Walden Two is one of the last utopias

traditional, Golden Age of Leisure tradition

with some new (psychological) twists

Influences on Skinner

Psychology-behaviorism

Progressivism- Populism

Steinmetz

Technocrats

utopias

The watershed of modern science

1930s

Science, from the "Mother of obsolescence" to "science makes jobs"

Vannevar Bush

Science and WW II

Who are the main characters in Walden Two?

What are the settings?

When was it written?

Pay attention to

1. "The trips" to and from Walden Two (WT)

2. WT architecture

Simple do-it-yourself Lloyd Wright

Earnest Flagg down scale technology for the people- technology for house work

Speculate- What if science had pursued Labor Saving, and left "Work Creation" alone- as none of their business

3. How is the "town" of WT designed- what is "city-planning" like in WT?

4. What do you make of the tea-service

5. What is the "Ladder"?

6. What do you make of Barbara's walking in the rain?

7. Describe the "string fence", the philosophical Lambkin, bishop

8. What is huzzyfry?

9. What is sex/family like in WT

10. What do you make of Burris' remark, "seduction not expected"

11. What are the labor credits- 1200 each year- for?

My Notes

There is no menial work in WT- no servants/

time incentive- time the coin of the realm

six steps to our hour day- 59

p. 45 conflict -- laissez faire Vs planned economy

market sense Vs common sense

high standard of living low consumption / low ownership- 63

chronic scarcity of labor

ownership in Walden II

economics / politics the least interesting part of Walden Two according to Frazier

Chapter 10 p. 75 avoid goat and loom Vs slave to tech

Walden II not atavistic- use tech

we have created leisure without slavery- Greek ideal

Emerson, Brook Farm

JS Bach- B Minor Mass?- p83

Chapter 14 competition

equality Vs excellence

personal best

Chapter 5 fashion- original WALDEN

created demand- waste

broadening tastes

p.36 time for trouble

chapter 6 crowds/community

Habermas/culture

chapter 8 liberal arts- theoretical science- amateur science (tadpoles)

what do they do?

Chapter 12 and 15 education in WALDEN II

p. 119 educational conspicuous consumption

useful Vs liberal arts 122-23

natural, intrinsically motivated learning (compare with Plato)

spurious educational needs

fear of boredom- 64

end of Chapter 10-- leisure is our levitation- Virgil Vs Beatrice (Chapter 8)

Chapter 11 the leisure program

battle against boredom- p 88-89

art in WALDEN TWO- participatory- Field house art

audiences- need culture for cultural creation

Golden Age- Machine + Social Science = Golden AGE (Enlightenment)

the endings of WALDEN II