On the media....

Two worthwhile items for those interested in the media -- new and old. Today's New York Times Book Review has a very interesting review essay by Richard Posner, the economist-judge-critic-blogger (!) who seems to churn out more thoughtful material in one day than 99.99% of us. Posner's essay focuses on the recent chaotic dynamics of the news media, and his basic conclusion is that most of the tumult can be traced to economic and technological developments, not major political shifts or conspiracies of the left or right. And turning back the clock a bit, I listened to a "podcast" of a July 8 broadcast of NPR's On The Media and was rewarded with more insights into the brilliant success of Wikipedia, a source that I am making increasing use of in my daily work. Both are well worth the time to read and listen to.... wikipediaOn The MediaRichard PosnerMedia Biasnews blogsRichard Posnernews

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Grim reaping....

Page three of the print copy of the New York Times has become the "Northern Ireland News" page since the release of the IRA statement earlier this week. On Saturday, two images of the IRA pledge to end its use of violence were displayed on that page. Above the fold was an article reporting the response to the announcement in Northern Ireland itself -- where it has obviously generated predictably unenthusaistic responses ranging from "so what" (nothing has really changed, has it?) to the skepiticism of those who belive this is just another hyped-up annoucement that will eventually backfire. Immediately below is a report of how the statement was greeted with elation in New York among policy elites in the Irish-American community as a watershed event in the history of the Troubles -- with comments noted from Clinton, Kissinger and the usual suspects. As much as I would like to assume the latter position, I think the street-level realism of Nothern Irelanders is correct: nothing much will change in the day-to-day routines of my friends in Belfast. As if to reinforce that, today's (Sunday's) Times piece on page three features the "loyalist" factions, and as far as I can tell the description and analysis in that article is pretty much on target. While living in Northern Ireland, I rarely felt any anxiety except when entering the loyalist areas -- whether walking in the Shankill Road area of Belfast (which I did not do often, although it is difficult to avoid in that small city) or driving into some towns to the north such as Larne where some pretty ominous graffiti, banners and other "markings" were all too evident. Where the IRA had discipline and focused (if sometimes obstinate) leadership, the loyalists are divided and more prone to ruthless gangland violence. (It is not that the IRA do not engage in criminality -- it is just that they do it in an organized and dsciplined way...:-\). The infighting among the loyalists was so common during my stay that it was usually reported as "police blotter" stuff rather than on the front page (there were exceptions, of course). The loyalist community seems made up of a number of groups that seem preoccupied with turf, and there was a familiar ring to the stories you'd hear about the conflicts among them -- very much "Sopranos" like tales in more ways than one. The loyalists remain the unknown factor in all this movement toward "peace" in Northern Ireland. As noted in the article, while the IRA transforms into an openly political actor (in fact, they were more than halfway there already), the loyalists are unlikely to and could interfere with whatever momentum there now exists toward settlement. What is more likely, however, is that they will continue on the current path of gangland behavior and criminal activity -- and in that sense become irrelevant to the political life of Northern Ireland while further degenerating into a law enforcement problem that both sides of the political divide will need to contend with. And it must be said that to a great extent the blame for this "loyalist problem" must be spread widely -- to the IRA for engaging in the violence that spurred the emergence of the loyalist paramilitaries, to the British who helped nurture them as a counterforce (see friend Justin's book on Killing Finucane), and to the unionists who have used them as leverage in the political battles of the past. Some how the expression "you will now reap what you have sown" comes to mind.... Northern IrelandIRA

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News from Northern Ireland....

