Volodya: ...the primary sources of disagreement ...needing to be addressed are not at all political but rather epistemological.
Or two basic questions of political epistemology:1. The problem of human knowledge: do we know enough about the external world to make a political choice?
a. Do we possess adequate understanding of how the world, as presently configured, stumbles through its quotidian? If not, how much understanding is enough? If we do, how do we know that we do?
b. Failing an answer to (a), do we disregard attempting to attain a comprehensive understanding of the factors and decisions governed by politics, and opt for a decision-making strategy informed by emotional or moral perceptions?
c. Failing an answer to (b), do we choose to employ some other method of making a political choice? Ouija board? Numerology? Astrology? The opinion of a respected other? Unexamined political prejudice and stereotyping?
2. The problem of knowledge of other minds: can we know enough about the minds of political candidates to make a political choice?
a. Since we cannot know the minds of others, the entire project described in 1a, and 1b is undermined. We are truly wafting here. A decision-making strategy based on (a) geopolitical knowledge or (b) moral emotional perceptions assumes facts (and values) not in evidence. A knowledge-based approach is clouded by our own unconscious selection and rejection of sources, as well as the unknown minds of reporters and pundits presenting that tiny amount of untrustworthy information we choose to assemble to support our choice. An emotional moral approach is likewise obscured, since (1) candidates themselves may be lying about the values and selves they present to us, or (2) media sources may be similarly lying to us.
That seems to isolate 1c (some other method) as the most viable option. The broad variety of decision making techniques included in 1c -- especially "unexamined political prejudice and stereotyping" -- seems to be the most commonly used.
Maybe I'll get the Ouija Board out of the attic. ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
