[from Joel Judd 930506--sorry, in the Caribbean there're no exact hours]
Gary [930505] says
If that is so (re: purposeful behavior) then my kids gerbils, lizards,
fish, and parakeets are also human beings.
Well, OK, so I should be more careful with my wording. But the argument
IF humans act purposefully and animals act purposefully, THEN animals
are human is obviously fallacious.
The idea I wanted to bring up, though it may not be easy to deal with
in short space, is that PCT does not shy away from dealing with aspects
of behavior and functioning that characterize human beings, and which
traditional theories and hypotheses either try to avoid or make
hopelessly complex. I think there are psychologists out there who
recognize this, and it might strike a responsive chord (there go
those metaphors again) with some review editors.
Greg W. [930505]
[do] you think there is any room for freedom of choice in PCT models.
Short answer: yes. But I probably don't have the traditional J-C notion
of personal freedom, either. I also think that when the term is used
relating to "free-will" we're talking about little understood higher
levels of the hierarchy, where in the past on the net we've seen some
maintain God-less ideas about SYSTEM CONCEPTS and others (myself
included) reserver judgment about the relationship of such a level
with such things as "revelation," etc.
I think I should ask what aspects of behavior you have in mind when
mentioning evolution and genetic constraints at the end of your
post. I don't think I have the freedom to choose, for example,
to use a phoneme that the human vocal tract can't produce. But
at the other extreme, I can ALWAYS choose to be patient, or kind
to others, if I wish. In my theology, those are the things that
count, the things I have "control" over, if you will, and where
my concept of free will is most relevant.
If that doesn't satisfy your questions (or I don't seem to be
recognizing relevant PCT concepts) I'll be happy to continue
working this out.
Regards
Joel Judd
jjuud@inter.ui.clu.edu