Life, 1910-10-20 · page 15 of 44
Life — October 20, 1910 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is satirical commentary on contemporary American philosophy and intellectualism. Life magazine humorously announces an "expedition" to capture "the Ultimate"—a deliberately vague philosophical concept—offering one million dollars as reward. The satire targets prominent intellectual and political figures of the era: Lyman Abbott (religious leader), Josiah Royce (Harvard philosopher), Hugo Munsterberg (psychologist), and President Taft. By assembling these luminaries alongside Pinkerton's Detective Agency to hunt an abstract philosophical concept, Life mocks the era's obsession with grand intellectual pursuits and the pretentiousness of American philosophy. The bottom illustration, "Where There's a Will," depicts a deathbed scene—reinforcing the satire's implication that such philosophical questing is ultimately futile and death-bound. The joke suggests these intellectual endeavors, despite serious intent, are fundamentally absurd pursuits.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: Going After the Ultimate One of the Greatest Expeditions of Modern Times Planned by Life Great Reward Offered. Help From All Quarters LYMAN ABBOTT DUSTING OFF THE ULTIMATE, (Note: to in the text. the artist.) This picture is not referred It is a little conceit of HIS is a wonderful announcement. It will be received by many with incredulity. But our name and reputa- tion are both behind it. After mature deliberation Lire has de- cided to send out a fully equipped ex- pedition after the Ultimate. Everything will be done to insure suc- cess. Dr. Lyman Abbott, Josiah Royce of Harvard, Hugo Munsterberg, Presi- dent Taft and Pinkerton’s Detective Agency are all with us. No expense will be spared. Our first thought was to send out after the Destiny of Man, but we concluded, on mature deliberation, that this could wait. There is also another reason. Once we get the Ultimate within our grasp, the Destiny of Man will naturally follow. Wherever there is an Ultimate you can always count on certain others being present. Every respectable Ult mate is always accompanied by a } lennium and surrounded by Morality and Ethics, to say nothing of Transcenden- talism and Being. Once get the Ultimate by its tail and everything worth while will be accom- plished. Lire will pay one million dollars in spot cash to the first one bringing the Ultimate to this office. It will first be submitted to a trained band of experts to see whether it is genuine or not. If genuine the money will be at once forth- coming. Everybody is cligible. ro THE, FANS