Philippe Gervaix
Fri, 21 Sep 2001 01:47:35 -0700
Hello y'all from overseas, In a recent post, someone mentioned the "law of parsimony". My intervention has implications on two levels (at least, and as far as we are concerned on this list): epistemological and pedagogical. Of course both are intertwined. This reference to such a "law of parsimony" made me jump on (or off?) my seat for at least 2 reasons: 1. whoever said that there was such a "law"? Is it a natural law? Or is it just a theoretical statement? Technically, shouldn't it be refered to as a principle, a postulate or an axiom? 2. what is being refered to when we talk about a "law of parsimony": is this an allusion to "Occam's razor" , ie the principle that tends to reduce the number causes to a minimum? If this is the case, it seems to me that there is at best an abuse of language, or worse a retrospective illusion or anachronism. In the context of medieval scholatic philosophy/theology -with its array of metaphysical agents, causes or intermediate realms of beings-, we can understand that some philosophers would plead for such a principal as "reduction" or simplification, ie. Occam's razor. But are we dealing with the same thihgs when we are at grasp with political issues (and their horrific outbursts such as terrorism, or ethnic cleansing) or issues like violence in schools, or when we try to understand and treat pathologies such as autism, anorexia, OCD, or panic disorders to name but a few? I recently read that the alleged "causes" for pathologies such as autism or mental anorexia can add up to about 130 in the history of the different theories that have tried to explain these pathologies. My question is : "How do you deal with the question of complexity and multiple factors or causes?" It strikes me how the more a phenomenon, -be it medical, psychological, or political in its scope- is uncomprehensible, or escapes our control, the more "causal" and "simple" -or simplistic- explanations/solutions it receives. When we are faced with complexity, is it objective or subjective? is it just that we don't have the answer right at hand -then either we label things complex (until we find a simple/unique explanation), or we try to dismiss or dissolve complexity by invoking simple causes or explanations... Or are some phenomenons really complex and shoud be treated as such? It again strikes me when I hear or read scientific vulgarization magazines or TVshows how quickly commentators resort to phrases like: "Biologists (or geneticians) have now found a gene responsible for XYZ (your choice) ..." OR "We now know it is genetic..." . No later than yesterday did we hear from some (unknown and obscure - be reassured) French psychologist, that jealousy for example (and by extension other behavioral problems in children) has genetic causes, implying that we should deculpabilize parents, and find the right treatment/pill. (Did I hear someone in the back of the class mustering something about the rise and prevalence of ADHD diagnostics in the USA and the increase in Ritalin prescription? :-)) My reflexion goes from there into 2 directions: 1. The question of the distinction between causal and correlational explanations: is this distinction purely rhetorical? or do we mean what we say when we say that for such or such phenomenon there is no causal (and simple) explanation? 2. How do we seriously take into account the complexity of psychological phenomenons? 3. How do we integrate and articulate the differents levels, fields and disciplines that come up with explanations/treatments of pathologies? 4. To what extent is reductionism still alive and creeping around? 5. Aren't we inclined to a certain fascination toward biological (genetic/neurological) explanations ? and, coupled with "theories" such as reductionism or "law of parsimony", doesn't this fascination finally misserve or disserve psychology as a discipline? 6. (;-)) Is there a label for the fascination described under 5? Comments awaited. Thank you for your patience. Phil Gervaix Switzerland _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp