Power

[Catherine Driscoll]

> My favored analogy is that of a dog  within an electric perimeter fence
> or on a retractable leash.  The dog is free to run as he pleases within
> the area encricled by the leash or the fence, but that area varies as
> the owner releases or retracts the leash.  The dog can even "negotiate"
> the length of the leash so some extent by interacting with the owner or
> may even break loose through the fence (as my friend's dog did)
> disregarding the negative feedback received in the form of
> electroshocks.  But in each of the cases, the dog's behavior is a
> function of constraints and freedom within those constraints, both being
> determined by situation and interaction in that situation.
> 
> In that light, the debate of free will versus determinism is that
> between an optimist and a pessimist about the volume of liquid in the
> proverbial bottle.

Aargh I hate this analogy.
But taking it as seriously as I possibly can (and you owe me for this)... why 
is the dog chained up, and what does the chain mean about either "dog" or the 
dog's experience of itself>

Catherine