Introduction: Bertrand
Russell was a philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer. |
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(a) Russell's parents died when
he was a little child; John Stuart Mill was his godfather. |
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(b) He taught at Trinity College,
Cambridge and was dismissed because of his pacifist activities during World War I. |
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(c) He supported himself through
lecturing and writing from 1919 until the late 1930's. |
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(d) He accepted a position of the
City College of New York, but before he could accept his duties, a judge denied his
position saying Russell was a threat to "public health, safety and morals." |
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(e) The Nobel Prize Committee
described him as "one of our time's most brilliant spokesmen of rationality and
humanity, and a fearless champion of free speech and free thought in the West." |
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(f) Russell co-authored with
Alfred North Whitehead, Principia Mathematica. He had hoped to reduce mathematics
to logic. |
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1. Describe the "practical man." |
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(a) A Philistine: a person
deficient in liberal culture; one whose interests are material and commonplace. |
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(b) The instinctive man is
practical as is the man of self-assertion described later. He is not interested in
providing for society and not interested in "goods for the mind." |
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(1) His friendships are
"friendships of utility," not Aristotle's "friendships of the good."
He is interested in people for what they can do for him. |
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(2) He is interested in "the
answer" rather than how one gets the answer. |
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(3) He has a "them against
us" mentality. In Vince Lombardi's words... |
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"Winning isn't everything,
it's the only thing." |
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"Show me a good loser, and
I'll show you a loser." |
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(c) Contrast Leo Buscalia's
prescription: |
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(1) celebrate life and |
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(2) develop a passion for many
things. |
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2. Why must we free ourselves from the prejudices of the
"practical individual"? |
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(a) The practical person
recognizes material needs; he is less aware of goods of the mind. |
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(b) Philosophy can give a
different kind of value to your life: not superadded to material value, but a value
intrinsically different. Consider what Socrates said about "tending your soul." |
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(c) The philosophical mind has an
awareness that goes beyond the daily round to an understanding of life and the world. |
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(d) Generally the practical
person does not recognize... |
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In general, choices are not
justified by their consequences. |
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Perception is not reality. |
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The excuse that "things
turned out all right" is not always sufficient. |
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You can be right for the world,
even though the world is not right for you. |
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(e) The practical person doesn't
notice the world and other people because of his own worries that tend to feed upon
themselves. |
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3. At what does philosophy aim? |
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(a) "What was the relation
between philosophy and science in the past?" is a question which should be answered
first. |
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(b) Consider the following sketch
of the origins of the sciences; these figures were considered philosophers at the time. |
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Dates |
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Figures |
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Disciplines |
Works |
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625?-546? BC |
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Thales |
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582?-500? BC |
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Pythagoras |
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408-355 BC |
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Eudoxus |
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Mathematics |
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about 300 BC |
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Euclid |
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Elements |
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490?-430 BC |
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Empedocles |
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theory of
evolution |
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384-322 BC |
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Aristotle |
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Biology |
De Anima |
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460?-377? BC |
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Hippocrates |
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Airs, Waters,
and Places (400s BC) |
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1546-1601 |
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Brahe |
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Epitome of
Copernican Astronomy (1618-1621) |
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1571-1630 |
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Kepler |
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Astronomy |
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1473-1543 |
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Copernicus |
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De
Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (1543) |
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1564-1642 |
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Galileo |
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The Starry
Messenger (1610) |
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1642-1727 |
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Newton |
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Physics |
Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) |
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1743-1794 |
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Lavoisier |
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1766-1844 |
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Dalton |
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Chemistry |
New System of
Chemical Philosophy (1808) |
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1798-1857 |
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Comte |
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Course of
Positive Philosophy (1830-1842) |
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1806-1873 |
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Mill |
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Sociology |
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1858-1917 |
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Durkheim |
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Suicide: A
Study in Sociology (1897) |
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1842-1910 |
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James |
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Psychology |
Principles of
Psychology (1890) |
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1849-1936 |
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Pavlov |
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Conditioned
Reflexes (1926) |
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(c) Hence, as soon as definite
knowledge concerning any subject becomes possible, this subject draws its own skilled
practitioners. The subject leaves philosophy and becomes a science. |
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(1) Questions with definite
answers come from fruitful presuppositions and are placed in the sciences. Philosophy,
like science, aims at knowledge, but that knowledge can only come to fruition in another
age in a science. |
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(2) The distinction between moral
philosophy and natural philosophy was a division of the curriculum up into the twentieth
century. |
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(3) Consider also the different
kinds of degrees which are given as Ph.D.'s. |
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4. With what type of questions does philosophy deal? Give an example. |
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(a) Russell gives the following
examples--note how these correspond with the main divisions of philosophy. |
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Russell's Question |
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Branch of Philosophy |
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Has the
universe any unity of plan or purpose? Is consciousness a permanent part of the universe? |
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Ontology
(Metaphysics) |
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Is there hope
of indefinite growth in wisdom? |
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Epistemology |
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Are good and
evil subjective? |
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Axiology: ethics
and aesthetics |
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(b) To answer such questions, we,
in part, survey human knowledge. The above branches of philosophy are the main divisions
of philosophy. |
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Ontology (Metaphysics): the study
of what is really real. |
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Epistemology: the study of
knowledge, its scope and limits. |
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Axiology: the study of values. |
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Ethics: the study of the good and
what constitutes a good life. |
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Aesthetics: the study of the
beautiful. |
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5. In what does the chief value of philosophy lie, according to Russell? |
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(a) Philosophy seeks knowledge,
but... |
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(b) Recognizing that there is no
absolute certainty, philosophy shows unsuspected possibilities about matters of fact.
