> You refuse to get down to specific cases because on the level of "pure
> indeterminedness" there are no specific cases to get down to. Thus
> you will not answer my specific questions and actually work through
> the implications of what you claim. If you are simply doing exegesis
> of what Hegel said and what Marx said at various times then my point
> is that it does not effect at all Marx's (partially failed but
> interesting) attempt to create a theoretical model through which we
> can understand history and society. It doesn't because the
> philosophical notions of "pure indeterminedness" and
> "self-determination" can be defined in any way you or I wish to make
> it consistent with physical theories, biological theories or
> historical theories.
>
> Apparently there is nothing that I can say that can get you out of
> your definitional resting place.
In response to my point that:
> This isn't what I said as you can discover by reading what you quote.
>
> The claim "that societies psychology, and 'thought' are constrained
> and guided by our biological make-up" is inconsistent with the
> (Hegel/Marx) claim that societies psychology, and 'thought' are not
> constrained and guided by our biological make-up.
>
> But what's not constrained by our biological make-up isn't, within
> this ontology, open to self-determination. it's determined by the
> "environment".
Unless you're through the looking glass, you can't define "pure indeterminateness" of the "Ego" elaborated as
the Ego "as such has no limitation or a content which is immediately extant through nature but is indifferent towards any and every determinateness"
as
the Ego has limitation and a content which is immediately extant through nature and is not indifferent towards any and every determinateness,
so you can't escape the inconsistency to which I pointed by defining "pure indeterminateness" "any way you or I wish to make it consistent with physical theories, biological theories or historical theories".
Any concrete human act, e.g making coffee, typing a word in an e- mail, can be used to illustrate what's meant by indeterminateness of the ego passing over to a determinateness through the ego making a choice of some one or other possible determinateness and then actualizing it.
Ted