http://www.sellingwaves.com/2007/05/19/literary-theorists-try-once-again-to-capture-the-flavor-of-the-day/ A graduate student in mathematics and a modern languages major take on politics and culture with the following aspirational motto: ‘Deregulate your mind.’ Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:28:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2007/05/19/literary-theorists-try-once-again-to-capture-the-flavor-of-the-day/#comment-59610 Curt Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:23:59 +0000 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2007/05/19/literary-theorists-try-once-again-to-capture-the-flavor-of-the-day/#comment-59610 <p>Maybe, maybe not, but this idea is definitely not the same as Cartesian introspection, at least as I understand it. An analogy might be how some scientists still claim that relativistic and quantum physics did not really supplant Newtonian physics, they merely supplemented it. The idea is that they only distinguish themselves from the latter in special circumstances out beyond the edges of ordinary observation. But as Kuhn pointed out, maybe Newtonian physics remains valid as a set of equations which can be used for ordinary situations, but when formulated it was intended as a universally valid description of physical properties, not as some special case of a wider theory. So in other words the later theories did not just knowledge in new areas, they restructured the model of the universe as a whole. Similarly, even if one abandons the idea that there might be some unfiltered, objective "empirical" view of oneself and the world, that doesn't mean that one can automatically return to the Cartesian view that introspection offers a line of thought both distinct from and transcendent of ordinary knowledge. In fact, quite the opposite, if one accepts that all thought and perception go alike through this common structure of mental processing.</p> Maybe, maybe not, but this idea is definitely not the same as Cartesian introspection, at least as I understand it. An analogy might be how some scientists still claim that relativistic and quantum physics did not really supplant Newtonian physics, they merely supplemented it. The idea is that they only distinguish themselves from the latter in special circumstances out beyond the edges of ordinary observation. But as Kuhn pointed out, maybe Newtonian physics remains valid as a set of equations which can be used for ordinary situations, but when formulated it was intended as a universally valid description of physical properties, not as some special case of a wider theory. So in other words the later theories did not just knowledge in new areas, they restructured the model of the universe as a whole. Similarly, even if one abandons the idea that there might be some unfiltered, objective “empirical” view of oneself and the world, that doesn’t mean that one can automatically return to the Cartesian view that introspection offers a line of thought both distinct from and transcendent of ordinary knowledge. In fact, quite the opposite, if one accepts that all thought and perception go alike through this common structure of mental processing.

]]> http://www.sellingwaves.com/2007/05/19/literary-theorists-try-once-again-to-capture-the-flavor-of-the-day/#comment-59569 Putzele Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:33:06 +0000 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2007/05/19/literary-theorists-try-once-again-to-capture-the-flavor-of-the-day/#comment-59569 <p>Descartes would have approved the first part very much I guess...</p> Descartes would have approved the first part very much I guess…

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