"Do Copernicus and Tycho Brahe see the same thing in the east at dawn? |
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(c) Hence, philosophy increases
the possibility of knowledge through the reduction of dogmatism. |
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(d) The chief value is the
"greatness of objects which it contemplates": |
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Epistemology |
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truth |
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Ontology |
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reality |
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Ethics |
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the good |
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Aesthetics |
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the beautiful |
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(d) Thus, philosophy gives
freedom from narrow and practical aims: an escape from the daily round. |
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6. Describe the instinctive person. |
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(a) The instinctive person lives
in a prison of his own making--much like an animal. |
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(b) The instinctive person tends
not to look beyond what is before him at the moment. |
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(c) Being unaware of the larger
world can put our private world in ruins. |
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7. How does the self enlarge itself? |
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(a) Enlargement of self is
Russell's expression for the person of liberal culture, wide interests, reflection,
understanding, and self-motivation. |
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(b) The phrase "share in
infinity" is synoptic philosophy. Consider the following example. What, specifically,
would an expert in the following fields of knowledge have to advise about the purchase of
floor covering in the new science building? |
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linguistics |
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sociology |
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economics |
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religion |
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anthropology |
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biology |
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psychology |
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political science |
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genetics |
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history |
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business |
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botany |
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ecology |
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astronomy |
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mathematics |
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physics |
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geology |
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computer science |
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chemistry |
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geography |
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art |
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music |
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literature |
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communications |
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animal behavior |
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physical
education |
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theater arts |
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(c) Enlargement of self takes an
objective view to escape from the instinctive circle of the daily round. When you see
yourself as a process, you see yourself developing as you will be. (E.g., why are
beginners afraid to make mistakes? After all, if one did not make mistakes, one would not
be a beginner.) |
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(d) Do not define yourself in
reaction to what others say you must do: self-reliance |
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(1) Pursue an interest for its
own sake--not what it can do for you. |
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(2) Recognize that there are many
possibilities for solutions--not just the pragmatic, dogmatic "right or wrong"
opposites. |
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(3) Being motivated for a desire
for knowledge lead to a richer view of the world. |
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(e) By way of contrast, the way
of self-assertion views the world as a means to its own end and sees the world in terms of
itself: pragmatic, dogmatic, instinctive, and direct. |
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(1) On this view, getting results
or getting the right answer is more important that understanding how such things are
accomplished. |
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(2) This view leads to a limited
and impoverished view of the world--there is a lack of creativity and a lack of play with
things. |
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(3) If one is self-assertive,
then even minor slights are taken personally. There might be other reasons for an
individual's behavior that do not involve you. |
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(4) Enlargement of self does not
shape such dualisms as the "them against us" mentality." |
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8. What is the relation of the philosophic mind to the world of action
and justice? Can you suggest an example of an individual so concerned? |
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(a) The key to this question is
"impartial contemplation." Taking sides is almost always a dogmatic position. |
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(b) Our external physical states
such as money, job, car, make little difference if you are reaching your life goals. This
issues is happiness vs. misery rather than a question of being an auto mechanic or a
corporation executive. |
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(c) The philosophic mind is open
and nonjudgmental. Such a person does not expect other people or situations to change just
to fit what that person wants in order for that person to be happy. |
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(d) The philosophic mind has the
recognition that it could be wrong in any situation. |
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Recommended
Reading: |
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Hiam G. Ginott, Between Parent
and Child, New York: Avon, 1965. |