The news from Northern Ireland today was expected for some time, and the weeks (actually months) of anticipation itself may have undermined a more enthusiastic reception for the announcement. It is unlikely that it will make any real day-to-day difference within the communities of Belfast and Ulster in general, for life in the post-Agreement era has generally settled into a pattern that assumed the quiescence of the IRA and the suspension (if not end) of organized sectarian violence. As the IRA statement indicates, there is nothing in today's actions that changes the main mission of the IRA and its supporters to achieve a united Ireland and the British out of Northern Ireland. What has been altered are the sanctioned means, and no one should think that the main issues underlying and driving the Troubles have been resolved. But as friend Ciaran indicates, what has been accomplished today (if it is not just another non-starter as we have seen before) is a major step in offering the Unionist side the security which has been central to their concerns. Paisley and company are (as expected) publicly skeptical, but assuming the IRA delivers, we are in for some very interesting political maneuvering as an operational government might emerge from all this that will give Adams a seat near the head of the assembly table, Very interesting days ahead.... Northern Ireland

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Deepening lessons of Deep Throat....

I am just completing Woodward's The Secret Man, and while it is not the greatest read ever, it is very interesting on a number of fronts beyond the insights into the Deep Throat "mystery".... Since I am scheduled to teach an ethics course this fall, I dove into the book hoping it might provide "manna" for the students to help make the points I try to highlight. On that count, the book is certainly a strong candidate. There are a variety of ethical dilemmas addressed in the actions and choices of the various personae related to Watergate, from Woodward himself who spends many pages in confessional mode, to the unanswered (and now unanswerable, due to his dementia) questions about the motivations of Mark Felt. Moving from the individual to collective level, there is much in the book to challenge our notions of heroic and treasonous behavior, and the details of the story add even more complexity to such questions. But a surprising byproduct of the book for me was how it drew my attention back to issues related to the nature of human consciousness and memory addressed by Dennett and others. Felt's responses to Woodward's questions during meetings and phone conversations in 2000 and 2002 are noted in great detail -- to the point where you can't help but feel Woodward's frustration. At times you even think that Felt is being intentionally evasive and using the skills he learned as an FBI agent -- skills he used as Deep Throat. But Dennett's "model" of consciousness (or theory, or whatever you want to label it) helps us to make sense of Felt's behavior, and (along with Woodward's comments about Reagan's condition) what emerges is an interesting case for discussing memory, mental competencies, and all the many implications of this for an aging society. Fascinating stuff.... memoryDennettconsciousnessethicsWatergateDeep Throat

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Ho hum...

Last night's debut of the much hyped "Over There" on FX cable was a bit of a disappointment. It was an hour of essentailly video game war scenes with real actors -- little in the way of character development or drama or sense of dealing with the mundane (and important) reality of the Iraqi War. In fact, it was an example of how the hyper-reality of TV and movie production values provides a sense of unreality to it all. So many stereotypes, so little context, so much stretching of assumptions.... It truly was the kind of stuff you would likely find in the video games that populated the advertising breaks.... A bit of a build-up would have been nice -- and perhaps some sense of the Iraqi context. Instead our characters go from home to a short in-transit scene to an extended fire fight where waves of the enemy hordes attack the American position in a manner similar to Hollywood's image of the Chinese attacks of American troops during the Korean War. And it was all so exciting that both Randi and I fell asleep for most of the attacks.... I suspect I was even more disappointed because of what we expect of a show associated with Steven Bochco -- he of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue fame. But as I recall, the initial episodes of both those shows were also a bit hard to take, and it was only after a few episodes -- even a season or two -- that those shows hit their stride. There are signs of this in the trailers for next week's episodeof Over There. This first one ended with a scene involving the evacuation of US soldiers severely wounded in a roadside mine explosion, and the 'coming attractions' focused on hospital scenes, indicating that this first episode was more stage setter than anything else. But last night's show was such a turn off that I am unlikely to make the effort to put aside my reading to watch it as I did last evening.... Over There

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Renaming -- and reframing -- the war on terror....

