Santayanan—Weberian Reason in Administration
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009631 |
| Published date | 01 January 1969 |
| Date | 01 January 1969 |
| Pages | 45-56 |
| Author | HARRY J. HARTLEY |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL
OF
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
45
VOLUME
VII,
NUMBER
1 MAY, 1969
Santayanan—Weberian Reason
in
Administration
HARRY
J. HARTLEY
The major purpose
is to
provide
a
philosophic basis
for the
study
and practice
of
educational administration.
An
explicit assump-
tion
is
that logical, propositional thought
is a
desirable prelude
to
action. Reason, which
is
defined
as an
organic harmony
of
impulses,
is
related
to
administration
via
three levels
of
discourse:
1)
philosophic values (WHY),
2)
hypothetico-deductive theory
(HOW),
and 3)
observed behavior (WHAT).
The
first level
is
defined
by the
discursive thought
of the
moral philosopher Santa-
yana.
His
definition
of
rational ethics provides
a
foundation
for
administrative-organizational theory
in
general,
and the
concept
of bureaucracy
in
particular.
The
second level includes Weber's
pure-type structural model that
has
rationality
as its
dominant
characteristic.
The
third level, administrative practice,
or
praxe-
ology,
is
portrayed
as a
derivative
of
rational thought. Current
approaches, including systems analysis
and
program budgeting,
are rooted
in the
union
of the
logic
of
Santayana's ethics
and
Weber's structural model
for
human groupings.
INTRODUCTION
Administrators are more likely to be men of action than men of
reflection, but the particularized acts of educational leaders are
dependent upon higher, more generalized levels of thought. The
purpose of this essay is to describe a philosophic basis for educa-
tional leadership and the premise is that for the administrator, his
raison d'être is raison. A formal organization is based upon a ration-
al framework, and the persons who provide leadership make
decisions within the contraints of human reason. It is necessary to
define, describe and classify the various components required of this
humanistic approach to administration: differentiated levels of
analysis, Santayana's reason as "harmony of impulses," Weber's
DR. HARRY
J.
HARTLEY
is
Head
of the
Division
of
Educational Admin-
istration
and
Supervision,
New
York University.
He is a
member
of the
American Economic Association,
Phi
Delta Kappa
and the
Society
for
General
Systems Theory.
Dr.
Hartley holds
the
degrees
of B.A., M.A. and
Ed.D..
He
is
the
author
of
numerous publications including Educational
Planning—Pro-
gramming—Budgeting:
A
Systems Approach. (Prentice-Hall, 1968.)
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