, Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1949. x+274 pp. Index. 812′​′×512′​′⁠. $3. Clifton J. Child Clifton J. Child Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 26, Issue 3, July 1950, Pages 378–379, https://doi.org/10.2307/2607661 Published: 01 July 1950

The God that Failed. Richard CrossmanThe Vital Center. Arthur M. Schlesinger

<i>The God that Failed</i>. Richard Crossman<i>The Vital Center</i>. Arthur M. Schlesinger

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsArthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Vital Center: The Politics of FreedomW. M. BrewerW. M. Brewer Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 35, Number 1January 1950 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2715562 Views: 1Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in The Journal of Negro History (1916-2001), which is continued by The Journal of African American History (2002-present). Copyright 1950, 1969 The Association for the Study of African American Life and HistoryPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Our Mixed Economy

THE PHRASE, economy, is not yet a venerable cliche, but it is already a significant one. It has been widely used in this country only since Alvin Hansen and other American Keynesians began popularizing it a dozen years ago. Of all the watchwords now clogging public policy discussion, however, the term probably comes closest to encompassing what there is of a doctrine or conceptual core among moderate, slightly-left-of-center, postwar liberals. And, by the same token, its fuzziness and lack of charm evidence the terminological doldrums into which vital center has drifted. The ideological plight of middle-of-the-roaders has been well publicized. Roll the words mixed economy around your tongue for a moment, and you have the essence of it. Smacking as they do of vegetables and metaphors, they invite a neither-fish-nor-fowl indictment. And this, of course, they regularly incur from critics, like Professor Hayek, who make the most of middle-of-the-roaders' classic propensity for being put semantically on the defensive. Invariably moderates get trapped into arguing their case in the language of the extremes on either hand. As soon as they do, their credos become constipated with exceptions, qualifications, and apparent inconsistencies.

The Gift of Speech and the Brain

Author's Summary— The gift of speech is localized in the brain. The greater part of the speech mechanism is in the temporal lobe. Destruction of this vital center abolishes the ability to speak intelligently. Speech is an elaborate process involving many types of brain action. It is also an index of brain efficiency.)