Milton Konvitz American Ideals Lectures
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Milton Konvitz was a professor in Cornell's Law School and a founding faculty member of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He retired in 1973. He was an authority on constitutional and labor law, and on civil and human rights. He was famous for teaching a class called American Ideals at Cornell for many years; it was based in the College of Industrial and Labor Relations and regularly drew enrollments in the many hundreds, with the eventual total exceeding over 8,000. Young Ruth Bader, later Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was one of those students.
This collection contains audio files of the American Ideals lectures from January, February, March, and April of 1973.
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Item Development of American Ideals - ILR 308: Memorandum to StudentsKonvitz, Milton (1974)Item Development of American Ideals - ILR 309: Memorandum to StudentsKonvitz, Milton (1974)Item American Ideals 01. Course IntroductionKonvitz, Milton R. (1973)Professor Konvitz explains the connection of ILR 308 to the present semester’s study. In 308, he explored the evolution of those American ideals inherent in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and subsequently utilized and interpreted by the court decisions of the American judicial system, particularly the Supreme Court. Many of the values reflected in these fundamental documents, Professor Konvitz suggests, were not original with the founders of the Republic but were derived from much more ancient, abstract, and broader principles inherent in Western civilization. Konvitz quotes Immanuel Kant: “precepts without concepts are empty; concepts without precepts are blind.” As the first semester explored the precepts that were underpinning of American constitutional law, the second semester would explore the broad Western intellectual tradition from which the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and other aspects of what we know as American ideals, were largely rooted. He offers several examples.Item American Ideals 02. The Hebrew Bible, Part 1Konvitz, Milton R. (1973)Human dignity, justice, equality, love, and the rule of law are not alluded to specifically in the documents upon which our nation was founded, but they are implied, Dr. Konvitz explains, and it is the origins of these values with which the present course will be concerned. Much that our civilization values in the Bible comes from the way it exemplifies such ideals. In the Bible, these values are implied in this history of God’s relationship with man but not explicated. Rather they are presented as revelations exemplified in the biblical narrative that records God’s actions, God’s will, and God’s commandments to men.Item American Ideals 03. The Hebrew Bible, Part 2Konvitz, Milton R. (1973)Professor Konvitz distinguishes between Homeric and Hebrew literary styles. In the Illiad and Odyssey, everything that Homer wants to say is put in the foreground and externalized. The events and relationships between the mortal characters and the gods are clearly explicated. In the Bible, on the other hand, only so much of the setting and relationships as is necessary is revealed. God is the unknowable, incomprehensible background to the action. God’s motives are seldom revealed and require explanation and interpretation. The stories in the Bible certainly can be explained from the point of view of the senses, but to a man of faith they are the story of the working out of God’s will. Several examples are given to illustrate this.Item American Ideals 04. The Nature of RealityKonvitz, Milton R. (1973)Our relation to God and God’s judgment is, for the man of faith, the realm of truth. Mere appearance is the realm of ignorance and falsehood. The Greek philosophers, Dr. Konvitz explains, also saw the distinction as being mitigated by reason. There is a difference between what the senses tell us and what the mind tells us, and this can only be arrived at by thought. The evolution of Greek philosophy on this subject is elucidated.Item American Ideals 05. Dignity and JobKonvitz, Milton R. (1973)The biblical root of the concept of human dignity is explained. The Bible presumes a moral order in the universe and moral judgment. If, the Bible suggests, we obey God’s commandments, then we shall live; if we serve other god’s, we shall perish. The Bible, explains, Dr. Konvitz, instructs us that the moral order is as important as the laws of nature and implies the existence of a higher law—a code of basic human rights and obligations. Expounding upon the Book of Job, Konvitz tells us that the lesson of Job is that a moral man lives in a world in which the moral order works despite human suffering. God’s motives cannot be completely understood by man.Item American Ideals 06. Good and Evil, Part 1Konvitz, Milton R. (1973)The power of evil in the world is evident from the very beginning of the Bible, Professor Konvitz acknowledges. Biblical man responds to evil with the hope that it will be defeated and virtue vindicated. A righteous man follows God’s laws even if they are not fully understood. It is in this relationship to God that the good man knows he is justified regardless of his earthly predicaments, and he is happy in this relationship in spite of his earthly lot. Numerous examples of individuals transcending early travails are given from the Old and New Testaments and from the lives of Socrates and Gandhi.Item American Ideals 07. Good and Evil, Part 2Konvitz, Milton R. (1973)Responding to a student question, Professor Konvitz explains the complexity of biblical analysis. The biblical presumption of human free will and its implications is then discussed as is the meaning of the story of Adam and Eve. Professor Konvitz then turns to a discussion of the biblical influence on the concepts of time and history.Item American Ideals 08. Viewing Time, Part 1Konvitz, Milton R. (1973)The concepts of biblical time and history were unique in the ancient world and were adopted by western civilization. In the Hebrew Bible, there is a straight line of movement from the story of creation, Adam, Abraham and the Covenant, Exodus to the concept of the Messiah. This linear history is continued in the New Testament in the story of Jesus as the Messiah, his life and death, and the concept of the second coming of the Messiah. For the Bible as a whole, each event is unique; there is no repetition. Time is real and the story moves forward in time, Professor Konvitz argues. From their early philosophers and historians to the Stoics, Greek thinkers believed in the cyclical nature of time and history, with some arguing for reincarnation and others, prototypical social scientists, seeing repetition of patterns in human behavior.