Any reader who accepts – even if only provisionally – the theories brought forward in the preceding pages, and sets out to test them against his own observations, will quickly encounter gross discrepancies. The protostatics present no great problem; it will be found that their behaviour does, if not in all details then at least… read more »
The ideologist does not dispute the general opinion that the ideas of the Right are different from those of the Left, but he does add something to it. Right and Left, eidostatics and eidodynamics, not only have different ideas, they also have different ways of thinking. As Walsby phrases it, they differ not only in… read more »
When we turn to consider the respective identifications of the two main ideological classes with the non-social world (what Walsby terms their cosmic situations), we find a reversal of the identifications which they respectively exhibit with existing society. The eidostatics, (positively identified with existing society), are negatively identified with the non-social world, and the eidodynamics,… read more »
The environment in which we live can be divided in many ways. For the ideologist one significant division is between the social group and the rest of the environment. The two main ideological classes, eidostatic and eidodynamic, each display a characteristic pair of identifications, one with the social group (Walsby terms this the group situation),… read more »
From ETHICAL RECORD, journal of the South Place Ethical Society, February 1991; by Thelma J. Shinn, Professor of English & Women ‘s Studies, Arizona State University. I read this book with great interest and pleasure. The clarity of Walford’s prose and the logic of his explanation of systematic ideology provide an excellent foundation for further… read more »
To the revisions of the basic statement of Systematic Ideology there is no end. Here is another suggestion. It seems to me that in the current version of the basic statement the description of the second of the eidodynamic levels as “Revolution” needs a little adjustment. At the moment it is phrased exclusively in terms… read more »
Both Harold Walsby and George Walford assumed that the eidodynamic levels were materialist. All their descriptions, from 1948 to 1994, take for granted that there is just one route through the eidodynamic levels, and that it is a materialist route. No doubt the reason for this was that their work was always directed towards the… read more »
Winner, 2009 George Walford International Essay Prize. In 1947, Harold Walsby wrote The Domain of Ideologies; a Study of the Origin, Development, and Structure of Ideologies. About forty years later, George Walford published Beyond Politics: An Outline of Systematic Ideology. If these two books form the backbone of the socio-political theory known as “systematic ideology,”… read more »
I am delighted that you are publishing a memorial for George Walford. His unique Ideological Commentary is unforgettable and his efforts to continue Harold Walsby’s thinking deserves a follow-up, particularly as the freelance scholar has become almost an extinct species. Intellectual thinking is all but monopolised by institutions. SI: IGNORED, ALONE AND ILLUMINATING Until S.I.,… read more »
Under this head IC presents instances of the political divisiveness displayed by the eidodynamics. When possible we also offer, for contrast, examples of the emphasis on party loyalty, faith in the leader and ‘don’t rock the boat’ of the eidostatics. (Co-operation being less newsworthy than conflict, these come less readily to hand). We invite readers… read more »