International Congress of Arts and Science, Volume 1 / Philosophy and Metaphysics

by Unknown

In addition to the foregoing recommendations, Professor Münsterberg was requested at his earliest convenience to furnish each member with a revised plan of his classification, which would reduce as far as possible the number of sections into which the Congress was finally to be divided.

With the adjournment of the Board on January 19 the Congress may be fairly said to have been launched upon its definite course, and such changes as were thereafter made in the programme did not in any wise affect the principle upon which the Congress was based, but were due to the demands of time, of expediency, and in some cases to the accidents attending the participation. The organization of the Congress and the personnel of its officers from this time on remained unchanged, and the history of the meeting is one of steady and progressive development. The Committee on Plan and Scope were discharged of their duties, with a vote of thanks for the laborious and painstaking work which they had accomplished and the thoroughly scientific and novel plan for an international congress which they had recommended.

It was determined by the Administrative Board to keep the services of three of the members of the Committee on Plan and Scope, who should act as a scientific organizing committee and who should also be the presiding officers of the Congress. The choice for President of the Congress fell without debate to the dean of American scientific circles, whose eminent services to the Government of the United States and whose recognized position in foreign and domestic scientific circles made him particularly fitted to preside over such an international gathering of the leading scientists of the world, Dr. Simon Newcomb, retired Professor of Mathematics, United States Navy. Professor Hugo Münsterberg, of Harvard University, and Professor Albion W. Small, of the University of Chicago, were designated as the first and second Vice-Presidents respectively.

The work of the succeeding spring, with both the Organizing Committee and the Administrative Board, was devoted to the perfecting of the programme and the selection of foreign scientists to be invited to participate in the Congress. The theory of the development of the programme and its logical bases are fully and forcibly treated by Professor Münsterberg in the succeeding chapter, and therefore will not be touched upon in this record of facts. As an illustration of the growth of the programme, however, it is interesting to compare its form, which was adopted at the next meeting of the Organizing Committee on February 23, 1903, in New York City, with its final form as given in the completed programme presented at St. Louis in September, 1904 (pp. 47-49). No better illustration can be given of the immense amount of labor and painstaking adjustment, both to scientific and to physical conditions, and of the admirable adaptability of the original plan to the exigencies of actual practice. At the meeting of February 23, 1903, which was attended by all of the members of the Organizing Committee and by President Butler of the Administrative Board, it was determined that the number of Departments should be sixteen, with the following designations:—

A. NORMATIVESCIENCES
1.		PhilosophicalSciences.
2.		MathematicalSciences.
B. HISTORICALSCIENCES
3.		PoliticalSciences.
4.		LegalSciences.
5.		EconomicSciences.
6.		PhilologicalSciences.
7.		PedagogicalSciences.
8.		ÆstheticSciences.
9.		TheologicalSciences.
C. PHYSICALSCIENCES
10.		General PhysicalSciences.
11.		AstronomicalSciences.
12.		GeologicalSciences.
13.		BiologicalSciences.
14.		AnthropologicalSciences.
D. MENTALSCIENCES
15.		PsychologicalSciences.
16.		SociologicalSciences.
SECTIONS
1.	a	Metaphysics.
	b	Logic.
	c	Ethics.
	d	Æsthetics.
2.	a	Algebra.
	b	Geometry.
	c	StatisticalMethods.
3.	a	Classical Political History of Asia.
	b	ClassicalPolitical History of Europe.
	c	MedievalPolitical History of Europe.
	d	ModernPolitical History of Europe.
	e	PoliticalHistory of America.
4.	a	History of Roman Law.
	b	History ofCommon Law.
	aa	Constitutional Law.
	bb	CriminalLaw.
	cc	CivilLaw.
	dd	History ofInternational Law.
5.	a	History of Economic Institutions.
	b	History ofEconomic Theories.
	c	EconomicLaw.
	aa	Finance.
	bb	Commerceand Transportation.
	cc	Labor.
6.	a	Indo-Iranian Languages.
	b	SemiticLanguages.
	c	ClassicalLanguages.
	d	ModernLanguages.
7.	a	History of Education.
	aa	Educational Institutions.
8.	a	History of Architecture.
	b	History ofFine Arts.
	c	History ofMusic.
	d	OrientalLiterature.
	e	ClassicalLiterature.
	f	ModernLiterature.
	aa	Architecture.
	bb	FineArts.
	cc	Music.
9.	a	Primitive Religions.
	b	AsiaticReligions.
	c	SemiticReligions.
	d	Christianity.
	aa	ReligiousInstitutions.
10.	a	Mechanics and Sound.
	b	Light andHeat.
	c	Electricity.
	d	InorganicChemistry.
	e	OrganicChemistry.
	f	PhysicalChemistry.
	aa	MechanicalTechnology.
	bb	OpticalTechnology.
	cc	ElectricalTechnology.
	dd	ChemicalTechnology.
11.	a	Theoretical Astronomy.
	b	Astrophysics.
12.	a	Geodesy.
	b	Geology.
	c	Mineralogy.
	d	Physiography.
	e	Meteorology.
	aa	Surveying.
	bb	Metallurgy.
13.	a	Botany.
	b	PlantPhysiology.
	c	Ecology.
	d	Bacteriology.
	e	Zoölogy.
	f	Embryology.
	g	ComparativeAnatomy.
	h	Physiology.
	aa	Agronomy.
	bb	VeterinaryMedicine.
14.		AnthropologicalSciences:
	a	HumanAnatomy.
	b	HumanPhysiology.
	c	Neurology.
	d	PhysicalChemistry.
	e	Pathology.
	f	Raceomatology.
	aa	Hygiene.
	bb	ContagiousDiseases.
	cc	InternalMedicine.
	dd	Surgery.
	ee	Gynecology.
	ff	Ophthalmology.
	gg	Therapeutics.
	hh	Dentistry.
15.		PsychologicalSciences:
	a	GeneralPsychology.
	b	Experimental Psychology.
	c	ComparativePsychology.
	d	ChildPsychology.
	e	AbnormalPsychology.
16.		SociologicalSciences:
	a	SocialMorphology.
	b	SocialPsychology.
	c	Laws ofCivilization.
	d	Laws ofLanguage and Myths.
	e	Ethnology.
	aa	SocialTechnology.

