Spencer Heath Archive

Item 1479

Carbon of a letter from Heath to Dr. Edmund W. Sinnott, Dean of the Graduate School, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

May 12, 1953

 

 

Dear Dr. Sinnott:

    The purpose of this letter is to express my admiration of the spirit and the content and also the literary artistry of your little volume, Cell and Psyche.

    Some three years ago there fell into my hands a little book, Outline of a Metaphysics, by Franklin Matchette, a wealthy industrialist and amateur philosopher who founded and substantially endowed the Franklin J. Matchette Foundation of this city.

    Through my enthusiasm for this book, I became acquainted with Mr. William H. Matchette, Managing Director of the Foundation and a modest participant in its work, this mainly as a leader of topical seminars at the Foundation’s headquarters, 20 East 66^th Street. Some weeks ago our topic was “Purpose in the Cosmos.” In this connection Mr. Matchette handed me, most opportunely, your little volume, Cell and Psyche.

     It would be hard to exaggerate the charm of your “adventurous Hypothesis” and adventurous speculations based on established biological facts. The earnest and best evidence of one’s own purposes is one’s behavior in pursuing them. It may be that there is no other objective datum from which purpose can be inferred or deduced. If this is true, then your attribution of purpose to all things that develop or evolve is of the highest certitude.

     Dr. Edward McCrady, upon biological facts substantially the same as yours, attributes to the free interfunctioning of men in reciprocal services — to the societal organiza­tion — all the individuality and organic character of the lesser biologic integrations, including the higher animals and men. He finds that the Golden-Rule relationship as practiced by men in world-wide communication, transporta­tion and trade constitutes them as the body of a function­ing organism, one that evokes their spiritual and creative powers and in which is exemplified the poet’s line, “Through the ages one increasing purpose runs.”

 

     I presume you know of Dr. McCrady’s essay on religious perspectives in biology. To me it is inspiring and also prophetic that minds such as his and yours are so definitely moving towards objective realizations of our cherished reli­gious conceptions as these reflect the universal purpose — the Cosmic Dream. I hope you will publish more.

                           

                            Sincerely,