Berle Calls For Deeper Research And Revision in Social Sciences

There is a vital need today for "more profound research" in the social sciences declared Adoplh A. Berle, Jr. '13, yesterday morning in a speech at the annual meeting of the Harvard chapter of Phi Betta Kappa in Sanders Theatre.

Berle deplored the fact that the vast increase in man's power accomplished by the scientist has not been accompanied by any attempts to analyze and understand the manner is which he uses that power, as exemplified by his "politico-social-economic organization."

"Axioms accepted as principles" in the social sciences fifty years ago, he continued, have not been re-examined in the light of new scientific discoveries, and changing international conditions. The academic attitude towards changing these principles is one of fear, he said.

Heterodoxy Important

If we are to survive in an "ever expanding universe but contracting free world" we must "respect heterodoxy" and recognize "research which although it may be frightening will ultimately be our salvation," he declared.

The annual meeting also included the "final public reading" of "Elegy in Harvard Yard" by William Alfred, Phi Beta Kappa poet and Assistant Professor of English. G. Wallace Woodworth '24 led a small chorus of Phi Betta Kappa members who are also in the Glee Club in four musical selections. The meeting closed with a luncheon in Fogg Art Museum.