PHILOSOPHICAL BASES FOR

 

from the author’s Preface

‘“T have frequently expressed myself as believing (1) that our
science, our philosophy, and our technology are becoming much more
complex; (2) that new ideas are coming to light from time to time,
and need to be carefully considered; but (3) that the discovery and
validation of a new idea does not thereby invalidate an unrelated old
idea; and (4) that the rather current tendency to run after first one
fad, then another, is an indication of relative intellectual incompetence,
even though it is dificult to keep so many aspects of our sciences in
mind at once. Other professions do it—law and medicine—why not
physical education? Hence this volume endeavors to present many
sides of a philosophy of physical education, to present some things
that are new, and to retain many of the old ideas that seem to me to
be still sound. After all, there should be some fundamentals in our
science that do not change with the advent of each new system of
psychology! We are still animals—even if we have ‘stresses’ and—

sometimes—insight! . . .

“The book is divided roughly into three parts. The first nine
chapters are the more general, or philosophical, if you please. The
next seven chapters have more specific implications for method—
though they are not treatises om method as such. In the last chapter I
essay the role of prophet—which is dangerous business! But it may
cause someone, in disagreeing with me, to think constructively and to
give us the results of his thinking, and thus contribute to our general

professional advancement.”