As a biologist, [Salk] believes that his science is on the frontier of tremendous new discoveries; and as a philosopher, he is convinced that humanists and artists have joined the scientists to achieve an understanding of man in all his physical, mental and spiritual complexity. Such interchanges might lead, he would hope, to a new an important school of thinkers he would designate as biophilosophers…. The institute also needs another $1-million annually in operating funds if Dr. Salk is to carry out his ambitious plan for the creation of a kind of Socratic academy where the supposedly alienated two cultures of science and humanism will have a favorably atmosphere for cross-fertilization.
Biophilosophy and modern medicine (Howard Taubman, New York Times)
Dr. Salk, a creative man himself, hopes that the institute will do its share in probing the wisdom of nature and thus help enlarge the wisdom of man. For the ultimate purpose of science, humanism, and the arts, in his judgment, is the freeing of each individual to cultivate his full creativity, in whichever direction it leads.
For more information on The Salk Institute, see here.
For a history of the Institute by Suzanne Bourgeois, a Founding Director, see here.
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