Krimel said: 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...
dmb says: Yes, you could argue that all social institutions are "purely biological". But that would just be speculation based on the assumptions of scientism and reductionism. The levels are one way to oppose exactly that. A line is drawn between the biological and social to indicate that the latter is not just an extension of the former, but is different in kind. Its a way of saying that social structures are not reducable to biology. This irreducability simply says that when we reduce the social to the biological structures from which they sprang, the social structure itself is no longer present. In this way, reductionism doesn't explain a damn thing. It merely dissolves the subject matter so that there is no longer anything into which we can inquire. In other words, the biological roots of family structures should be used to enrich our understanding of the family as a social institution, not make it disappear. There is no scientific reason to think that the difference between survival in an ecosystem and adaptation to society is worthy of dismissal. The difference between these two aims is overlooked by the reductionist reading and that's so very narrowly empirical that it is not empirical at all. Its dogma. Krimel said: 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. dmb says: MERELY metaphorical? I'd agree that the levels are not supposed to be metaphysical laws, but why not take this idea for what it is, namely an idea. Does the concept work? Does it preform the task, accomplish its purpose? (Which doesn't involve finding the true nature of family, by the way.) That's the question to ask when evaluating the levels of the MOQ, don't you think? Thanks. _________________________________________________________________ Put your friends on the big screen with Windows Vista® + Windows Live™. 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/
