Study Notes on Drucker’s Eight Articles

Chapter 1
Notes on “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard”
Chapter Theme
When Drucker first read Kierkegaard, he was not yet 19 years old. He published “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard” in 1949 when he was 40. He included the article at the end of Men, Ideas, and Politics in 1971. In 1992, Drucker again used the article as the last chapter of The Ecological Vision and wrote an introduction to it. This part is titled “Why Society Is Not Enough?”.
In a letter responding to Rosabeth Kanter, among others, Drucker said his intellectual ancestry could not be traced to the sociologist Max Weber but to Søren Kierkegaard—someone Weber had probably never even read. He intended to correct a misconception: some people believed that Drucker, as a management scholar, focused on society alone in his whole life and therefore knew little about human nature or religion. Drucker said that his life’s work began with the lessons learned from Kierkegaard: to safeguard society, society alone is not enough.
In a 1992 introduction to “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard,” Drucker said the article was “written out of despair.” For firstly, it was conceived, written, and published during World War II, a time when humanity had fallen into profound despair. Secondly, one of the article’s themes is the exploration of the spiritual roots of the general despair then pervading society. Finally, the article aimed to clarify the faith tradition to which Kierkegaard belonged, thereby reaffirming hope.
Like Drucker’s other best writings, this article has a dual theme: while discussing faith, he diagnoses totalitarianism. He doesn’t intend to give a textbook definition and answer to the question “What is faith?” Instead, by dissecting totalitarianism, Drucker helps readers realize what faith is not and what poses a threat to it. Moreover, he wants readers to understand that the forces that endanger faith also threaten human existence. It would have been difficult for readers in the 20th century to regain their faith through a theological treatise prattling about faith. But they did keenly feel the pain of the existential crisis brought about by totalitarianism. And, in the starkest way, Drucker’s diagnosis of totalitarianism presents the pain. This is not metaphysics or empty talk, but actual lived experience. Only through authentic
lived experience can modern readers, who have long accustomed to disparaging, despising and disdaining faith, truly realize that what they need is not to judge faith as outsiders but to rebuild their connection with faith as unique individuals. Cutting off the faith dimension from existence is actually the spiritual cause of totalitarianism’s rise.
The entire article is based on an insight derived from Kierkegaard: it is a basic fact that human lives in the constant tension between time and eternity. Faith is not a system, a conclusion, or a dogma, but a persistent experience in constant tension. Every person lives as a unique individual in the tension between time and eternity. The individual can neither break free from existence in time nor rely entirely on time to survive. In the temporal realm, he experiences hope at every moment, but at every moment despair shatters all his hopes; yet at any moment he may take a leap to experience the hope of connecting with eternity. He must experience all this personally, and all alone. This is what Kierkegaard described as faith as lived experience in works like Fear and Trembling. Reading this book for the first time at 19, Drucker immediately knew that something had happened to him. Through Kierkegaard, Drucker found that he not only existed in society but also in the tension between time and eternity. It was not Kierkegaard’s theory that convinced Drucker, but Kierkegaard’s writing helped Drucker put what he had personally experienced into words. Kierkegaard’s masterpiece put actual life experience into language. And Drucker believed that what Kierkegaard described was the basic fact of human existence.
That it’s a basic fact means that people cannot choose to accept or abandon it based on their likes or dislikes. Living in tension is a fact, and man can only accept it, for only by accepting it does he become a human. Here is the core question that concerns religious thinkers like Kierkegaard: How is human existence possible?
Drucker found that the most influential modern thinkers had by inadvertent consensus evaded this question and replaced it with another one: How is society possible? The issue is not that people are ever more eager to focus on society, but that they are more and more inclined to focus on society alone. Various theories, systems, and courses of action had been developed based on society as the only dimension. Although the specific proposals of Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx differ significantly, they all seek to create an illusion for believers. That is, through their own efforts, human beings can create a perfect society and perfect themselves within the confines of time. In Drucker’s view, all these man-made systems and programs obscure and deny the basic fact: Man exists in the constant tension between time and eternity. The eternal dimension of human existence is covered over—all the newest theories hold that humans are purely social animals. Followers of these theories were caught in misunderstanding of existence, with general despair as its most disastrous outcome, which Drucker saw in the 20th century.
The most striking part of this article is Drucker’s analysis of despair.
In the tension between time and eternity, man must experience despair as a unique individual, yet in despair he may also take a leap as a unique individual. That is exactly the biblical Abraham experienced in Fear and Trembling. But the general despair of the 20th century was different. Drucker found that the widespread hopelessness in that period stemmed precisely from the desire to escape despair. New theories focused on salvation by society, without a single exception, aimed to instill optimism in people. According to these theories, eternity is not any longer a concern for human. People optimistically believe there is a perfect solution and, on accepting the solution, human beings will continue to progress and ultimately reach perfection. Such beliefs are seductive because they instill in people a sense of power they never had—a sense of power as a member of the human race. At the same time, those theories help people temporarily escape loneliness—the loneliness of facing despair as unique individuals. In Kierkegaard’s diagnosis, man does everything he can to evade the burden of individuality. He is willing to believe in any empty promise of optimism to escape that burden. As a result, the 20th century was rife with optimistic promises of human progress and social salvation, and general optimism of every kind. Optimistic promises and moods temporarily spare people from facing eternity and despair alone. But promises to build the kingdom of heaven in the temporal world are never realized. More importantly, those who do not wish to face eternity and despair alone still have to face death alone.
People eventually find out that what they’ve relied on to escape is unreliable, and what they hope to evade is inescapable. However, those hypnotized by the promises and moods of optimism have never prepared themselves for that eventuality. Almost instantaneously, they fall from blind optimism into an abyss of despair. And there is no leap out of that abyss. Those who forget the dimension of eternity, either through concealment or deception, don’t know that there is a leap they can make. By severing the tension between time and eternity, people fall into despair in the illusory optimism of the time dimension. And totalitarianism is simply a straw people grasp at when they experience despair in the temporal dimension and do not know what eternity is. That is Drucker’s first great insight….

