Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 20:45:05 -0700
Subject: Re: Paralogy in psychology looong story


Hi,
Ok how  has "paralogy" been used ?  There was a  "collaborative"
'postmodern"
community list (mftcl) to which at one time I was a member of and the only
identified
"consumer".  To make a very long story short a woman (therapist) who self
identified herself as lesbian wrote the community and asked for support in
writing
a television station after being away on a weekend getaway and
turning the family channel on tv and seeing a commercial which portrayed
lesbian women pushing their children in strollers as a threat to the
american
canadian family.  Shortly thereafter a few orthodox jewish members of the
list
and some christian counselors asked for tolerance for anti-glbt positions. A
growing
discussion took off where more and more moral condemnation and biblical
references
were being voiced to the sinfulness of glbt and question as to their being
'ok" fitness
 to be parents.  There were also people who were supportive to glbt the
majority who
value the practice of  paralogy.  One of the rules of paralogy  is that you
have to
understand how some one comes to beliefs like glbt are sinful and ask
respectful questions
and present agonistic challenge to those beliefs at the same time. This lead
to further and further
elaboration and more biblical citing and more people joining in serious
consideration of
the worth and value of glbt sexuality.
Ultimately glbt asked people who wanted to keep drawing understanding of
how someone comes to these beliefs and engage in paralogical arguing with
them to stop or take the discussion off the list.
GLBT were told they were the needed other for "our paralogy" and those who
didn't care for this paralogy were judged and storied as "morally wrong".
Eventually those who value this idea of paralogy formed another list
where you can read all of what they are saying about it at the following
web site http://www.california.com/~rathbone
As a "consumer" and another "needed other" of paralogy, quite frankly I
think it sucks.
My sense is that due to the claims of collaborative therapy those reading
and interpreting and
teaching paralogy, Lyotard and its listening practice "generous listening" ,
also claimed
to be inspired by Lyotard, are engaged in a very different kind of  reading
of Lyotard
than my sense is of what I've seen here.
Hope this helps more or the web site does.
Just as an aside many consumers, glbt and those who are often the "needed
others"
are not finding paralogy desirable. Those who are developing this practice
also
claim to be collaborative with the people who come to see them, and non
expertise.
The list where this is being built and built and growing in its being picked
up by
collaborative therapists, however does not allow consumer input. It's
a professional only community of therapists and philosophers (don't think
there
are any there actually) and academics.