Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 11:40:45 +1000 (EST)
From: Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan-AT-qut.edu.au>
Subject: Re: BHA: An Open Question


A
>The invocation of absence in this context does seem to me to undermine any
>simplistic correspondence notion of truth, but I think it also tends to
>confirm my original suspicions that any a priori definition of rules of
>judgment as to what constitutes a satisfactory explanation (and therefore,
>on an alethic definition, truth itself) is also impossible. Any theory which
>depends on absence in order to determine what constitutes a satisfactory
>explanation cannot be concrete, cannot prescribe in advance the nature of
>the absence, since doing that turns the absence into a presence. (Note that
>in all of this I am working with an intuitive notion of absence, since I
>have never been able to summon the courage to tackle Dialectic, so I could
>be completely off the Bhaskarian mark).
>
>To take an example. On what grounds could we be led to prefer a Marxist
>explanation of capitalist social relations as exploitative to the liberal
>contention that market equals individual freedom? The relevant absence in
>this case would seem to me to be the alternative to capitalism that Marxism
>envisages. We would be more likely to agree that capitalism was exploitative
>if we could see that socialism was not. But there is no socialism that
>exists that can allow us to draw this conclusion. It must be imagined and
>created. It will be true only to the extent that we are capable of bringing
>it into being. It will thus be the ability (in part at least) to unabsent
>socialism that will allow people to rationally judge the Marxist argument
>that capitalism is exploitative. This is concrete, practical work (though
>with an important theoretical dimension) rather than abstract logical
>deduction. 
>
>Howie Chodos


Howie,

Apologies for not getting back to you on this.  I am working on the second
post for aesthetics and also on setting up the reading group.  At present we
are on Ch 5 Reclaiming Reality.  If you have time could you take a look at
this chapter esp pages 82-88 and within this epecially, especially 86 & 87.
I will be replying to you with these in mind and it would be good if we
could work through these pages together.

regards

Gary



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