Chapter 1
Notes on “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard”
Chapter Theme
When Drucker first read Kierkegaard, he was not yet 19 years old. He published “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard” in 1949 when he was 40. He included the article at the end of Men, Ideas, and Politics in 1971. In 1992, Drucker again used the article as the last chapter of The Ecological Vision and wrote an introduction to it. This part is titled “Why Society Is Not Enough?”.
In a letter responding to Rosabeth Kanter, among other...

Preface

Shao Minglo’s compilation, To Know the Real Drucker: Eight Articles Will Help You, has been published by the MLA Publishing Co., Ltd. This book comprises research and study notes for the eight articles selected by Mr. Shao. These notes are not an “authoritative” interpretation of Drucker’s articles but rather the author’s personal perceptions, for which he takes full responsibility.
First, a word about the author’s affinity for Drucker and the study of his works.
I went from undergraduate to PhD studies at a decent university and soon after began teaching at another university. I taught what I had studied: ancient Chinese literature. I love The Book of Songs, Zhuangzi, Records of the Grand Historian, The Poetry of Tao Yuanming, and The Poetry of Du Fu, and I teach related courses, making a living doing what I love. It has been a pleasant and fulfilling career path.
After working within the system for several years and observing world affairs as a bystander, my interest expanded from ancient literature to modern times. I studied the works of modern Chinese writers such as Zhang Taiyan, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Gu Hongming, Shen Zengzhi, Yan Fu, Wang Guowei, Lu Xun, Ma Yifu, Hu Shi, and Feng Youlan. While reflecting on modern history, I became curious about totalitarianism’s different trajectories and conditions in the East and the West, and out of curiosity, I read books by several modern Western philosophers. As regards totalitarianism and human destiny, I found that the diagnoses and thinking of generations of Western philosophers such as Dostoyevsky, Thomas Mann, William James, C. S. Lewis, and Eric Voegelin differed vastly from those of contemporary Chinese literati. I had long been accustomed to modern Chinese definitions, assumptions, and discussions of specific issues. Abruptly exposed to an entirely different understanding, I was shocked. I felt great doubt, great joy, and great sorrow—the narratives I had always regarded as correct were suddenly being challenged. My great uncertainty: Who was right and who was wrong? In my doubt and anxiety, I wasn’t sure who spoke the truth. My great joy: I was delighted to find that there were rich, profound intellectual resources other than Chinese clichés such as “national salvation,” “enlightenment,” “wealth and power,” and “freedom.” The far-reaching thoughts of those Western sages could help me understand current affairs and the world around me. My great despair: according to the insights of those learned men, totalitarianism is not a long-departed threat but is, in fact, imminent. Modern people bicker endlessly at a fork in the road, completely unaware of the all-devouring abyss at their feet.
In the years before and after turning 40, I became immersed in the world of Western philosophy and fiction. By chance, I encountered Drucker. One day, a student acquaintance gave me two small books, The Last of All Possible Worlds and The Temptation to Do Good, both written by Peter Drucker. The student said she found the works interesting but did not understand them. My impression after reading them for the first time was the same as hers: I thought they were interesting, but it was also unclear to me what they were saying. After several more readings, I found that the themes the novelist dealt with paralleled those of great novelists such as Dostoyevsky and Thomas Mann. Drucker used the novelistic form to study the destruction of beauty and freedom, the demonic nature of the modern world, and faith and nothingness. How had I previously missed such a superb novelist? Out of guilt, I sought out information on Drucker and collected his writings however I could. As it turned out, he was an internationally regarded management scientist and business management guru.
