No other aspect of culture is a better reflection of its greatness than its literature. The same holds for America.
The idea of American exceptionalism is a hotly-debated topic, and there are valid arguments on both sides. It was first coined by de Tocqueville, and then widely adopted by other statesmen and analysts of the American experience, so much so that it had become shorthand, an encapsulation of America's uniqueness.…
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126 - Cindy
#122
Roger,
Funny, in my response you'll see that I think our positions aren't mutually exclusive, but rather have a different focus, maybe because of a different goal or purpose.
(whooops, looks like Clav already replied about the site issue)
bbiab (be back in a bit)
127 - roger nowosielski
Well, when you'll get back, we can cover it more fully: important insights as of yesterday. Brought about by a great movie, The Other Boleyn Girl. If you haven't seen it yet, you must.
128 - Cindy
Thanks Roger, I will check that film out.
Okay, let me post a little bit at a time. So, It's not a giant post. But, this is not a full explanation. So, I'll ask you to suspend your judgment 'til the end.
(But do let me know if you need clarification.)
You may be familiar with systems theory.
A little background:
As a transdisciplinary, interdisciplinary and multiperspectival domain, the area brings together principles and concepts from ontology, philosophy of science, physics, computer science, biology, and engineering as well as geography, sociology, political science, psychotherapy (within family systems therapy) and economics among others. Systems theory thus serves as a bridge for interdisciplinary dialogue between autonomous areas of study as well as within the area of systems science itself.
I see it as a very helpful and important viewpoint or framework. A rough, expression of systems theory is: the parts interrelate to form the whole in a system. It can be applied to parts of the body making up a whole system--which is the body, or people being parts making up a society or a family, etc. It also is applied in learning theory and human development theory.
A basic idea:
In most cases the whole has properties that cannot be known from analysis of the constituent elements in isolation.
I'll say, it is also true this way:
In most cases, the elements have properties that cannot be completely understood without examining the system they are a part of and their relationship to and within it.
(Mind you, I'm not arguing against you here. This is merely a background for my personal point of reference. Which might be helpful in understanding what comes next.)
129 - Clavos
Cindy,
I trust that systems theory incorporates much more than what you just posted, coz that can be summed up in the old aphorism (cliché?) that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
130 - roger nowosielski
I'm going to suspend judgment, Cindy, till I hear more. Just wanted to reiterate that all I tried to do was to give a partial and incomplete description "moral language game" and argue on behalf of it's relative primacy with respect to other considerations - personal, cultural, historical, etc.
The description is naturally partial and incomplete because I only touched upon some of the features. Let's bear in mind that one of the primary functions of this "language game" is exhortation.
Now, if I were, for example, to focus on one moral concept out of the itinerary = such as justice, for instance, then I would be venturing on what's called "conceptual analysis/"
So anyway, I'm going to leave it at, for the time being, stressing again the key distinction I believe is at work here: between theory on the one hand and analysis on the other. And in so far that my predominant concern is with language, certain key concepts, how they work, and the language game they're part of (and constitute), I have therefore attempted to provide a partial analysis - as opposed to theory.
Back to you.
Roger
131 - Think About It
America is indeed exceptional. It is the only country in the industrialized world that doesn't have a socialist or labor party which leaves voters with much less choice at the ballot box, not something to be proud of. America is exceptional in its hubris and arrogance to be sure. It leads the world in the number of incarcerated people; it has the worst health care system in the industrialized world; it spends the most on its military; it has an exceptionally bad educational system; it leads the industrialized world in income inequality; it also leads the industrialized world in the amount of crooked influence that lobbyists can buy from their government. See? America is truly exceptional after all.
Exceptionally horrid.
132 - STM
Just found this again. A bit of Australian exceptionalism . The beautiful, airbrushed remnants of a South Pacific cyclone.
And a bit more Aussie exceptionalism.. A whirlwind, not a cyclone.
America might be a great place for a holiday, but why would you want to live anywhere else but where I grew up - it's always a holiday here - (except for Hawaii, or just maybe New Zealand)????
Nice waves, a game of football, hanging' out with your mates, a cool woman, a beer or five, a barbecue, a long day in the warm sun at the beach or on a boat ... seriously, what else is there, what else matters?
Not much else, really ... Americans can believe they're exceptional, or not - but exceptional means different things to different folks.