The American Mind
by Wang Huning
The American Mind
Chapter II, Part I
H.S. Commager is an eminent historian and critic. The shelves in university libraries across America carry copies of his work, and he is considered a master of American studies. One such book, The Growth of the American Republic, is well established in Chinese scholarship. Another, The American Mind, released in 1950, was so well received that it was reprinted more than 20 times. I read the Chinese version translated by Nan Mu. I brought it with me from Shanghai to the United States, and read it on the airplane. It is an essential book for understanding the American mind.
H. S. Commager writes with sophistication and power, observes issues deeply, and is good at summarizing. He claims he is not writing a history book, but an interpretation of history. He strives to discover the elusive ‘American Mind’: a uniquely American way of thinking, acting, and understanding. He chose the period from the mid-1880s to the 1940s as a watershed moment in American history and thought. The American Mind is a doorstopper, with half a million words, and a distinctive, lively, and in-depth exposition; it's a marvellous mix of historical information and often surprising analysis.
What does Commager consider to be the ‘American Mind’? The primary premise is that Americans have their own character and their own philosophy. The American character is the product of the interaction of inheritance and environment. The origins of American culture and institutions, things such as the church and family structure, as well as moral values, can be traced back to ancient Greece, Rome, and Palestine. But Commager sees this inheritance as a highly selective inheritance, where environment acts on selection, and although the political system and judicial system have changed very little in two hundred years, the social organizations and the psychological outlook have been revolutionized.
The American environment dissolves the differences between the various races and cultures which come here. Commager raises an interesting point:
“It was not particular environments that determined the American character or created the American type but the whole of the American environment— the sense of spaciousness, the invitation to mobility, the atmosphere of independence, the encouragement to enterprise and to optimism. Whereas in Europe, with its age-old traditions of feudalism and nationalism, the particular triumphed over the general, in America, which came to maturity during the industrial revolution and acknowledged few traditions of strong local loyalties with which it had to break, the general triumphed over the particular. That people, which displayed the most diverse racial stocks and the most variegated climates and soils, achieved a distinctive and stable national character with an ease that confounded not only the expectations of her critics but all history and experience. ”
Everyone who wants to understand America must, above all, be prepared to ponder this.
What are the main characteristics of the American mind according to Commager?
I have written down some of them, as follows:
Optimism is the norm. Everything is going well in this country, and natural conditions are so favourable that any enterprising and lucky person can become rich. Optimism comes from the reality of America's material change, where every day the wilderness turns into farmland, villages into cities, and ideas into reality.
The faith that there is nothing is impossible, and to not give up till you’ve succeeded. Americans care more about the future than they do about the past and present. They have no sense of history and think that only old women are more interested in the past than the future. So they see future presidents and millionaires in every barefoot boy, so they care for and love children, work for them, and let them grow.
Broad vision, imagination galloping across the continent, hate of trivial matters, indecision and timidity. They hope for big things, and are quick to accept large-scale plans and heroic careers.
The culture is materialistic, takes comfort for granted, and views those with a lesser standard of living with a sense of superiority.
Always tenacious to overcome obstacles, partly because they are sure that perseverance combined with hard work, intelligence and luck will always lead to good results. Their credo is hard work, and laziness is a sin. Anything conducive to increasing wealth is expected.
There is a strong concept of quantity and a tendency to evaluate almost everything in quantitative terms, such as demographics, skyscrapers, railroad miles, production records, etc. To depict Americans requires new vocabulary and even new mathematics.
Practical, especially in politics, religion, culture and science, but often romantic in business. Americans are always trying to invent new tools or technologies to adapt to new situations. They like to innovate, are less tradition-oriented, and are willing to give anything a try. Their response to various things is very practical. There are thousands of inventions in the United States, and Americans are known for their enthusiasm for innovation. American colleges and universities were the first to offer technology courses.
They hate theories and abstract speculation, avoiding esoteric political thought and behavioral psychology like healthy people who do not take medicine, and any kind of philosophy beyond common sense can not attract their interest. The only thing that can be called their philosophy is the instrumentalism of truth. They instinctively believe that only unfortunate and confused people turn to philosophy, and they are not that kind of person.
Religion, though of Calvinistic origin, is practical. They are religious but not pious; they no longer believe in the dogma that God saves mankind, but are instinctively convinced that salvation is only through work. Denominations are numerous, but are considered as different organizations rather than different doctrines, and they can no longer tell the difference between Methodists and Presbyterians, for example, anymore than they can grasp the ideological differences between Republicans and Democrats.
