Marxism is a science

[James Heartfield]

In message <20011231184604.A18440 at panix.com>, Gordon Fitch 
<gcf at panix.com> writes

>Even if so the problem I mentioned would remain -- the world
>is not mindless, therefore a description of the world must
>include mentation _as_such_ (that is, not as mere descriptions
>of mechanical behavior), and those mentations must include
>the subjective experiences of the observers.

But that's just bizarre. Who would try to describe 'the world' in its 
entirety. Science is incapable of any such conceptualisation. Only 
religious thought could aspire to such absolute sweep.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that 'the world is not 
mindless'. Do you mean that there are thinking people in it, or that it 
is the idea of God? Taking the less grandiose to be the case I would 
suggest:

Any scientific approach would isolate those aspects of the world that it 
was investigating. So, when studying the chemical properties of a 
substance, you would set to one side its physical properties, or its 
property as an element of the biology of an organism. An experiment of 
course includes a laboratory, a scientist, some technicians, white coats 
etc.. But it is not an investigation of those things. Similarly it is 
not an investigation of mind. That is set aside in the experiment (into, 
say, lung cancer in beagles). When studying mind, by contrast, you would 
wish to set aside the merely peripheral questions, like cranial bumps.


>
>The gratuitous assumption of a mindless predecessor of the
>present world produces all sorts of difficulties, like the
>mind-body problem and the appearance of consciousness _ex_
>_nihilo_, which seem superfluous to me.  Why bother?  Unless
>you like that sort of thing, of course.

What you call the gratuitous assumption of a mindless predecessor is 
simply an act of abstraction, by which we can isolate one aspect of the 
world, i.e. the bits that are not mental.

As to the 'problems' that arise. 1. Mind-body problem plainly does not 
arise, it is set aside. 2. Appearance of consciousness 'ex nihilo': Big 
deal. All things appear ex nihilo. The human species, every other 
species, the Earth, the solar system. All things have a beginning.

Your 'it seems superfluous to me' and 'why bother' or 'only if you like 
that sort of thing' are fakes. You really disapprove of this operation, 
but want to pretend indifference. So what if it seems superfluous to 
you, might be the proper answer. The act of abstraction is the basis of 
advance in the sciences. If you want to opt out of that - though I 
suppose you will not opt out of its gifts - that's your loss. It is not 
Yoshie's subjective predilection to look at things in isolation, it is 
the first move in the development of the natural sciences.

-- 
James Heartfield
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