Functional Explanation Again

[Justin Schwartz]

I don't think there is an a priori rule as to when intentional-functional 
explanations are useful. For example, there is no question but that racist 
ideologies were intentionally promulgated by US, British, and South African 
elites in the 19th and early 20th centuries, in part with the idea of 
fighting communism. You can see this, e.g., in some Thomas Nast cartoons. 
Whether such an explanation is useful depends on the facts of the case, no? 
--jks


>
>I haven't read the above paper & intend to do so later, but could you
>tell me when you think intentional-functional explanations are useful
>& when you think they aren't?
>
>It seems to me that intentional-functional explanations aren't useful
>for explaining the origins & transformations of ruling-class &
>working-class racisms, for instance.  Intentional-functional
>explanations don't seem useful for explaining imperialism either.
>
>Yoshie

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