According to an article in today's NY Times, interesting changes are afoot on the "public diplomacy" front as the US rethinks its labelling of the "war on terror". It seems that the Pentagon's top civilian and military folks are favoring calling it "a global struggle against violent extremism" instead of "the global war on terror." The significance of this effort to rename -- and thus to reframe -- the conflict should not be underestimated: language makes a difference, especially when it comes to conducting wartime activities on the "home front". In an article that is still awaiting publication in Public Administration Review (they'll eventually get to it, perhaps before everyone forgets about the 'war on terror'), Kathe Callahan, Dorothy Olshfski and I examine what the 'war on terror' has meant to those who deal with its domestic implications. My sense is that this particular ball is already out of play -- the war on terror, with all its ambiguity and implied meanings, has taken on a life of its own. The Administration should have thought about this issue (and its implications) right at the outset when they were warned by their UK colleagues to think twice before declaring the anti-terrorism effort a "war".... (Thanks to Kathe for bringing this item to my attention -- I would have missed it....) war on terror

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Accidental trilogy...

I just completed the third book in what has turned out to be an "accidental trilogy" on practical reason. I don't know whether my sense of practical reason is any clearer, but I am certainly more comfortable with the various writings in this area. The first was Onora O'Neill's Toward Justice and Virtue -- which I've commented on in previous posts. I read this as I was working on the paper with Ciarán dealing with ethical dilemmas, and while it did not have a direct impact on the final product, I don't think I can approach the study of ethics in the future with the same degree of skepticism I have in the past. At bottom this was really a study in the application of Kantian practical reasoning to a major philosophical dilemma, and I learned a great deal from it. Dennett's Sweet Dreams (also commented on in previous posts) I read out of a continuing curiosity about Dennett's theory of consciousness, but as it turns out it too is a study in human reasoning (or at least the 'mechanics' of it) -- perhaps closer to Hume than to Kant. The most recent read was Robert Fogelin's Walking the Tightrope of Reason, which I read because -- well, frankly because it happened to be sitting on the top of a stack of books I recently purchased. I tend to buy first and look later when it comes to books, and the stack of "merely pursued" books in my office is rather high (actually, several stacks of such...). But this one engaged me and I ended up consuming it rather quickly. It is relatively short (170 or so pages) and quite readable -- it seems to successfully straddle the line between an introductory overview of philosophy for the layperson and a work written for Fogelin's peers (as the author said he intended). What it amounts to is a systematic argument for taking a practical approach to human reasoning -- one that avoids the pitfalls of too much philosophizing without reverting to complete skepticism. Having completed Fogelin, I am now going to return to another work with a similar theme and focus that I abandoned two years ago as I prepared for my time in Belfast -- Toulmin's Return to Reason. Who knows, after all this I might emerge a 'reasonable" person.... practical reasonreasoningphilosophyFogelinOnora O'NeillToulminDennett

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Deja vu...

Coming to grips with my aging process today (although hardly contemplating the alternatives), and I am increasingly struck by the wisdom buried in all those cliches about knowing history, not repeating it, and all that stuff.... Well, perhaps my reflections have less to do with turning 59 than with reading Ellsberg's book on Vietnam and then picking up the newspaper to read about Pentagon reports stating that the Iraqis are not yet read to go it alone.... Eerily familiar stuff -- seems to me that (deny it as we might) this is turning into a replay of Vietnam in many respects.... EllsbergIraq WarPentagonVietnam War

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This one for my Belfast "muchachos"....

This AM's Boston Globe has the story of Robert William Gray, an UK citizen living on Cape Cod who applied for clearance to take pilot training courses so he could move up to fly larger planes than he does now for Cape Air. The story would be funny if it wasn't so absurd.... Homeland Security

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Mobilizing bias.....

