The U.N. and its Critics

Extract

“Theologians, like metaphysicians,” an English friar observes in a recent treatise on political philosophy, “are particularly susceptible to the attractions of what has been called the linotype school of history. They can easily be found to argue … that if certain ideas are applied then they arc bound to produce certain results. If all men served justice there would be no social problems—if free trade were adopted the world would be economically balanced and stable—both arguments impose a hypothesis after much the same fashion.” This method, he continues, is legitimate but only within limits.