Watership Down corollary: Watership Down Warren, location on map: E9.
Architectural analogy: Take the 54 blocks in a Jenga
set and try to build a pyramid (if you start with nine on the first
level, eight on the second, etc, you can get nine levels with nine
extra blocks left over). This structure has both vertical exposure
(representing transcendence) and horizontal exposure (representing
facticity), organized in a structurally sound way (and thus
representing both autonomy and homonomy).
1 All of my examples are imperfect. For each of them, consider why it was appropriate for the given category and also why it was not
appropriate for the given category. Most things are in truth a mixed
bag, as should come as no surprise. To see an attempt at a more
detailed sorting, though still far from perfect, click here:
http://bendench.blogspot.com/2009/06/adpas-flower.html
2 http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4025
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061113093726.htm
3
Compare with Robert K. Merton's Deviance Typology. I obviously am using
the terms retreatism, ritualism, conformity, and innovation in a
different sense than he is, but these same terms seem descriptively
appropriate, and that's not simply a coincidence. In place of cultural
goals, I'm assessing the goals of the individual--or whatever acting
organism is being assessed. In place of institutionalized means, I'm
assessing means in general.
Also consider the work of Dr. Will
Felps on how certain personalities can ruin group dynamics. These
personalities are referred to in common parlance as "the jerk (compare
with dogmatic nihilism) who accosts others but offers no positive
solutions, "the slacker (compare with dogmatic idealism) who feels the
group's work is pointless and just wants to do their own thing, and
"the depressive (compare with pragmatic nihilism) who feels the
group's task is impossible to accomplish. Each of these successfully
makes the group less productive, and the other members of the group
actually start to imitate the person portraying these personalities.
The presence of one personality, however, was able to override the
presence of any of the negative personalities. This was called "the
diplomat (compare with pragmatic idealism) who maintains the group by
listening to everyone and coordinating their efforts. This research was
discussed on an episode of This American Life entitled "Ruining It for the Rest of Us.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=370
Felps,
W., Mitchell, T. R., & Byington, E. (2006). How, when, and why bad
apples spoil the barrel: Negative group members and dysfunctional
groups. Research in Organizational Behavior, Volume 27, 181 "230.
4
The terms "mysticism and "pluralism appear in quotes, because
shamanism contains the positive aspects of both mysticism and
pluralism. Thus "mysticism here signifies mysticism without any
practical grounding in this world, and "pluralism signifies pluralism
in the absence of unifying dialogue.
5 Although, in a Lacanian Kant avec Sade
sense, I, with Nietzsche before me, may be the ultimate Kantian--its
destruction through its fulfillment and self-cancellation. Out of
justice--grace. The world turned white as snow.
http://www.egs.edu/faculty/zizek/zizek-kant-and-sade-the-ideal-couple.html
6
The structural pattern which I describe as "confusing facts for values
and values for facts in the case of psychopathy manifests as a nervous
physiological disposition (lack of autonomy) coupled with a
physiological inability to modify behavior in response to pain (lack of
homonomy). Clinical depression, in contrast, is a nervous physiological
disposition coupled with an extensive ability to modify behavior in
response to pain that results in an exaggerated behavior of withdrawal
as a result of this nervous disposition. This is confirmed by clinical
trials in which rats that had been bred for the qualities of
nervousness and the ability to respond to pain manifested learned
helplessness (clinical depression) when faced with electric shocks
(rather than learning how to avoid them to get a prize, they simply
gave up); whereas those bred for nervousness and a stunted ability to
respond to pain ignored the electric shocks entirely (psychopathy) and
went directly for the prize without concern for their own well being;
those bred for calmness and a stunted ability to respond to pain
learned how to avoid the electric shocks and get the prize; and those
bred for calmness and the ability to respond to pain learned how to
avoid the electric shocks and get the prize faster than their stunted
counterparts.
Savage, R. An analysis of learning curves. Behavior Research & Therapy, 1965, 2, 281-284.
Broadhurst, P., & Bigami, C. Correlative effects of psychogenetic selection. Behavior Research & Therapy, 1965, 2, 273-280.
Eysenck, H. J. Emotion as a determinant of integrated learning. Behavior Research & Therapy, 1963, 1, 127-140.
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Ben Dench graduated valedictorian of his class from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in the Spring Semester of 2007 with a B.A. in philosophy (his graduation speech, which received high praise, is available on YouTube). He is currently (
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