Re: [Critical-Realism] thoughts, ideas and action

["Mark Johnson" <johnsonmwj1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

You also have to have the 'technical disposition' (i.e. skill, instruments
to hand, etc) to express yourself through writing at the appropriate moment.
The organisation of these practical things is, I suspect, more fundamental
than we often give it credit for. Instruments are not transparent vehicles
of communication - they are causal factors in the process - I think of
Beethoven's notebooks... Weakness of the will may simply be the absence of
the appropriate disposition to act - in other words, a lack of appropriate
organisation.

Also, where is the intentionality? in the head? Many artists would disagree
- technical, instrumentally-driven action, the enacting of routine habits,
etc can be a prelude to engaged critical reflection. Hence Picasso's famous
"I do not seek, I find". I bet there are quite a few philosophers who work
like that too.

Mark
On Dec 8, 2007 11:23 PM, Louis Irwin <louisirwin9@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Melanie,
>
> Quite apart from CR, it's not just the thought that you will write a
> sentence that could even tempt one to think it causes you to write - it is
> the intention to do so. Even so, we all know that we form intentions that
> we
> don't fulfill or even try to.  In  philosophy there is the problem of
> "weakness of will" (aka "incontinence", "akrasia") that has a long history
> back to Aristotle.  Some philosophers think that intentions have to cause
> the actions that lead to fulfillment (or at least attempts at fulfillment)
> -
> otherwise you could not properly be said to have the intention.  Others
> think there are gaps between intentions and actions.  John Searle has a
> discussion in his book "Rationality in Action".
>
> Louis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: critical-realism-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:critical-realism-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> m.mcdonald.10@xxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 11:22 PM
> To: critical-realism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [Critical-Realism] thoughts, ideas and action
>
> Hey there, I have a small query.
>
> I am having a bit of trouble reconciling two different things that Bhaskar
> has written about the relationship between thoughts, ideas, and action.
>
> In The philosophy of meta-Reality Volume 1: creativity, love and freedom
> (Vol. 1), Bhaskar writes about how "the paradigm of thinking leading to
> action is false" (footnote 18, page 82). I think the main point of this
> argument is that at some level of determinacy action must be spontaneous
> and
> 'unthought', and in leading to this point he argues that 'the thought of
> the
> action is not the cause of the action'. And yet in his article 'On the
> Ontological Status of Ideas', Bhaskar argues that ideas are real because
> they are causally efficacious (1997 p.143).
>
> Let me try to illustrate my point.
>
> I can have the thought "I will write a sentence to illustrate my point",
> which (from my perspective) actually  causes me to write a sentence to
> illustrate my point. Of course, the actual act of typing the sentence may
> be
> spontaneous and unthought, but without the initial thought or idea to
> write
> it, I really don't think I would have written it. In this sense, my
> thought
> or idea was causally efficacious, and yet in the philosophy of
> meta-Reality
> Bhaskar seems to be suggesting that thoughts do not cause action. Can you
> see what I am getting at? How do I reconcile this?
>
> Perhaps there is a subtle difference between what Bhaskar refers to when
> he
> speaks of 'thoughts' and the act of 'thinking', and what he refers to when
> he speaks of 'ideas'. I seem to use the words 'thought'
> and 'idea' interchangeably, for example, "I had a thought" or "I had an
> idea", in this respect, my referent for both 'thought' and 'idea' are the
> same. And yet, it appears that this may be different for Bhaskar.
>
> Hmmm, any ideas or thoughts?
>
> thanks,
> Melanie
>
> Melanie McDonald
> PhD Candidate
> School of Education
> Southern Cross University
> Lismore 2480 Australia
> _______________________________________________
> Critical-Realism mailing list
> Critical-Realism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Critical-Realism mailing list
> Critical-Realism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism
>
_______________________________________________
Critical-Realism mailing list
Critical-Realism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/critical-realism