Subject: Re: Gaia, Kuhn and paradigms -Reply
From: Martin Owen (t.m.owen@bangor.ac.uk)
Date: Mon 17 Jan 2000 - 18:16:25 MET
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 17:16:25 +0000 From: Martin Owen <t.m.owen@bangor.ac.uk> Subject: Re: Gaia, Kuhn and paradigms -Reply
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Marc had a long essage on Saturdya about lack of "distinction in cutural
relativists". Forgive me Marc if I mis-read you however citing that JS
Bach or Newton were not cultural relativists etc and saying they did "good"
and asking "where are the achievments of cultural relativists?" is asking
the wrong question.
As a cultural relativist, I am not denying my own cultural experiences nor
am I not acting from my own cultural position. I am not culturally free...
it is an impossible state of affairs. No one person is "culturally
realtive". Aculturalism is a concept which is highly questionnable and
easily discarded by post modernist thought ( If that is what we are calling
it)
Acting to support a cultural mishmash is NOT what understanding relative
values and origins and teleology in cultures is all about. We are not
talking about taking Culture ( with a capital C... the kind of stuff we out
in concert halls and museums) and putting it in a blender. We are talking
about culture with a small "c" about lived lives: belief systems,
language, and the tools, systems and artifacts that go into shaping lived
lives.
In fact I tend to act in an entirely opposite way to the way you may seem
to expect someone like me to act. A lot of my work is about the promotion
of cultural diversity, and recognising values in all cultures, recognising
those cultures are historicaly and politically founded, and are not givens,
but things created by discourse amongst people through mediation systems
(language, cultural artifacts and systems).
So I have a strong identity in what I do (academic, teacher, researcher,
learning technologist, welshman, film fan, music lover, dysphasic). I know
that I construct what those identities are. I am aware of the "forces" that
have lead me to such a condition. I am aware that what I am is not a given
condition but arises from a socio-cultural system. This does not make me
any less of the kind of, say Welsh person I am, nor would it make me any
less of a composer or physicist.
Marc goes on to say:
"The fact is that unorthodox scientific
theories are often spurned by the scientific community, even though there is
no claim to absolute truth or divine inspiration anywhere in the debate.It
seems that academic politics, competition for tenure, and access to grant
money are just as often the enemies of creativity as religion."
and I think this is exaclty the point that those in the cult-rel camp are
trying to say. Science, like most belief systems, bends according to the
prevailing socio-cultural climate.
I reiterate look to the writing of Bruno Latour
try http://psg.com/~ted/vaninst/VbLatour.html
as a net source... otherwise lookat Amazon.com
Martin
Martin Owen
T.M.Owen@bangor.ac.uk
School of Education Yr Ysgol Addysg
University of Wales, Bangor Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor
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Bangor Bangor
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LL57 2PX
Voice/Llais +44 1248 382 943
Fax/Ffacs +44 1248 38 36 40
URL: http://weblife.bangor.ac.uk/rem/rem.html
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