[lbo-talk] dixor

[Ted Winslow]

As I've claimed before, conventional discussions of the respective 
roles played by "biology" and "environment" in the determination of the 
content of will are implicitly based on ontological premises that leave 
no logical space for the idea of self-determination and, hence, for the 
ideas of a "will proper" (a will whose content is open to full 
self-determination) and a "universal will" (a will whose content is 
fully self-determined by reason).

One consequence of adopting ontological premises consistent with these 
ideas is that a ground is provided for a critical examination of 
feelings including sexual feelings.  Some forms of psychoanalysis, in 
fact, can be viewed partly as a way of developing a capacity for truly 
good feelings, feelings characteristic of a "universal will."  A 
corollary is that psychopathological feelings are the product of a 
failure to develop full self-determination.

Take, for instance, feelings of greed.  These can be explained as the 
psychopathological product of some mix of constitutional predisposition 
and social context incompatible with the development of a fully 
self-determined ego and hence with the full development of a "will 
proper" and a "universal will."

Ted