I still remember the shock of reading The End of Economic Man, The Future of Industrial Man, Landmarks of Tomorrow, The Ecological Vision, A Functioning Society, and Adventures of a Bystander. Drucker’s discussions centered on themes I had encountered in the works of other Western philosophers and novelists: the diagnosis of totalitarianism and the path to salvation.
I took notes while researching Drucker. It was through these notes that I was able to connect with like-minded individuals and entrepreneurs who admired Peter Drucker. Moreover, I could share my understanding of Drucker’s work with my entrepreneurial friends.
That’s how I met Shao Minglo. Mr. Shao edited Drucker on Totalitarianism and Salvation by Society. After reading that book, I knew that, although all my other acquaintances in the business world were excellent entrepreneurs, his understanding of Drucker was different from theirs. Beginning in 2018, Mr. Shao embarked on plans to select articles from Peter Drucker’s extensive writings in order to present his management philosophy’s core beliefs and values in a single volume. Five articles were originally planned, but after several revisions, eight were chosen. The articles include“The Unfashionable Kierkegaard” (1949) and an introduction to that work (1993); “The New Worldview” (1957); “From Analysis to Perception: A New Worldview” (1989); “Reflections of a Social Ecologist” (1993); “A Functioning Society” (1942); “From Rousseau to Hitler” (1942); “The Human Condition Today” (1957); and “Management as a Social Function and Liberal Art” (1989).
Mr. Shao organized a reading community centered on the eight articles, and I was fortunate to take part. During the joint readings and discussions, I benefited greatly from the other participants’ insights. This book comprises study notes that grew out of our readings and research.
I placed the study notes on the eight articles in this book’s“inner chapters.” The five “miscellaneous” essays in the “outer chapters” are records of my sharing Drucker’s thoughts on various occasions in recent years. They were not written in response to the eight articles but also involve the issues that those articles address: freedom and responsibility’s basis in faith. Several of the five articles were written earlier, when I was studying Plato, Dostoevsky, Thomas Mann, and Elias Canetti but was not yet aware of Drucker’s work. After encountering Drucker’s writings, I discovered that the issues which had preoccupied earlier thinkers serendipitously coincided with his concerns. In recent years, I’ve tried to read his complete works and have been pleasantly surprised to find that he often mentions the intellectual elders with whom I am already familiar.
Those who’ve read To Know the Real Drucker: Eight Articles Will Help You can peruse this book’s “inner chapters” at leisure. Although they are interpretations of the eight articles, the readings may be more complex and difficult than the original texts. That’s because some of the complicated discussions were sparked by vexing problems we encountered, and therefore it could be otherwise. Moreover, much of the wordiness and difficulty are due to my limitations as an author and were likewise unavoidable. What I must explain and apologize to readers for is that the“chapter theme” of each of the miscellaneous essays is actually the “interpretation” in To Know the Real Drucker. In that book, their function is to briefly introduce each article’s context and significance. In this work, however, they serve to elicit deep, far-reaching discussions. After lengthy consideration, I didn’t avoid repetition but allowed the interpretations to play different roles in different contexts.
Lovers of literature may wish to browse the “miscellaneous essays” first. Several of the great novels mentioned there may prove of interest.
Another approach is to start with the “inner chapters” appendices to this book. Mr. Shao includes questions for readers at the beginning of three of the eight articles in To Know the Real Drucker (“The Unfashionable Kierkegaard,” “The New Worldview,” and “Reflections of a Social Ecologist”). I have attempted to answer all the questions included in two of those chapters. This question-and-answer model can be seen as cross-time and space spiritual communication among Peter Drucker, Shao Minglo, and me.
One journey’s end is another’s beginning. Thus it is noted.

