Lawrence M. Price

From Philosopedia

Price, Lawrence Marsden Price (Born 1881)

Price wrote Inko and Yarico Album (1937); Christian Heinrich Schmid and His Translations of English Dramas 1767-1789 (1942); The Vogue of Marmontel on the German Stage (University of California publications in Modern Philology, 1944); English Literature in Germany (1953); The Reception of English Literature in Germany (1966, 1968).

Asked for his views of humanism, he responded:

Your inclusion of me probably indicates that you wish to know what the non-philosopher pictures to himself under the term “humanism.” I am under the impression that philosophy is concerned in great part with the relation of the human mind to the outside material world. I find the hypothesis of the existence of the mind of man no bolder than the hypothesis of the existence of matter. The humanist, I would say, considers the impact of the material world upon the mind as the most important thing about matter. His view of the universe is therefore homocentric. This illusion I regard as highly healthful. Man thus feels he is an actor of a bit part in a universe drama. Most humanists prefer to think that the drama will have a happy end of some sort. Most humans are humanists, although some of them are not aware of it. A motor mechanic thinks that the machine is what is important to him. He is not aware of the fact that the importance of the machine consists in the fact that it stimulates his curiosity. If I am a humanist I do not know to which group I belong. I do not disagree with any paragraphs of the [Harry] Overstreet letter. The Webster definition is somewhat random. The terms ancient humanism, classical humanism, and neo-humanism seem useful for the library or the historian. Theistic humanism seems to me a contradiction of terms. I have no opinion, for lack of a clear conception, of atheistic humanism and communistic humanism.

(See entry for Harry Overstreet)

{WAS, 15 October 1951}