This AM I found an email from friend Domonic linking to today's NY Times Magazine (free subs) article by Matt Bai on "The Framing Wars." This is a fairly balanced and detailed article on the post-election strategy adopted by the Democrats which, on the surface at least, is based on the work of academic linguist George Lakoff. As Bai notes, the lessons of the Kerry defeat have been taken to heart by Democratic strategists, and they probably would be moving in the direction they are moving with or without the advice of Lakoff and other "metaphorists". But it seems convenient and politically useful to have some scholarly hook on which to hang the new approach, and Lakoff seems to have become a willing (and perhaps a bit self-promoting) vehicle for this change. That said, I hope folks don't fall too hard for the "theory" underlying all this -- for while it makes sense and has utility, it is an empirically flawed analysis and can perhaps lead down unproductive and dangerous paths. It is based on assumptions about cultural passivity/malleability and the nature of the human mind that are far from new and perhaps too simplistic. Political scientist E.E. Schattschneider several decades back highlighted the fact that politics involves the "mobilization of bias", but there is a problem in assuming that the key to victory (or at least change) is to engage more effectively in bias mobilization than the opposition. There is the danger, of course, that the mobilization might become more important than the message -- that winning over the opposition becomes more important than achieving one's moral purposes. Political cultures are not just there to be "shaped" -- they already contain a bias, one that more dynamic and complex than folks might realize. It is always easier to go "with the grain" of the bias rather than against, and it is too tempting to change one's message to suit the intended audience. Then there is the problem of our understanding the workings of the human mind -- thinking of it as a bundle of metaphors and narratives located in something called the "mind" is problematic at best and can potentially result in strategies that raise real ethical issues (see the comments of Dennett). In the Bai article, for example Lakoff rejects the claim that what he is advocating is 'brainwashing,' but only because he is defining the term narrowly and technically. The more subtle term "re-framing" is used, as if to imply that the less coercive and covert approaches he advocates are less manipulative (and thus more ethically acceptable) than anything totalitarian movements and regimes might have used. It could be that our entire life is already "framed" and that all Lakoff is highlighting is that politics is a process of constant re-framing -- something the GOP realized early on and the Democrats are only now catching on to.... Don't know about you, but I find this awfully familiar and a bit scary.... LakoffBaiDemocratic Partynarrativesmobilization of biasSchattschneider

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Contemplating ethics....

I am back in multitasking mode and have had little time to post my reflections on the various readings and ideas crossing my desk and mind. For those who can tolerate it, here is the first of a couple of such.... In preparation for the ethics course I will be teaching this fall, and as part of the continuing project with friend Ciarán on administrative ethics, I have been reading Daniel Ellsberg's Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers in greater detail. The book is much more than an autobiographical revisiting of his career leading up the Pentagon Papers episode -- it is also the considered reflections of someone who spent years dealing with the ethical dilemmas and tough choices confronting public sector policymakers and their advisors on a personal and daily basis that is central to our studies. This is coming through most clearly in Ellsberg's comments on his work as the special assistant to John McNaughton, the DoD Assistant Secretary under Robert McNamara from 1964 to 1967 (covered in parts of chapters 2 and 3). Ellsberg makes explicit the conflict between personal (and even professional) beliefs and the obligations of the job imposed by those who work in public bureaucracies. There is nothing new in this -- the very rationale for having organizations and the discipline demanded by them is to overcome the entropic forces of individual beliefs and attitudes on behalf of a collective effort. We see this especially in the work of Barnard, Kaufman and many many others, but when expressed in the reflections of Ellsberg and others who were so involved in the tragedy of US Vietnam policy during the 1960s it takes on more significance than any scholarly explication. Since my course is based on the use of movies to get across the lessons of public sphere ethics, I plan to use this work in conjunction with the documentary about McNamara, 'The Fog of War".... One of the drawbacks of focusing too much on ethical dilemmas as reflected in cases is that I tend to neglect discussions of what might constitute appropriate ethical or moral standards for the public service. My usual approach in the past has been to get such discussions out of the way during the initial weeks of the course with a broad survey of traditional ethical and moral theories covering the "usual suspects" from Plato and Aristotle to Rawls. Reviewing that approach in anticipation of this fall's class, I realize that what I have been doing in the past is spending most of the semester debunking the relevance of such standards and getting students to think of ethics as the practice of "thoughtfulness" in the manner of Arendt's approach. All well and good, but in the process I have definitely neglected to address the question of what constitutes thoughtfulness. On that point, I have been ruminating on the lessons learned by my recent reading of Onora O'Neill's book which has made me more respectful of the normativist project pushed by her and other neo-Kantians (as well as friend Ciarán...). But getting this across to MPA students is no easy task, and I don't dare risk assigning book length presentations at the O'Neillian or Rawlsian level. I am thinking more in the order of Ignatieff's essays on dealing with terrorism.... Perhaps readers of this post (who have gotten this far) can suggest alternatives.... ethicsDaniel EllsbergRobert McNamaraVietnam WarFog of WarOnora O'NeillIgnatieffadministrative ethicspolicymakingdilemmas

