Explananda Re: Psycho-sexual explanation

andie nachgeborenen andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com
Sat Mar 29 17:52:57 PST 2003



>
>Learn to read Yoshie. I was offering those feelings, etc. as explananda.

The term "psycho-sexual explanations," however, suggests that what is being advocated is the use of "psycho-sexual" matters as explanans. Besides, no one here is objecting to the use of what is said to be "psycho-sexual" matters -- feelings about abortion, motherhood, etc. -- as explananda. We are objecting to the idea of the "psycho-sexual" as explanans.

* * * Who we, Yoshie? You and the other mechanical Marxists? No oneelse has chimed on on that, so better stick to the first person singular. Yes, I think some phenomena, including psychosexual ones, have psychosexual explanations. The P/S aspects are not the complete explanation, but they are important explanatory factors, things without which you cannot understand or expalin what is going or why the phenomenon occurs. Frankly, there's justs o much that calls out for P/S explanation, that is, P/S explanans, that I mystified taht you should regard P/S factors as epiphenomenal. You cannot understand racism without it -- the mystique of the big black buck, the fear that They will marry your sister and rape your women (see here the great study White Over Black by some Berkleley historioan whose name escapes me); you cannoy understand war ands militarism without it, the ideal of manliness ans strength as killing; you cannot understand (no such) women's oppression without, with people's

identies being wrapped up in gender-specific roles (this is part of Luker's point). But the notion that the P/S is never independently explantory, that it is always to be expalined by something else, is so ludicrously stupid -- sorry, there is no other word for it -- that the ball's in your court to make it rermotely plausible. Frankly, I don't have the energy to deal with this right now. You can do better than thuis. Yoshie, and you usually do. Keep organizing against the war. jks

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