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Question Some people and philosophers seem to see individual human activity as arising, not from interaction between individuals, but from interactions between social groups - that is, what gives rise to the behavior of individual men and women is the dymanic between men and women, as social groups. They see people's motivations as rooted in power, never in lust or greed or any other emotion (or if they do, these emotions are reduced to expressions of power). Everything is symbolic - wars are started not for resources, but in order to impose realities and dominate discourse. My question is this: isn't this all a bit far-fetched? A man who flirts with a woman doesn't seem to be doing so because he feels compelled to exert sexual power over her in accordance to patriarchal discourse; he thinks she's cute. The media doesn't distort information in order to control the all-immersing hyperreality we all live in; individuals simply simplify and exaggerate stories to gain more viewers. What is it that makes this metanarrative of "human behavior as discourse of power" credible? How real are these sorts of hypothetical, structural explanations, when they don't seem to leave room for human falliability, diversity, narrow-mindedness, interest, emotion and irrationality?

Accepted:
January 4, 2011

Comments

I think the sort of language you are complaining about does incorporate the human characteristics you mention at the end, it is just that the argument goes that we act within a context defined by the basic power relationships in our culture, and the norms which have been created as a result. This seems plausible to me. In a culture in which men and women are not free to flirt with each other the notion of flirting would take on an entirely different character, as a subversive act, perhaps. Who can flirt with whom, how they go about it, where it degenerates into something objectionable or even illegal, are all reflections of basic social rules. Lust and greed are certainly important, but they operate within parameters defined by more general relationships between people, or so it is argued, and this is not to suggest that there is no interaction between individuals. It is just that that sort of interaction is affected strongly by interaction between social groups.

I am interacting with you now by responding to your question, and that is an interaction between individuals. But since I am using the institution of a common language and the medium provided by the askphilosophers institution I am acting within and through a social group.