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The O'Neill factor....

Friend Ciarán has rightly expressed concern about the reactionary response to recent events in London, and rightly so. Even I weighed in at a point on the thread of comments. As it happens, I am reading a work of political and ethical philosophy at the moment that is directly relevant to the questions raised by this controversy -- Onora O'Neill's Towards Justice and Virtue : A Constructive Account of Practical Reasoning (TJ&V). O'Neill's extended neo-Kantian analysis is an effort to "construct" an approach to resolving the seeming conflict between two schools of thought on the nature of justice and ethics, one that stresses the need for universal principles of justice for ethical behavior and the other emphasizing the need for virtue to contend with the situational nature of ethical challenges. Applying the logic of practical reason to this task, O'Neill provides a solid rationale for skeptics like me to abandon our agnostic position. A digression to explain my view of ethics. Whether it makes any sense to others or not, I see two approaches to questions of ethics, the behavioral and the normative. I don't doubt the existence and important role that ethics and "morality" plays in decision making and social choices, but I am "Simonesque" in my sense that we are probably wasting our time in attempting to develop or validate some normative position. This doesn't mean we can't study the role that ethics plays in social life in general and administrative life in particular, but there are limits to what we can know --and these limits must be acknowledged and honored unless we make the explicit decision to engage in the normative project. Our task as students of administrative ethics, therefore, should be descriptive with the intent of developing empirically (behaviorally) grounded theories of the role that ethics plays in social and administrative life. TJ&V has me rethinking that position, however. After highlighting the problems with the extreme positions on justice and virtue, O'Neill presents a coherent argument reflecting the reasonableness of a constructivist perspective that includes a carefully elaborated strategy for designating the relevant domain of an ethical position as well as the structure and content of the ethical principles that can be applied within that domain. Of particular relevance to the controversy over a response to terrorism, O'Neill establishes the foundation for a universalizable principle that rejects systematic and gratuitous injury against a population. Here is a normative position that makes practical and empirical sense, and it goes to the very heart of the injustices being advocated by some who would take the war on terror to the next level.... Onora O'Neillethicsjusticeliberalismneo-Kantian

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Cheers...and tears....