It was also resolved, that the discussion of subjects falling under the first four divisions should be held in the forenoon of each of the four days, from Wednesday until Saturday, and those relating to the three divisions of Practical Science in the afternoon of the same days. The programme was thus rearranged by the addition of the following:—

E. UTILITARIANSCIENCES
17.		MedicalSciences:
	a	Hygiene.
	b	Sanitation.
	c	ContagiousDiseases.
	d	InternalMedicine.
	e	Psychiatry.
	f	Surgery.
	g	Gynecology.
	h	Ophthalmology.
	i	Otology.
	j	Therapeutics.
	k	Dentistry.
18.		PracticalEconomic Sciences:
	a	ExtractiveProductions of Wealth.
	b	Transportation.
	c	Commerce.
	d	PostalService.
	e	Money andBanking.
19.		TechnologicalSciences:
	a	MechanicalTechnology.
	b	ElectricalTechnology.
	c	ChemicalTechnology.
	d	OpticalTechnology.
	e	Surveying.
	f	Metallurgy.
	g	Agronomy.
	h	VeterinaryMedicine.
F. REGULATIVESCIENCES
20.		PracticalPolitical Sciences:
	a	InternalPractical Politics.
	b	NationalPractical Politics.
	c	Tariff.
	d	Taxation.
	e	MunicipalPractical Politics.
	f	ColonialPractical Politics.
21.		Practical LegalSciences:
	a	International Law.
	b	Constitutional Law.
	c	CriminalLaw.
	d	CivilLaw.
22.		Practical SocialSciences:
	a	Treatmentof the Poor.
	b	Treatmentof the Defective.
	c	Treatmentof the Dependent.
	d	Treatmentof Vice and Crime.
	e	Problems ofLabor.
	f	Problems ofthe Family.
G. CULTURALSCIENCES
23.		PracticalEducational Sciences:
	a	Kindergarten and Home.
	b	PrimaryEducation.
	c	Universities and Research—Secondary.
	d	MoralEducation.
	e	ÆstheticEducation.
	f	ManualTraining.
	g	University.
	h	Libraries.
	i	Museums.
	j	Publications.
24.		PracticalÆsthetic Sciences:
	a	Architecture.
	b	FineArts.
	c	Music.
	d	LandscapeArchitecture.
25.		PracticalReligious Sciences:
	a	ReligiousEducation.
	b	Trainingfor Religious Service.
	c	Missions.
	d	ReligiousInfluence.

The programme was again thoroughly revised at the meeting of the Organizing Committee on April 9, 1903, at Hotel Manhattan, and as thus amended was submitted to the Administrative Board at a meeting held in New York on April 11. A careful consideration of the programme at this meeting, and a final revision made at the meeting of the Administrative Board at the St. Louis Club April 30, 1903, brought it practically into its final shape, with such minor changes as were found necessary in the latter days of the Congress due to the unexpected declinations of foreign speakers at the last moment. The continuous and exacting work done in perfecting the programme by each member of the Organizing Committee and by the Chairman of the Administrative Board deserves special mention, and was productive of the best results by its logical appeal to the scientific world. The programme as finally worked out in orderly detail, shortened in many departments by various exigencies, may be found on pages 47 to 49 of this volume.

PARTICIPATION AND SUPPORT

The general plan of the Congress having been determined and the programme practically perfected by May 1, 1903, two most important questions demanded the attention of the Administrative Board: first, the participation in the Congress, both foreign and domestic; second, the support of the scientific public. At a meeting of the Board held in New York City April 11, 1903, these points were given full consideration. It was determined that the list of speakers both foreign and domestic should be made up on the advice of men of letters and of scientific thought in this country, and accordingly there was sent to the officers of the various scientific societies in the United States, to heads of university departments and to every prominent exponent of science and art in this country, a printed announcement and tentative programme of the Congress, and a letter asking advice as to the scientists best fitted in view of the object of the Congress to prepare an address. From the hundreds of replies received in response to this appeal were made up the original lists of invited speakers, and only those were placed thereon who were the choice of a fair majority of the representatives of the particular science under selection. The Administrative Board reserved to itself the full right to reject any of these names or to change them so as to promote the best interests of the Congress, but in nearly every instance it would be safe to say that the person selected was highly satisfactory to the great majority of his fellow scientists in this country. Many changes were unavoidably made at the last moment to meet the situation caused by withdrawals and declinations, but the list of second choices was so complete, and in many cases there was such a delicate balance between the first and second choice, that there was no difficulty in keeping the standard of the programme to its original high plane.