Re: "rise of china" and wst

On Thu, 1 Mar 2001, Boris Stremlin wrote:

> Sorry, but free will is anathema to a certain kind (namely, positivist)
> science, not to science per se.  

Astounding!  Rational choice theory, for the most part, is positivist in
its orientation, and is precisely premised on individuals engaging in
(free) rational choice.  This does not result in chaos, however, because
the choices people make (on average) are quite predictable!  I'm not
advocating the theory, just using it to counter the claim above.

Once again, I recommend the excellent "Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free
Will Worth Wanting" by Daniel Dennett.


Were
> _Unthinking Social Science_, the work of the Gulbenkian Commission and the
> Braudel Center's own Structures of Knowledge Research Working Group all
> for naught?

I see it as a wrong turn, yes, another symptom of the postmodern condition.
(Actually, I'm not familiar with the Working Group, but I assume it's in
the same vein as the two books.)

RH