17) presents two rival possibilities for the intellectual grounding to Lincoln's opposition to slavery: a "prior commitment to the moral law" as expressed in Plato's "Republic," versus a liberal pragmatic commitment to principles of justice as articulated by John Rawls.
"My own view is that our attitude toward the United Nations is one of pragmatic commitment.
The pragmatic commitment to growth that one sees in Asia and other emerging markets today stands in contrast to the west's misguided policies, which, driven by a combination of ideology and vested interests, almost seem to reflect a commitment not to grow.
Rather, his intellectual interest shifted to the significance of the pragmatic commitment to scientific method in other areas of philosophy.
Hook's subsequent philosophical activity was based upon his belief that the pragmatic commitment to scientific method had transformative implications, primarily in three areas of philosophy: the theory of knowledge, ethical theory and social or political philosophy.
On the other hand, the connection between truth and the human ability to predict and control the environment was derived from the pragmatic commitment to scientific method as the paradigm for human knowledge.
The emergence of the New Left in 1968 moved Hook's application of what he believed was his pragmatic commitment to free inquiry from its previous emphasis on the reform of institutional practice toward the emphasis, expressed in Measure, on the balance between continuity and change.
It is hard to take these claims as much more than wishful thinking projected retrospectively onto a pragmatic politician, whose commitment to Cold War verities, while less nihilistic than that of some others, was still complete.
