Kelley Walker wrote:
> but this IS a form of functionalist explanation! no intentions on the part
> of individuals need be involved at all. i thought we covered this recently!?
>
Yoshie probably agrees. But I'm suspicious of functional explanations where the system is seen as policing itself. There's just way too much purpose behind all those unanticipated and unintended consequences, regardless of whether good or ill is involved. And why look for functions when it the intentions of college administrators and faculty can supply the desired explanation. I can only hear a Dean somewhere pronounce those sacred words: labor discipline. But as Perelman mentioned, academia is still infused with medieval stuff and working to the budget in the 15th century is gotta have spotty results.
DB