The Purge and the Professors

Philosophers of social science have identified description, explanation, and evaluation as three distinct ways of assessing any historical phenomenon. If this triad is applied to Ellen Schrecker’s study of McCarthyism and American higher education, she earns high if not quite the highest marks for description, a solidly acceptable grade for overall evaluation, but not much more than a pass for explanation. She is excellent in telling us what happened, and her judgment that the whole exp...