Society
Items on national and international social issues and reforms
The Philosopher and the Ayatollah
Thu 16 Jun 2005 by Peter Edman
Amazing and surprisingly nuanced article in the Boston Globe (hat-tip—ALD) on Michel Foucault’s initial infatuation with the Islamist revolution in Iran of Ayatollah Khomeini.
The article, by Wesley Yang, is titled “The philosopher and the ayatollah: In 1978, Michel Foucault went to Iran as a novice journalist to report on the unfolding revolution. His dispatches — now fully available in translation — shed some light on the illusions of intellectuals in our own time.”
The article is inspired by the publication of Kevin Anderson and Janet Afary’s Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism
Yang offers an interesting balance of appreciation for Foucault’s courageous insights and his ideologically driven blindness, and definitely helps us appreciate the way worldviews or ideologies shape actions. Two quotes from the article follow:
Wolf’s Misconceptions
Fri 03 Jun 2005 by Peter Edman
The dehumanizing effects of current technology—technopoly—are rarely so hidden in plain view as in the current medicalized process of birth.
Naomi Wolf’s book Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood (Doubleday 2001) is well worth reading, despite some overwrought prose. Her experience and research completely reinforces the discussion that Postman makes in chapter 6 of Technopoly on the ideology of machines in medicine. The result is a focus on the diagnostic machines and artificial timelines rather than on the physical and mental health of the mother. The technical birthing process is essentially counterproductive.
My wife and I had personal confirmation of her thesis with the delivery of our son in January. Wolf’s concept of the “inescapable standard of care” was certainly present in our case despite our strenuous efforts. Time pressure and repeated medical intervention from our obstetrician led directly to what was likely an unnecessary cesarean section. Granted, we survived and everyone has recovered well enough. But we are switching obstetricians. I never want to endure anything like that again.
The quote below discusses the over-routine use of epidurals to stop pain during labor and delivery and its unintended consequences.
Social Research: Science or Story?
Fri 27 May 2005 by Peter Edman
In preparing for our new curriculum on technology, I’ve been reading Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by the late Neil Postman. Am particularly struck by his (hopefully famous by now) discussion of “scientism” in chapter 9, which talks about the way current Western societies tend toward the presumption that the only legitimate knowledge is scientific knowledge.
The effect of this presumption is to deny the possibility of meaningful knowledge resulting from such human activities as literature, religion, and myth— “scientific hubris” is the term he uses. Postman particularly notes this effect in the rise of the “social sciences”, which he suggests are less science than storytelling. They never produce falsifiable findings. At best their studies rediscover “facts” that were obvious to traditional human wisdom (James Taranto, please call your office). Worse, their stories are packaged in a manner that is frequently boring and generally self-deceptive.
Guide: To Change the World
Sun 23 May 2004 by TTF Staff
A discussion guide for the Trinity Forum Briefing “To Change the World” by James Davison Hunter.
You can also
