From powers_w Wed Mar 1 02:18:03 2000
Delivered-To: powers_w@frontier.net
X-Sender: lpx98mc@pophost
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2000 09:17:00 +0000
To: Bill Powers <powers_w@FRONTIER.NET>,
"Paul A. Stokes" <pstokes@INDIGO.IE>
From: Clark McPhail <c.mcphail@Reading.ac.uk>
Subject: PCT & Sociology
Cc: ProfCWT@aol.comDear Bill and Paul:
I have recently read Paul's attachments on the need in sociology for a
viable theory of purposive individual action. I have also read Bill's
response and Paul's rejoinders. I hope that despite your apparent
momentary disagreements or misunderstandings of one another's positions
that neither of you will dismiss the larger concerns that the other is
attempting to address.I am a sociologist and have twenty years of painful experience attempting
to communicate the power of perception control theory to other social and
behavioral scientists. I think that Kent McClelland and Peter Burke would
probably have similar stories to tell. But now is not the time and place
for sharing tales of woe. Rather it is to indicate that they too have come
to the same judgment as Paul and I. Until we have a viable theory of how
purposive individual's experience and act on the world, we will not be able
to provide a viable explanation for how they are able to fit their actions
together in so many varied and productive (and sometimes destructive) ways.One of my former Ph.D. students, David Miller, has recently completed a
second edition of his very successul introductory text on collective
behavior and collective action. He makes reference throughout to
perception control theory in the work I have done on "crowds" over the past
thirty years. He asked me to write a foreword to his text (not included
here but availabe on request) as well as a synopsis of PCT and collective
action which appears in the text as an appendix. I include that as an
attachment to this email: CA & PCAT.docPlease note that I wrote this for undergraduate sociology students. I
attempted to provide the simplest explanation that I could of PCT and of
three ways in which I believe it allows us to understand how collective
action by purposive individuals can occur.I must confess that I am not currently monitoring CSG-Net because I am
trying to finish a book this year and to do a bit of research on my
Fulbright fellowship while in England. Fortunately, Charles Tucker (with
whom Bill is acquainted) does monitor the net and passes along to me things
he thinks would be of interest. That is how I came to learn of Paul's
efforts and Bill's replies and their exchange(s).I would be interested in either or both of your responses to what I have
written but it is not necessary if you are not inclined to comment.
Moreover, I have no objections if either of you is inclined to put this
comment and/or the attachment on CSG-Net.I think the important thing is to keep lines of communication open between
perception control theorists and sociologists. We need one another!with all best wishes,
Clark
Attachment Converted: "d:\eudora\attach\CA & PCT.doc"Clark McPhail, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
Visiting Professor of Politics, University of Reading, United Kingdom,
1999-2000
Fulbright Senior Research Scholar, United Kingdom, 1999-2000
website: www.uiuc.edu/~cmcphailChilds Hall, Flat #11
Upper Redland Road
Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5JW
United Kingdom (tel: 0118.931.8809)
United Kingdom (fax: 0118.975.3833)From the USA (tel/fax: 011.44.118.9##.####)
Attachment converted: Betelgeuse:CA & PCT.doc (WDBN/MSWD) (0000D239)