Interdisciplinary Research
Edward J. Dodson
[A letter to Professor Sandra Featherman, Department
of Political Science,
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 25 April 1986]
In a way, I am sorry that the Spring term will be after one more
class. Our discussions of public analysis have moved to the edge of
philosophical issues that have become even more blurred with time. It
is the underlying philosophical arguments which most interest me and
attracted me to the M.L.A. program.
I have been working on a book project, an attempt to resurrect (and
correct) political economy as originally developed by Smith and the
Physiocrats. I am convinced that a great deal of knowledge has been
lost by the abandonment of the interdisciplinary approach practiced by
these men of letters. The division of political economy into history,
political science, economics, etc. is even more unfortunate because
the corrective analysis presented by Henry George in his Science of
Political Economy established a solid foundation. Instead, the
Neoclassicists discarded almost all that had been accomplished up
through Mill and have been "muddling through" ever since. I
have gone back over George's analysis and ma developing a
reinterpretation of our history based on his definition of natural
law.
In our class we have repeatedly brought into the discussion the
economists' view that human behavior is based on our "maximizing
of preference satisfaction." The problem with that is we do not
always act in our own best interest, nor do we always have strong
preferences. There is one generalization of human behavior that Henry
George identified and established as the basic axiom for his treatment
of political economy; that MAN SEEKS TO SATISFY DESIRES WITH THE LEAST
AMOUNT OF EFFORT. A secondary behavioral outcome is that part of our
nature is the tendency to monopolize what George called "natural
opportunities" (i.e., land, natural resources, the labor of
others -- anything) whenever we can get away with doing so.
As part of my research I have attempted to construct a number of
graphical representations of how human societies have politically,
socially and economically evolved. While the rate of evolution has
varied greatly (because of environmental factors such as availability
of food, water, animals, minerals, etc. and the rate of population
growth), my research supports George's conclusion that the process is
consistent across all groups and across time. This, I think, is the
foundation missing from the efforts of social scientists to compete on
a par with the physical scientists.
Thus far in my graduate work I have not had the opportunity to
present this material to any member of the faculty for serious
scrutiny. I will be working on my manuscript throughout the summer and
would very much like to solicit your input as to its potential
scholastic value. Your open approach to our current course material
has been quite refreshing and is, I believe, indicative of your
devotion to the pursuit of knowledge. This, more than anything else,
is the reason why I ask for your help and guidance.
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