Re: ' Reality is socially constructed,' This is one of the sacred cows of contemporary thought.
But once again what is meant by 'reality'? In my view the most important 'reality' for each of us, as individuals, has nothing to do with the categories of social thought. It is not ''socially constructed' at all. Hence indeed the importance of art... DA On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 8:08 AM, Frances Kelly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Frances to members... > > This notice is from a website list called HOPOS or "A Forum for > Discussion of the History of the Philosophy of Science" on the > internet. The specific subject is entitled "Sources of Ideology > and Discourse: Psychological Interpretation of Ideology and > Discourse" posted by Richard A. Koenigsberg recently. The remarks > on "reality" may be of particular interest here to aestheticians. > > > WHY DO SOME DISCOURSES BECOME DOMINANT? > > Reality is socially constructed, but constructed based on what? > People > continually construct various forms of reality, but only a very > few take > hold and become structures of society. Is it possible to explain > why some > discourses become dominant and not others? > > Writing about the Holocaust, Hannah Arendt claims that > anti-Semitism > "explains everything and therefore nothing." One may suggest that > concepts > like "discourse" and "narrative" similarly explain everything and > therefore > nothing. What requires explanation is why certain discourses or > narratives > become salient and significant. To comprehend the meaning of an > ideology, we > pose the question: "Why does it exist?" > > My studies on Nazi ideology > began by identifying recurring images and > metaphors in the rhetoric of political leaders such as Hitler, > Himmler and > Goebbels in order to ascertain the ideology's underlying meaning. > Hitler > conceived of the German nation as a living organism invaded by > Jewish > bacteria. Genocide enacted an immunological fantasy: killing the > pathogenic > microorganisms in order to prevent the death of Germany. > > IDEOLOGY AS SHARED FANTASY > > Hitler's ideology derived from a coherent fantasy projected into > reality. > Nazi ideology was articulated through the vehicle of language, > but language > was not the source of Nazi ideology. Nazi ideology was > constituted by a > shared fantasy projected into the external world. Ideologies > represent > symbolic structures functioning to contain and shape primal > desires, > anxieties, and conflicts. Ideologies are cognitive structures > that permit > unconscious fantasies to become shared--and articulated as social > reality. > > Ideologies or discourses become established as elements of > culture to the > extent that they represent unique "solutions" to fundamental > psychic > dilemmas. An ideology that is significant in society is one that > has served > as the modus operandi for the expression of powerful desires, > conflicts and > fantasies. Ideologies capture energy bound to latent fantasies, > bringing > forth this energy into society as the basis for collective forms > of action. > > THE UNCONSCIOUS CONTAINED WITHIN THE TEXT > > An ideology is conveyed through rhetoric presented by political > and social > leaders--people on the public stage who have embraced the > ideology and seek > to persuade others of its validity. We uncover the roots of > ideologies by > analyzing the writings and speeches of leaders who have been > instrumental in > bringing forth their ideologies into reality. Identification of > recurring > images, metaphors and figures of speech reveals the unconscious > contained > within the text. > > Once we understand the meaning of a discourse or ideology--what > it seeks to > express or convey--we are on our way toward explanation. > Explanation > consists of revealing the psychological functions that the > discourse or > ideology performs for members of a given society. By asking the > question, > "What does this ideology or discourse do (psychologically) for > people?" we > pose the question: "Why does this ideology exist?" > > -------------------------- > Richard Koenigsberg is an author, lecturer and teacher focusing > on the roots > of collective forms of violence. He received his Ph.D. in Social > Psychology > from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research. > He is a > Faculty Member of the Institute for the Study of Violence at the > Boston > Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. New editions of his > books--Hitler's > Ideology: Embodied Metaphor, Fantasy and History and The Nation: > A Study in > Ideology and Fantasy--recently have been released by Information > Age > Publishing. > > -- Derek Allan http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/derek.allan/default.htm