Preface

Shao Minglo’s compilation, To Know the Real Drucker: Eight Articles Will Help You, has been published by the MLA Publishing Co., Ltd. This book comprises research and study notes for the eight articles selected by Mr. Shao. These notes are not an “authoritative” interpretation of Drucker’s articles but rather the author’s personal perceptions, for which he takes full responsibility.
First, a word about the author’s affinity for Drucker and the study of his works.
I went from under...

Preface 008
Inner Chapters “Eight Articles” Study: A Functioning Society and Totalitarianism
Chapter1 Notes on “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard”
Chapter Theme 016
Main Thread 027
Spiritual Perspectives and Modern Preconceptions 065
Study Links 080
Chapter 2 Notes on “The New Worldview”
Chapter Theme 083
Main Thread 094
Why Rethink Descartes? 104
Returning to Teleology—What Kind of Teleology? 125
Study Links 150
Chapter 3 Notes on “From Analysis to Perception: The New Worldview”
Chapter Theme 153
A Critique of Pure Perception 164
Chapter 4 Notes on “Reflections of a Social Ecologist”
Chapter Theme 171
Tension: A Social Ecologist’s Method of Observation 177
Science, Social Science, and Social Ecology 186
Thomas Kuhn and The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 189
Key Concepts in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 193
Kuhn’s Methodology and the Social Sciences 205
Kuhn’s Concerns and Drucker’s Concerns 212
Chapter 5 Notes on “What Is a Functioning Society?”
Chapter Theme 217
Chapter 6 Notes on “From Rousseau to Hitler”
Chapter Theme 266
Main Thread 273
Rationalism and Totalitarianism 313
Study Links 321
Chapter 7 Notes on “The Human Condition Today”
Chapter Theme 324
Main Thread 333
Chapter 8 Notes on “Management as a Social Function and Liberal Art”
Chapter Theme 341

Appendix 1 On Reading “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard”: 19 Questions 348
Appendix 2 Ten Questions and Answers Regarding Reading “The New Worldview” 385

Outer Chapters Freedom and Totalitarianism: The World’s Possibilities
The Atlantean Sailor: Notes on Reading Peter Drucker 402
The Unfashionable Drucker: Drucker in an Axial Era 438
Discovering Responsibility in the Midst of Life: Peter Drucker as a Novelist 462
The Foundation and Crisis of Government: Peter Drucker’s Political Vision 496
Freedom, Responsibility, and Worldview: Peter Drucker’s Social Order 509
Results and Self-assertion: Reading Managing for Results 546

Preface 008
Inner Chapters “Eight Articles” Study: A Functioning Society and Totalitarianism
Chapter1 Notes on “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard”
Chapter Theme 016
Main Thread 027
Spiritual Perspectives and Modern Preconceptions 065
Study Links 080
Chapter 2 Notes on “The New Worldview”
Chapter Theme 083
Main Thread 094
Why Rethink Descartes? 104
Returning to Teleology—What Kind of Teleology? 125
Study Links 150
Chapter 3 Notes on “From Analysis to Perception: The New Worldview”
Chapt...