Bernard Shaw and His Philosophy

Mr. William M. Salter, who was until recently a lecturer for the Society of Ethical Culture of Chicago, delivered a strong lecture on Bernard Shaw last night in Emerson D, in which he dealt with the playwright's philosophy.

Mr. Salter began by saying that there are two things that embarrass us in reading Shaw: first, whether he is to be taken seriously or not, and secondly, the way in which he shocks us morally. The first thing to be remembered is that he is a socialist and looks for no good results from our present social organization. He is annoyed to see people who are "comfortable" morally, because they have established a new public school, when they ought to be uncomfortable; and he tries to make them uncomfortable by his writings. He is really one of the most serious of men; but he uses his great power of sarcasm to bring home the meaning of what he writes, and every word he writes is not intended to be taken seriously. "The Quintessence of Ibsenism" must not be taken too literally, what he points out in it is that duty is not only the greatest, but also, the meanest bond in the world. He believes that a new social order will arise that will benefit men, under which our duty will be to ourselves.

Some of his plays criticise the present social order and some of the socialists of today. Among the former is one that speaks of war as a science of attacking a weaker opponent and getting out of the way of a stronger. In "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" he shows that an apparently helpless and unskilled woman is stronger in an emergency than the power of the sword. "Mrs. Warren's Profession," though known as "immorality dramatized," is really an enquiry into the self-complacency of modern society. "Candida" is a criticism of a modern socialist clergyman who is a good preacher, a good man, and surrounded by goodness, but lacks reality, and the power of accomplishing good.

Mr. Shaw says that further progress under present conditions is impossible; we must educate men to cope with the problem of a new social organization.