Vauvenargues describes both the social and philosophical world as a battleground of conflicting interests, thereby extending the premises of Classical ego psychology into the Enlightenment. His heroes, political and philosophical, may be seen as seeking a new kind of peace in their triumph over men and systems metaphorically portrayed as rigid, blind, and imprisoned within their own egocentricity. His ideal philosopher reconciles all conflicting views in an overarching system of truth. Ultimately this system rests not so much on principles of logic as on the personal qualities of the thinker, his “pénétration,” “profondeur,” and “étendue d'esprit,” his ability to transcend the self. In the partially Spinozistic, partially rococo, and eminently conciliatory vision vouchsafed the true philosopher, variety submits to organic order, concepts and people maintain their autonomy, yet grow interrelated. Apparent contradictions vanish in the fullness of truth. Vauvenargues's early works suffer from his inability to articulate this vision within conventional, discursive forms. In the posthumous Caractères, he invents a new technique, the “définition,” which strikingly parallels the idiom of contemporary fictional realism. By capturing visible phenomena and exposing their paradoxically contrasting inner mechanisms, Vauvenargues reveals both the method and the nature of the truth he repeatedly struggled to express.

A ? LEAST eleven steps have been taken to try to meet the problems and alleviate the tensions that revealed themselves at the 1968 annual meeting. That meeting itself has become something of a cause célèbre, resulting in massive correspondence with the Executive Council and Secretariat, meetings about MLA and the problems of the profession on dozens of campuses, and a spate of articles in the journals and the public press. All of this seems to me useful. No one would deny that we have problems, and I am heartened by the thought that so many people are thinking and writing about them. What concerns me is how this ferment can be translated into productive action. The steps we have taken this year have been largely to improve communication and to explore ways of adding new dimensions to the MLA concern. Inevitably even these steps, combined with the proposal for a dues increase, have led to unhappy letters from members that speak of the MLA as empire building, of its departure from its original purposes, of its increasing amorphousness, and of its politicization. The number of resignations does not yet constitute an important threat, but the feeling they reflect and the fact that among them appear a few of our distinguished members are a cause for concern.

THE Managing Trustee, Mr. Gordon N. Ray, has asked me to present to you the Report of the Trustees on the status of the MLA endowment funds at the end of the 1968–69 fiscal year. At the close of that period (31 August 1969) the market value of our securities stood at $248,274, compared with $264,763 the year before. The Trustees have approved the actions of the United States Trust Company in the management of the funds.1

(On 1 June 1970, Fredson Bowers received a D.Litt. from Brown Univ. The following excerpts from his commencement address to the graduate school explore some of the central issues now facing the MLA. The parts of the speech omitted deal with the history and present state of the movement for a Doctor of Arts degree.)