Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 09:07:44 +1000
From: Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan-AT-qut.edu.au>
Subject: Re: BHA: what's next


I will set about getting the book, Mervyn.  But why not contact Margaret 
herself and get her to come on the list for a brief specified period - say 
5 days- to answer questions about it. we could begin our discussions with 
her or build up to it.  I raised the possibi9lity of such a seminar with 
her at the conference and she was very agreeable to the idea.

regards

Gary


At 05:30  20/01/01 +0000, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>Ruth wrote:
> >what in the bejeezis are we going to do about breathing
> >some life back into our extremely quiet list?!  A good healthy discussion
> >about whether one can be a critical realist but not be a materialist?  A
> >return to RTS?  Or DPF?  Something else?  PON?  Any ideas?  Any takers?
>
>I suggest a reading and discussion of:
>
>Margaret S. Archer, Being Human: the Problem of Agency. Cambridge
>University Press, 2000. 323pp paperback 0 521 79564 8
>
>The third in a trilogy, this deals with the agential basis of her social
>theory. It is a big book in more than one sense, one that any (D)CR
>person will need to read no matter what their particular focus. This is
>what the blurb says:
>
>'Humanity and the very notion of the human subject are under threat from
>postmodernist thinking which has declared not only the 'Death of God'
>but also the 'Death of Man'. This book is a revindication of the concept
>of humanity, rejecting contemporary social theory that seeks to diminish
>human properties and powers. Archer argues that being human depends on
>an interaction with the real world in which practice takes primacy over
>language in the emergence of human self-consciousness, thought,
>emotionality and personal identity  - all of which are prior to, and
>more basic than, our acquisition of a social identity.'
>
>*Being Human* strikes some mighty blows against subjective (linguistic)
>idealism and social constructionism and would provide a platform for
>discussing just about anything within the (D)CR canon. Notwithstanding
>its appropriation of some marxist concepts (including 'the primacy of
>practice') I think the book is ultimately profoundly liberal in its
>worldview and helps to provide a window on the soul of the later
>Bhaskar.
>
>Our DPF reading clearly got somewhat bogged down. I think we should put
>it aside for a time - for dipping into now that we've digested a goodly
>chunk of it, rather than wading through - and focus on material that
>listers find more digestible. All the issues raised by the Bhaskarian
>canon could still be brought up. Though I think operating predominantly
>within the analytical problematic, Archer is beginning to nibble at
>dialectics...
>
>Unfortunately, I don't know the price of the book but it shouldn't be
>too much, being a paperback. We'd have to wait a bit for people to get
>copies... If listers wanted a more detailed idea of contents before
>deciding, I could provide that.
>
>Mervyn
>
>
>
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