I am a New Yorker by birth (well, Brooklyn actually, but the difference is important mainly to us natives), and some would say by disposition and inclination as well. I am heading to the very long side of my 50s (actually, let's just say 59), and over the years I have been fortunate enough to have visited many of the most interesting (by reputation) cities in the world -- and actually lived in or near a few. That said, London stands out for some reason -- perhaps because I've had the pleasure of wandering about as a tourist but also (at times without purpose) when I had a few hours to kill on 'business visits'. It is one of the few places I'd choose to go to just for the sake of spending hours with no particular agenda.... All that is probably why I actually felt personally pleased at yesterday's news that London had won the 2012 Olympics bid. During my stay in Belfast I found myself fixated on the coverage of the bid, and especially all the effort put into preparations for the visit of the selection committee team a couple of months back. My New York roots aside, it just seems that London would make better use of the opportunity to host the games -- and despite my generally skeptical outlook on such things, I really do think the city itself will improve as a result.... And then there was my sense that it would be a pity if Paris got the bid.... And then this morning's news turned my elation into sadness. It has only been four or five hours since the explosions in the Underground and on the double-deckers were reported, and one can hope for the best -- that the celebrations of last night delayed the morning commute for many, that by some happenstance no trains were in the attacked stations, that the attackers were inept and incompetent -- but I have my fears for those Londoners and visitors who might have been in the tubes or on the attacked vehicles this AM. But this is London, after all, a city that has suffered its share of terror and others attacks over the past six or seven decades. I am especially anxious for my friends at the Fulbright House who might have been coming to work this morning, but there is some comfort in knowing that it takes quite a bit more than this kind of terror attack to bring a city like London to a stand still.... LondonOlympics

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The Rove watch begins....

The news that Karl Rove is possibly one of the White House 'leakers' in the Valerie Plame case does not seem to be stirring things up as much as one might expect. It certainly has the juices flowing over at News Hound ("We watch Fox so you don't have to...") where the expectations are high, but restrained.... If Rove is indeed the source, this could have pretty significant implications for US politics (especially if you believe, as most of us do, that Rove is the sharpest political operator on the scene today -- although you would not know it given the current problems of the White House...). Besides being an indictable offense, the leaking in this case certainly shows Rove to be as vulnerable to the arrogance of power as anyone, and at the least it will lead to him recommending to Bush that the President accept his resignation -- at least as a strategic way around the problem. Rove is too savvy to allow himself to become the issue, and while he has recently been elevated to assistant chief of staff (or whatever), he is also smart enough to know that he can be just as functional without title or official portfolio.... Karl RoveValerie PlameCIA

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Lets hear it for folk theories....

Having completed the Dennett book, I am left to mull over the implications of his strong defense of physicalism and his latest version of the Multiple Drafts Model (MDM) that now turns on the comparison of emergent consciousness with political anarchy and "being famous". I remain a fan of the MDM approach, but the comparison with fame is instructive and useful for Dennet's purposes in this book. Put simply, Dennett has always contended that consciousness is not an intrinsic "thing" per se, but rather quite literally a function of the various aspects of neurological operations that constantly contend for momentary predominance. It is a radical position which needs even more elaboration, but in Sweet Dreams he is preoccupied with countering the challenges coming from phenomenologists, the "zombie hunch", and the concepts of Qualia. In each instance he attempts to confront the challenge with both logic and calls for empirical evidence -- all the while noting that there is a growing body of evidence to back the materialist/funcitonalist perspective. Finding myself basically attracted to Dennett's views, I risk undermining the foundations of much of what I study and teach -- or at the least I will have to engage in some serious rationalizations for continuing to use some of the models and conventional explanations (the 'folk theories') I apply in my work. But then again, don't we all.... In the meantime I am returning to some unfinished 'business' -- my reading of Onora O'Neill's Towards Justice and Virtue : A Constructive Account of Practical Reasoning. More to come.... Dennett consciousness folk theories Multiple Drafts Model

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Worlds of the wars...

Took a bit of a break today to go to the movies. Headed out the door to see "Cinderella Man," but ended up at the last minute opting for Spielberg's "War of the Worlds." After reading a review or two, I was more curious than anything else, and my expectations were low. But overall not a bad flick if you don't let your own incredulousness about the details get in the way.... One notable part of the experience, however, came during the 'Coming Attractions' when it became evident that Hollywood is on a major sci fi binge. With one exception, each of the half dozen or so movie trailers shown were of that genre. At first I thought this was intentional -- after all, what do you try to sell to folks who came to see aliens destroying the world than more movies of that sort. But then I noticed that all the posters and adverts in the lobby -- and overwhelmingly they reflected the same types of movies. This may all be a result of 9/11 as Hollywood thinks that Americans will be most attracted to movies populated with superheroes or in which were are engaged in wars against alien invaders. Perhaps. To make things worse, the alternatives are few and far between at the moment. We will probably make it to 'Cinderella Man' this weekend, but beyond that and a movie titled 'Crash', there isn't much that seems worth sitting through.... I now regret having passed up the opportunity to see some of the more interesting movies that were shoiwng in Belfast over the last few weeks of my stay there.... movies

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Ireland as almost #1...

