Go for it Larry!
>
> To have genetics simply abolish the issues surrounding the social
> construction of gender and sexuality would require resolving the debates
> concerning the social constructedness of "science." The idea that any
> special science can draw special authority from a fiction like
"scientific
> method" is a debatable product from the high tide of logical positivism.
Science is the spirit of our age , it does not claim to be spirit but
instead "fact" and "truth". But if our understanding of the biological
body is a fiction, or cultural truth, or sets of values and knowledges
positing and proclaiming
truth claims, which are really fictions. As one brought but to believe in
the en lightenment, i am always taken back by this revelation
Jeremiah
http://www.peak057.com/yourselfdown/
On Tue, 8 May 2001, Larry Chappell wrote:
> Date: Tue, 8 May 2001 11:18:25 -0000
> From: Larry Chappell <larchap@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Taylor, Sartre, and sexuality
>
> Rebecca:
>
> To have genetics simply abolish the issues surrounding the social
> construction of gender and sexuality would require resolving the debates
> concerning the social constructedness of "science." The idea that any
> special science can draw special authority from a fiction like "scientific
> method" is a debatable product from the high tide of logical positivism.
>
> I agree that debates get transformed by changes in scientific investigation.
> I do not think there is a general pattern to these transformations. What
> sort of discovery would falsify Foucault's claim that sexualities are not
> cultural invariant. Could genetics disprove Dover's claims about the unique
> character of male-male courtship patterns in ancient Greece? How would
> genetics deal with the indeterminability of gender in a case like the one
> Foucault explores in "Herculine Barbin"?
>
> For genetics to settle questions concerning the etiology of sexuality it
> would have to have some special purchase on the question WHAT a sexual
> identity is. Does it? If the answer is "yes," you are reading different
> geneticists than the ones I read.
>
> Larry
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rebecca Moskow" <rmoskow@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2001 3:00 PM
> Subject: Re: Taylor, Sartre, and sexuality
>
>
> > To a certain extent, yes, I am looking forward to it. But I'm interested
> in
> > more than the sociological implications. For example, last quarter I
> wrote
> > a paper that examined the implications of the increasingly small scale of
> > science (such as nanotechnology, mapping genomes, etc) for an ecological
> > feminist ethic of flourishing (based on Chris Cuomo, Feminims and
> Ecological
> > Communities: An Ethic of Flourishing, Routledge, 1998). I think that
> > students and theorists in all disciplines need to be more aware of the
> > interactions between scientific and other types of knowledge. For
> example,
> > consider the possible implications for theories regarding the social
> > construction of sexual orientation if we were to find conclusive evidence
> > regarding genetic propensity toward one orientation or another. Would
> > theories of social construction become irrelevant? I don't think so, but
> > they would need to be reconfigured to account for either the presence or
> > absence of a biologically deterministic element. And of course one must
> > also consider the implications for individuals and groups who operate
> > without an awareness or understanding of academic theory, which also
> > involves questions of scholarly responsibility ...
> >
> >
> > >Are you looking forward to this? or
> > >Are you interested in the sociological implications it will bring?
> > >
> > >>From: Rebecca Moskow <rmoskow@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > >>Reply-To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > >>To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > >>Subject: Re: Taylor, Sartre, and sexuality
> > >>Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 00:01:40 -0500
> > >>
> > >>This also bears on posts re. social/natural sciences:
> > >>Due to technological advances which make sex unnecessary for
> reproduction,
> > >>any arguments regarding sexual orientation and the
> continuation/extinction
> > >>of humanity are rendered irrelevant. And this is where I think social
> > >>sciences as well as philosophy must consider "natural" or "hard"
> sciences,
> > >>in terms of how science and scientific understanding do in fact
> materially
> > >>shape not only human experiences but also, to a certain extent, our
> > >>understandings of humanity itself. This leadds me to wonder how the
> > >>relevance, value, and implications of various older theories shift as
> > >>science and technology shift, particularly for those theorists who are
> > >>dead
> > >>and therefore unable to reevaluate their arguments in light of new
> > >>information/technology.
