tied existences a new “society.” FornMarx, it was the idea of the state as thengod of all being. In our case, we nonlonger know the end intended and sonresort, in desperate vagueness, to “humanitarianism.”nIt is in response to such obfuscationsnof political reality that Professor Sandoznwrites his book. What he recognizes asnnecessary to a viable social order is ournrecovery of valid “theory” in support ofnour given human nature, of the primarynend of social order itself: the support ofnthe citizen as a discrete intellectual — asna person beyond the reductionist shibbolethsnsuch as citizen or individual.nWithout such distincHon, we shall continuento stand confused between mediatenand final ends. Without such distinction,nwe shall, as Professor Sandoznsays, be misled by “the notion of savingnmankind through politics,” which is annotion “not only mistaken but ultimatelyndisastrous.”nTheory, common sense tells us, isnalways precedent to our practical exer­ncise of any science, “political” or other.nTheory is always operative, whether atnthe level of tribe or nation, since anynconcerted action wherever two or threenor more are gathered together is possiblenas concert only where bindingnprinciples are either tacitly or explicitlynaccepted. For this reason, central questionsnmust be raised again and again inncertifying communal concert, a lessonnat least as ancient as the teachings ofnthat old gadfly Socrates. And suchnquestions yield resolution only to thenrigor of that intellectual action we oncentermed philosophy. Because of thendependence of social order in philosophy,nimplicit even in sentimental “politicalnscience” (whether recognized bynthe practitioner or not), that disciplinenmust, as Professor Sandoz insists, establishnitself from its beginning in philosophynrather than pretend to thenauthority of a science. In doing so, itnmust as an intellectual discipline addressnat the outset the question of allnquestions: what is man?’nCHRONICLES GIFT OFFERnGive a one-year subscription tonChronicles for only $24 (you save $6nor 20% off the cover price). Justncomplete and mail the coupon belownwith your check or money order, andnwe’ll promptly send each recipient angift card in your name.n34/CHRONICLESnSTATE ZIP CITY STATE ZIPnSTATfi ZIPnFOREIGN ORDERS ADD $6 PER SUBSCRIPTION • U.S. FUNDS ONLY • CHRONICLES SELLS FOR $2.50 A COPY.nSEND TO: CHRONICLES • P.O. BOX 800 • MT. MORRIS, IL 61054nnnIf political science is to be trulyn”practical,” then, its responsibility isnforemost to the existential nature ofnman as discrete creature, revealed bynhis relation to other men and to naturenitself as understood by rigorous philosophynand not merely as defined by thenmoment’s “science.” That is, it mustnsee the discrete person in relation to hisncomplex existence. An understandingnof human relationships is ill-served bynabstract renderings, as in statisticallynengineered models, whether of trafficnsystems or of housing systems. Thatnmanner of solution can be only ad hoc,nsince its principle has been divorcednfrom complex reality.nWe need only look to our ownnfailures in dealing with poverty, failuresn”scientifically” established by scholarsncompanionable in their thought to ProfessornSandoz. See, for instance,nGeorge Gilder’s Wealth and Povertyn(1981) or Charles Murray’s LosingnGround: American Social Policyn1950-1980 (1984). What we learnnfrom these books is that statistics indicatingntrends do not significantiy registernthe truth of how things stand in thenactual circumstances of human societyn— unless those statistics are governednby an understanding of how man himselfnstands out of his own nature, ofnhow he stands within the existentialncomplex we used to call “creation.”nThat complex has been “progressively”nreduced by the modernist spiritnthrough the desacralization of termsnlike nature until creation itself hasnbecome that amorphous fiction, thenenvironment.nThe virtue of Professor Sandoz’snnew book is that it recovers a realismnnecessary to our consideration of thenproblems of social order that are thenspecial province of the discipline callednpolitical philosophy. Sandoz recalls usnto known but forgotten truths, thenmost salient one being that our understandingnof what man is by his givennnature is operative always in our pursuitnof social order.nRobert Gonquest, asked to specifynwhat lessons for the West are to benlearned from the attempted coup bynMarxist hard-liners against Gorbachevnlast August, replied in part: “If you arena student, switch from political sciencento history.” What Professor Sandoznwould no doubt add is, “Switch to thenphilosophy of history.” n