Whoops.....here are the other attachments...

On Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 9:42 AM JOHN TORDAY <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear Gregg and ToKers, I appreciate the effort to develop the ToK/UTUA
> system. However, you know that I think that this is merely extending the
> existing synchronic paradigm of tautologies and teleologies. The French
> Physiologist Etienne Roux has recently addressed the teleologic nature of
> physiology being described based on function, but doesn't offer an
> alternative, but I have offered a paradigm shift that would eliminate such
> Just So Stories, as I have said repeatedly. No doubt there were those who
> denied that the Earth is round (there are those who believe it to this
> day), but that would not have led to the WWW, for example, and me
> communicating with y'all in this mode. I have expressed the advantage of
> seeing our evolution from its unicellular origins (see attached), and have
> inserted that mechanism into your ToK 'map' at the Joint Points with
> explanations at each 'level' (see attached). I am sure that the ToK
> membership will feel much more comfortable with the descriptive
> perspective, but beware the downside of doing the same thing over and over
> again, expecting a different outcome. We must stop the insanity of
> destroying the planet, thinking that we have an exit strategy. And CRISPR
> and AI are just as absurd IMHO. I welcome your criticisms. Best, John
>
> On Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 8:27 AM Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Hi List,
>>
>>   Central to the ToK and larger UTUA project is the claim that our
>> language/communication systems break down into relative incoherence as we
>> shift from the natural sciences (i.e., physics into chemistry into biology)
>> into psychology and the social sciences. The evidence for this claim is
>> found in “the problem of psychology” which is the fact that the problem of
>> psychology’s definition and subject matter delineation has never been
>> solved.
>>
>>
>>
>>   My hope is one of the key pieces of foundational agreement for the TOK
>> Society is to both understand this central fact, and why it is the case.
>> The FACT that it is the case can be found in the fact that if there is
>> anything psychologists agree on it is that there is not conceptual
>> agreement that allows us to draw a circle around the center of the
>> discipline. That is, unlike biology and physics, there is no subject matter
>> center for the field. That is TRULY remarkable if you think about it.
>>
>>
>>
>> Why is this the case? According to the ToK and larger UTUA framework, the
>> reason is in large part because modern Western Philosophical traditions
>> attempted to solve the mind/matter philosophical conundrum in terms of a
>> reductive/deductive foundationalism into either (a) matter; (b)
>> mind/idealism or (c) both. This was a grave mistake. What is needed,
>> according to the ToK is a naturalistic systemic metaphysics, rather than a
>> reductive/deductive foundationalist approach.
>>
>>
>>
>>   Two attachments are shared to make this point. The first attachment is
>> of a summary of a newly released book on humanistic psychology. I share it
>> because it attempts to proclaim that psychology is (or should be) defined
>> as the inner lived experience of persons. The “contained subjectivity” that
>> is available only via introspection. And, BTW, would be lined up with much
>> of what the representational qualia theory is concerned with, if you have
>> been following the thread on consciousness between Brent, John and me. Of
>> course, from my perspective this claim is deeply problematic for a host of
>> reasons. If we take it seriously, it would mean observing a conversation
>> between two people would not be “human psychology” because we would not see
>> inside their heads. This is the logical/conceptual problem that the concept
>> of mental behavior avoids.
>>
>>
>>
>>   The second attachment is a summary of a 2014 book by the philosopher
>> Lawrence Cahoone from his book *Orders of Nature*. Although we developed
>> our visions and arguments completely separately, we came to a very similar
>> conclusion, made particularly clear in his depiction of his vision of the
>> orders of nature on p 91 and shared in the ppt. I COMPLETELY agree with
>> Cahoone that the task of natural philosophy is to develop a systematic
>> metaphysical picture that sets the stage for a shared language system.
>>
>>
>>
>>   Together I hope these two attachments demonstrate the point. Psychology
>> is hopelessly floundering around because there is no scientific
>> *conceptual* system that can anchor it and that is up to the task of
>> dealing with the complexity of the objective, subjective, and
>> intersubjective dimensions of human experience. And the Cahoone book shows
>> us why: Modern Western Philosophy was misguided in its focus on a
>> Foundationalist Deductive-Reductive ultimate metaphysics and instead should
>> have been systemic metaphysics that afforded the sciences from quantum
>> mechanics to sociology a coherent descriptive ontology that would allow for
>> an effective, consilient language system. The absence of such a ToK-like
>> system is at the root of the profound confusion and fragmented pluralism
>> that characterizes the current state of the social sciences. And it means
>> with the ToK, we can finally solve the problem and start to bring clarity
>> to the confusion.
>>
>>
>> Best,
>> Gregg
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ___________________________________________
>>
>> Gregg Henriques, Ph.D.
>> Professor
>> Department of Graduate Psychology
>> 216 Johnston Hall
>> MSC 7401
>> James Madison University
>> Harrisonburg, VA 22807
>> (540) 568-7857 (phone)
>> (540) 568-4747 (fax)
>>
>>
>> *Be that which enhances dignity and well-being with integrity.*
>>
>> Check out my Theory of Knowledge blog at Psychology Today at:
>>
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.psychologytoday.com_blog_theory-2Dknowledge&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=NASLpCWBtaZFwoeMgFYYVgeGTjS6cBsf2T6bEOEOIpk&s=6YbU8SJTtyRhfWFmlurCdFvcmRTE05aLXeu9bPNa50g&e=
>>
>>
>> ############################
>>
>> To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to:
>> mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the
>> following link:
>> http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1
>>
>

############################

To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1