[Krimel] dmb's comments below illustrate the point very nicely. What level does family fit into? In some ways your claim that it is social, works. But one could forcefully argue that the "family" is purely biological. The various forms that "family" takes in human communities is well with in the range of variation we see spread before us in the animal kingdom. We see species that are polygamous, monogamous and indiscriminant. We see species that raise their young well into adulthood and others that toss them from the nest or the den before they are dry behind the ears.
The question would be: what manner of line drawing and connecting of dots do the "levels" provide that enrich our understanding of families? If one examines the phenomenon of family in terms of patterns of interaction that are relatively static and patterns that are in relative flux I see lots of advantages. Our offspring are more likely to grow into healthy adults if most of the patterns of interaction around them are static. There needs to be a constant food supply, familiar faces, predictable patterns of coming and going. There is nothing wrong with looking at a system of levels. They are a useful heuristic but they are rules of thumb not metaphysical laws. They are metaphorical and in this case one might add merely metaphorical. Krimel said to Ron: So where does "family" fit into a system of levels? Is it biologically determined, Socially mediated and Intellectually justified? What sense do these questions make? What does this add to our understanding of "family"? dmb butts in: We can subject the institution to intellectual analysis but I think "the family" itself is a social structure that evolved out of the organic arrangement such as is seen in so many other animals. In civilized human life, the family has become the primary transmitter of culture, the middle managers of society, the main agents of language acquisition, etc.. Is there a culture on earth that doesn't put a premium on family values? I seriously doubt it. One is a function of the other and vice versa. Its not much of a trick to see how the family would fit into the MOQ's levels, but I think this hierarchy has a much broader aim. By construing the levels as the products of a qualitative shift in the direction of evolutuion, they give a certain shape to the conflicts in our history and in ourselves. To put it crudely, they help explain war, fascism, sin and selling out. By drawing just a few simple lines, the levels add huge explanatory power to all sorts of things and generally orient us a moral universe. All the details are debatable and there is no claim about the levels being thee absolute truth or whatever. They're just a way of cutting up the known facts about ourselves as composite, evolutionary beings in a particular historical place. That's one of the reasons its so hard to respond to criticisms that I'd characterize as petty sniping. I mean, the levels aren't supposed to provide us with definitions or assign rank to all the items we could ask about. Questions about the nature of the family, for example, are going to be answered by those who've studied it. I mean, the facts about anything and everything can be placed into the MOQ's hierarchy only to the extent that we bring them to it. My own ignorance of the topic is vast and maybe I'd move it if I knew more about the family, but I don't think that's a basis for criticism of the levels. _________________________________________________________________ Put your friends on the big screen with Windows VistaR + Windows LiveT. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/shop/specialoffers.mspx?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_CPC_ MediaCtr_bigscreen_102007 Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
