ABSTRACT
In this concluding part of this book, the author has assembled a number of chapters which are best considered “chips” from a scholarly workshop: theoretical and empirical studies which he did not complete but think are worth pursuing. Today's young Germans are the unwitting legatees of a history whose many liabilities culminated in an orgy of destruction. There are at least two other sides to this sobering thought. The first is theoretical. Great gains in comprehension, steadfastness and humility can be achieved when we do not shrink from this consequence of the doctrine of cultural relativism. The second side of thinking about tradition as both enabling and disabling is perhaps more practical and pedagogic. If Germany exemplifies the cumulative impact of historical liabilities, the United States exemplifies the cumulative impact of good fortune.
