Repository | Book | Chapter

Of Elijah Jordan it has been said: "He was one of the few non-Marxist philosophers who took seriously the rise of Standard Oil, General Motors, the C.I.O. and the T.V.A. Philosophy, he thought, was not ready to take them in; it had to extend itself, and it was hard put."¹ In eight books and eleven articles, Jordan elaborated a philosophy the full significance of which has still to be measured, but the rising interest of legal philosophers and social thinkers in this work testifies, in large measure, to its success in taking account of the moral aspects of the practical realities of contemporary civilization. In three books, Forms of Individuality (1927),²Theory of Legislation (1930),³ and The Good Life (1949),⁴ Jordan mapped out a remarkably original theory of practical relations, a theory which, despite a disclaimer of direct influence, exhibits affinities with the Hegelian metaphysics of individuality. A fourth book, Business Be Damned (1952),⁵ is a severe indictment of business for its disastrous effects upon all the institutions of society.

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-3645-0_4

Full citation: