Harvard's Quixotic Pursuit of a New Science
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Patrick L. Schmidt 7 citations
Patrick L. Schmidt recounts how prominent social scientists in the 1930s, marginalized for pursuing Freudian and Jungian theories, persuaded Harvard to create a new Department of Social Relations. This interdisciplinary department aimed to surpass economics, government, and history but ultimately failed to achieve that goal. Despite this, it attracted outstanding faculty, produced important work, and trained notable graduates. The narrative includes scandals: Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert giving psilocybin to students, and Henry Murray's traumatic experiment on Theodore Kaczynski. Central is Talcott Parsons' obsessive quest for a unified social science theory. The story serves as a cautionary tale of academic infighting, hubris, and scandal.