In politics there is a strong aversion to empty theories and rhetoric. Some people laugh at the lack of political philosophy in the United States, but they take it in stride, believing that it is good not to be bound by political theories. The empty theoretical talk of any political party will not get their support. Although Americans are young and unsophisticated, they are politically mature. Their political institutions are as flexible and effective as any other machine they have invented.
They are both skeptical and tolerant of culture. Skeptical when it interferes with more important activities, and tolerant when taken as a pastime or an entertainment for women. In exceptional cases, they demand that culture be something useful. Americans care about education and spend money on it, and they want it to produce people of practical use.
Americans have a kind of Yelang arrogance,1 and there is a nightmarish peculiarity in that they despise other nations and peoples almost to the point of paranoia. They believe that their country is superior and that they are superior to others, and this sense of superiority produces a natural sense of mission and a belief that they are the greatest country in the world.
They love to experiment. The United States itself is one of the largest testing grounds. Since coming to America is a gamble and an opportunity, Americans are gamblers and opportunists. They rarely stay in one place, and like to move around. They do not like the same old thing, always love to do what others have not done, and are willing to accept a challenge.
The USA is democratic and believes in equality. The environment opens the way for talent and luck. But their democracy is a social democracy, not an economic one. The concept of equality permeates the sphere of American life and thought; their behaviour, work, recreation, language and literature, religion and politics all reflect the concept of equality, and their life is governed by it. In fact, even economic inequality is conceived of as a form of equality. This equality leads to cordial and sincere relations between people.
Good-natured, generous, and hospitable, they love to make friends. The vast majority of people like to socialize and enjoy group life. They are casual, unpretentious, speak casually, dress casually, eat casually, and treat people casually, which may sometimes be considered indulgent and rude.
They find authority and rules and regulations to be a headache and find it both insulting and challenging to follow certain rules. There is little to no discipline in school. Parents rarely control their children and children rarely respect their parents, but family life is happy. The military is lax in discipline, but can fight wars. Americans have no apparent respect for the law, but actually respect the rule of law, and the Constitution as the supreme law.
And so on and so forth. Commager concludes that these beliefs cannot help but have practical consequences and be reflected in the everyday behaviour of the American people. The chapter in which Commager summarizes these characteristics is called “The 19th Century American”. In fact, some of these generalizations are still relevant today. Naturally, one can give examples for and against any abstract generalization of real life. There are many examples that can be cited to refute Commager. However, as an American scholar’s view of his own nation, let’s listen to it. All of his examples are positive, which is a bit self-aggrandizing. In fact, the American nation has a number of shortcomings.
Today, this spirit can be found in such practical aspects of life as the space shuttle and global war programs, the endless stream of new equipment, the abundance of statistical reports, the spirit of practicality, the noisy scenes in the classroom, and the attitude toward government scandals.
Sometimes, it can be said that there is no spirit in social life, but when you discover it, it will be there. Or rather, there is spirit in the world, but the question is whether it is found or not. Hegel was convinced that he had discovered the “absolute spirit”, the American spirit is that there is no “absolute spirit”.2
From 夜郎自大, or “Yelang thinks too highly of itself”. The story goes that the king of Yelang, convinced that his kingdom was the greatest, inquired rhetorically of the Han emperor's envoy: “Which is greater, Yelang or Han?” To which the envoy's response has become immortalized in this old Chinese idiom.
This last paragraph is something of a play on words in Chinese. Wang is using the word 精神 in the title of this chapter, which can mean a lot depending on the context. It can refer to spirits, essence, consciousness, the human mind. It's used to translate the word spirit, and it's sometimes a part of more medical terms, like 'psychiatry' 精神科 or 'schizophrenia' 精神分裂症. The title of H.S. Commager’s “The American Mind” is translated as “美国精神” in Chinese, while Hegel’s absolute spirit is translated as “绝对精神”. Throughout this book 精神 has been translated as both ‘mind’ and ‘spirit’, although it is closer in use and content to the German concept of “Geist”.
Wang Huning is a member of the Chinese pulitburo. He is widely considered on of the most powerful theoreticians in China, and works as head of the Chinese Policy Research Office and chairman of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization.
In 1991 Wang Huning toured the US as a visiting scholar. He wrote a book about his experiences, called America Against America. Despite being subject to a lot of media attention some years ago, this book has never been fully translated.
This is part of an ongoing project to translate and serialize Wang Huning’s work. To read the first chapter of his book now visit our table of contents. To get access to new material as it comes out, please subscribe and support us.
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