Re: BHA: Reality, existence, and the Santa Clause

[Colin Wight <Colin.Wight@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Hans,

Lets make it even clearer. And thinking about the TMSA. How does your
formulation differ from mine? Society can only systematically feed people
Santa stories, if there are agents who have certain beliefs to feed those
stories. Those stories exist on a discursive base. Otherwise, you posit a
society working 'behind the backs of its agents', I thought CR rejected
this view. I don't doubt BTW theat there are hidden mechanisms in society
(some market mechanisms may be one) that work to produce stories of Santa
that then lead to discourses and practices of Santa.

Still, nice to see some conceptual clarity entering the debate and I
presume we are now debating what the reality or otherwise of the discourses
and practices that surround the mythical Santa and not the white bearded
(or otherwise) old man. I think this point about conceptual clarity is
important because we can hardly chastise postmoderns, or others, for the
simplistic claims that 'language constitutes reality', if we don't practice
such clarity ourselves. Because, of course, if by reality you mean,
perhaps, 'understandings of reality' or 'transitive reality', then they may
have a point, but this is a whole different claim form the 'language
constitutes reality thesis' as is the claim that 'Santa is real' (which I
reject) differs from the calim that there are discourse and practices of
Santa (which I accept - however constituted).

Thanks,




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Colin Wight
Department of International Politics
University of Wales
Aberystwyth
Tel: (01970) 621769
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


     --- from list bhaskar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---