> The point is that we
>have a kind of moral responsibility for the theories we entertain and
>espouse. This is not to suggest we deny any line of inquiry as too
>dangerous, but that we do not enter down certain paths too lightly,
>without considering a broader picture, and without demanding a high
>degree of evidence.
[of course there will be debates over what counts as evidence - but I also
want a lot of it. I remember G.Bateson, by the way, making fun of
folks like us. One of his students expressed Gregory's stance by
announcing emphatically, "Dadda! (pronounce Daddy with an "a" instead of "y"
ending) Dadda! I want my dadda!" -- there can also be debates over the
ethics of demanding evidence!]
Chuck goes on to say:
> In contemplating theories, which have a double-hermeneutic effect
>as Giddens might say in transforming social realities, it is worth
>thinking about whether the actually describe the world we daily live in
>or a world we might want to live in. It is often not too useful to
>advance theories to castigate the worlds we believe others live in but
>which we would not reflexively accept as the one we live--both because we
>of course can't escape the accounts we make, but also because we and
>others may come to believe and accept as reality and the justification
>for behaviors worlds we at firts found unrealistic and uninhabitable.
> We should face realities, but we also should not
>proliferate views that skew future realities.
>
--which is what I found elliptical. I appreciate the rejection of
theories that "castigate" and the reasons for it. I take it as a plea for
something other than an agonistic stance. Can I assume that it is not also
a plea to eliminate theories about conflictual relations between groups,
positions, etc? That is, anyway, how I prefer to read it.
Chuck concludes
>
>The indeterminacy and constructivist nature of theories should not only
>make us treat them lightly concerning their truth; it should also make us
>treat them very seriously, in their consequences.
It is necessarily an ongoing project, to become aware of and take
responsibility for the social & psychological
consequences of our representations. And then, trying to do so makes
it hard to treat our representations very lightly! What a
balancing act life is.
- Judy
Judy Diamondstone
diamonju who-is-at rci.rutgers.edu
Rutgers University