Re: [Marxism] Complexity Theory

[Peter McLaren <drpetermclaren@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Haines Brown wrote:
> I enter into all this because it hints at an approach that is entirely
> contrary to positivism. In particular, thinking of things in terms of
> the causal relation of processes carries with it a probabilistic
> causality and also implies the reality of unobservables, both of which
> contradicts positivism at its most fundamental level.
>
> --  
>
>        Haines Brown, KB1GRM
>
>       
>
>
Response:
Recently I was asked to deliver on short notice a talk on Che Guevara  
and Complexity Theory at a conference in Tijuana. This came at the  
end of a  two week course I taught at the University of Tijuana, and  
I was in the middle of a bout of walking pneumonia.
The keynote was from Barcelona (I cant find the program so I cant get  
his name) but I remember he was the head of an Edgar Morin Society. I  
wasn't there when he apparently bashed Marxism for its theory of  
determinism. I am not really familiar with complexity theory, but  
managed to cobble together something for the conference. Fortunately  
I had Daniel Bensaid's Marx for Our Times with me, and he has a  
chapter on complexity, etc, which helped me. The person that should  
have been speaking in my stead is Haines Brown. I wish I had some of  
your work, Haines, with me, at the time. It would have helped me.  
Fortunately for me, the participants who came to my talk were more  
interested in Che than in complexity theory. Not sure how much I want  
to pursue complexity theory, but I find your posts very interesting.
best
Peter
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