> > >>
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
> >
> >
>
>
> To have genetics simply abolish the issues surrounding the social
> construction of gender and sexuality would require resolving the debates
> concerning the social constructedness of "science." The idea that any
> special science can draw special authority from a fiction like
"scientific
> method" is a debatable product from the high tide of logical positivism.
Science is the spirit of our age , it does not claim to be spirit but
instead "fact" and "truth". But if our understanding of the biological
body is a fiction, or cultural truth, or sets of values and knowledges
positing and proclaiming
truth claims, which are really fictions. As one brought but to believe in
the en lightenment, i am always taken back by this revelation
Jeremiah
http://www.peak057.com/yourselfdown/
On Tue, 8 May 2001, Larry Chappell wrote:
> Date: Tue, 8 May 2001 11:18:25 -0000
> From: Larry Chappell <larchap@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Taylor, Sartre, and sexuality
>
> Rebecca:
>
> To have genetics simply abolish the issues surrounding the social
> construction of gender and sexuality would require resolving the debates
> concerning the social constructedness of "science." The idea that any
> special science can draw special authority from a fiction like "scientific
> method" is a debatable product from the high tide of logical positivism.
>
> I agree that debates get transformed by changes in scientific investigation.
> I do not think there is a general pattern to these transformations. What
> sort of discovery would falsify Foucault's claim that sexualities are not
> cultural invariant. Could genetics disprove Dover's claims about the unique
> character of male-male courtship patterns in ancient Greece? How would
> genetics deal with the indeterminability of gender in a case like the one
> Foucault explores in "Herculine Barbin"?
>
> For genetics to settle questions concerning the etiology of sexuality it
> would have to have some special purchase on the question WHAT a sexual
> identity is. Does it? If the answer is "yes," you are reading different
> geneticists than the ones I read.
>
> Larry
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rebecca Moskow" <rmoskow@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2001 3:00 PM
> Subject: Re: Taylor, Sartre, and sexuality
>
>
> > To a certain extent, yes, I am looking forward to it. But I'm interested
> in
> > more than the sociological implications. For example, last quarter I
> wrote
> > a paper that examined the implications of the increasingly small scale of
> > science (such as nanotechnology, mapping genomes, etc) for an ecological
> > feminist ethic of flourishing (based on Chris Cuomo, Feminims and
> Ecological
> > Communities: An Ethic of Flourishing, Routledge, 1998). I think that
> > students and theorists in all disciplines need to be more aware of the
> > interactions between scientific and other types of knowledge. For
> example,
> > consider the possible implications for theories regarding the social
> > construction of sexual orientation if we were to find conclusive evidence
> > regarding genetic propensity toward one orientation or another. Would
> > theories of social construction become irrelevant? I don't think so, but
> > they would need to be reconfigured to account for either the presence or
> > absence of a biologically deterministic element. And of course one must
> > also consider the implications for individuals and groups who operate
> > without an awareness or understanding of academic theory, which also
> > involves questions of scholarly responsibility ...
> >
> >
> > >Are you looking forward to this? or
> > >Are you interested in the sociological implications it will bring?
> > >
> > >>From: Rebecca Moskow <rmoskow@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > >>Reply-To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > >>To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > >>Subject: Re: Taylor, Sartre, and sexuality
> > >>Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 00:01:40 -0500
> > >>
> > >>This also bears on posts re. social/natural sciences:
> > >>Due to technological advances which make sex unnecessary for
> reproduction,
> > >>any arguments regarding sexual orientation and the
> continuation/extinction
> > >>of humanity are rendered irrelevant. And this is where I think social
> > >>sciences as well as philosophy must consider "natural" or "hard"
> sciences,
> > >>in terms of how science and scientific understanding do in fact
> materially
> > >>shape not only human experiences but also, to a certain extent, our
> > >>understandings of humanity itself. This leadds me to wonder how the
> > >>relevance, value, and implications of various older theories shift as
> > >>science and technology shift, particularly for those theorists who are
> > >>dead
> > >>and therefore unable to reevaluate their arguments in light of new
> > >>information/technology.
> > >>
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
> >
> >
>