Dimensions of a New Identity

In the Washington of May Day, 1973, however, when the first lecture was delivered, humanistic insights and public issues (at least of the more sensational kind) seemed to have parted ways as never before, and this in a striking inner-political sequence to the nation’s division over the war in Southeast Asia. Predictably, some of the audience of the Jefferson lectures expected a clarification of living issues as contemporary as the day before and after. I deemed it inadvisable, however, to let short-range perspective dictate the nature of the Jefferson lectures, especially since I found it difficult enough to fit the thoughts prepared into the time allotted. Since then the long-range convergence of contemporary concerns with my main themes has become clearer and I have attempted to spell this out as I enlarged the lectures for this printed version. I have endeavored, however, for the most part to maintain a spoken rather than a written style. These, then, are still two lectures given on successive evenings.