PROBE
VOL I, ISSUE I APRIL 16, 1969
AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID THOMAS
The following was transcribed from a recorded interview with
the head of this quarter's core course, David Thomas.
Q: Do you have any ideas about what we're doing this quarter?
A: As I said in the first lecture, we're not claiming to present
a grand synthesis, this just isn't the age for it. This is more
the age in which things seem to be falling apart rather than pulling
together, which doesn't mean we should always go along with that.
What we hope we're doing in the third quarter is taking a problem
which is real and important to everyone, and approaching it from
a number of different directions, a number of different topics,
a number of different types of materials, and number of different
approaches, all of which indirectly involve the central problem
of action and responsibility, I doubt that there's anybody, even
if he mocks this sort of pompous language of action and responsibility who isn't concerned with the problem. In that sense, I
think it's relevant.
Q: How would you phrase the actual problem?
A: I think our notion is that each person ought to attain some
clarity, some understanding, simply what action and responsibility entail, what they are all about. How people then are going to
act is obviously not for us, in this course, to tell, them. It
comes down to personal decisions, to existential decisions, if you
will. But what I am trying to suggest is that these should not be
made completely blindly, that the experience of other people and
the experience of people who have thought about these problems are
relevant to anyone who wants to make personal decisions in himself.
Q; Have you noticed a shift in people's attitude toward action
and responsibility?
A: I was part of the generation of the 50's which was generally
labelled the "silent generation," which supposedly didn't do anything; neither acted nor was responsoble which is just as much
an inaccuracy as some of the characterizations of the generation
of today. There is a relatively high premium on spontaneity on the
part of today's students, and this isn't restricted to California.
This was characteristic of a number of European student movements
that I saw last year. The French and Italian students talk a great
deal about spontaneous action, not having a worked out program in
1
University of California, Santa Cruz. McHenry Library, Special Collections. 1156 High Street. Santa Cruz, CA, 95064. (831) 459-2547. speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
University of California, Santa Cruz. McHenry Library, Special Collections. 1156 High Street. Santa Cruz, CA, 95064. (831) 459-2547. speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
PROBE
VOL I, ISSUE I APRIL 16, 1969
AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID THOMAS
The following was transcribed from a recorded interview with
the head of this quarter's core course, David Thomas.
Q: Do you have any ideas about what we're doing this quarter?
A: As I said in the first lecture, we're not claiming to present
a grand synthesis, this just isn't the age for it. This is more
the age in which things seem to be falling apart rather than pulling
together, which doesn't mean we should always go along with that.
What we hope we're doing in the third quarter is taking a problem
which is real and important to everyone, and approaching it from
a number of different directions, a number of different topics,
a number of different types of materials, and number of different
approaches, all of which indirectly involve the central problem
of action and responsibility, I doubt that there's anybody, even
if he mocks this sort of pompous language of action and responsibility who isn't concerned with the problem. In that sense, I
think it's relevant.
Q: How would you phrase the actual problem?
A: I think our notion is that each person ought to attain some
clarity, some understanding, simply what action and responsibility entail, what they are all about. How people then are going to
act is obviously not for us, in this course, to tell, them. It
comes down to personal decisions, to existential decisions, if you
will. But what I am trying to suggest is that these should not be
made completely blindly, that the experience of other people and
the experience of people who have thought about these problems are
relevant to anyone who wants to make personal decisions in himself.
Q; Have you noticed a shift in people's attitude toward action
and responsibility?
A: I was part of the generation of the 50's which was generally
labelled the "silent generation," which supposedly didn't do anything; neither acted nor was responsoble which is just as much
an inaccuracy as some of the characterizations of the generation
of today. There is a relatively high premium on spontaneity on the
part of today's students, and this isn't restricted to California.
This was characteristic of a number of European student movements
that I saw last year. The French and Italian students talk a great
deal about spontaneous action, not having a worked out program in
1