Even though I am on the other side of the pond and get the NY Times daily, I still have to rely on friend Ciarán to flag interesting items. In this case it is an OpEd by Thomas Friedman on Ireland's rise to the (almost) top of the EU. While Friedman has become somewhat of a tiresome observer, he does seem to have some credibility (and access to) the powers that be -- so whatever one might think about his analysis, it is good to see the Emerald Isle getting such great press... especailly if it spills over (as it does) into Northern Ireland.... Ireland

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Fingers crossed for Tacha....

The news out of Washington today was a bit of a shock for some -- Justice O'Connor's resignation was not what most expected, but there had been rumblings for years that she was thinking about leaving, particularly after her health problems a few years back. But now it looks like her husband's illness was the primary factor. While many folks are now extremely anxious about who Bush will put forward, I for one have have high hopes that the White House will make a wise choice and select Deanell Tacha, Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, to fill the vacancy. Randi noted that her name came up on a news segment on possible nominees. It would be a smart move politically, for Tacha is a longtime Republican from the heartland and anyone who knows her will likely sing her praises.... I don't think she could be labelled either liberal or conservative -- so most might see her as moderate. What she is is very smart and very competent.... Randi and I knew Deanell at the University of Kansas where she was on the law faculty and served as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs during the early 1980s. Randi worked for Deanell for a couple of years, and as someone involved in faculty governance at KU at the time I had some opportunity to cross her path a time or two before she left for the bench. But even then it was not uncommon to run into Deanell at the supermarket with her kids in tow shopping for dinner (small towns are like that). Born and raised in Kansas, with a law degree from Michigan, Deanell's appointment probably had as much to do with her family's long time GOP activism and friendship with then-Senator Bob Dole as anything else. But this is at least one instance where wisdom and political appointment match up, for Deanell is as sharp as they come. She would make a great appointment -- so oddly enough fingers are crossed in the Dubnick household for a GOP appointment to the Supreme Court.... US Supreme Court Deanell Tacha

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Sweet Dreams....

If I was to tell you that I am now reading a book about zombies, robots, magic and qualia that goes under the title "Sweet Dreams", you might guess that I have stumbled onto some unpublished Stephen King novel. But you would be mistaken; what I am reading is a short and well argued book by Daniel Dennett that carries forward his defense and elaboration of the now (in)famous Consciousness Explained volume published in 1991. Controversial as he might be, Dennett is nothing short of brilliant, and perhaps the most readable philosopher of the mind (or is it 'philosophy of the brain'?) dealing with a topic for which there is no shortage of contentious books by pretty decent authors. In fact, this little book is the result of a shelved project he undertook to respond to those who have critiqued or challenged his earlier work. The relevant literature was so vast that Dennett instead chose to write these essays, and in the process he once again breathes life into discusisons of heterophenomoneology, qualia, zombie hunches, and the supposed "Hard Problem" of consciousness studies. The style of writing is so engaging that I would label this an "easy read that is sometimes difficult to follow" unless you sit back and defer to Dennett's argumentation. In the process oyu not only get a greater apprecation of Dennett's work, but learn a great deal about things that are themselves the stuff of Stephen King novels (how about prosopagnosia and Capgras delusion... fascinating stuff). Why am I reading Dennett? Well, for several reasons actually -- beyond the fact that it is just interesting stuff. First, I am intrigued by the issues raised in his critical approach to consciounsess studies, and especially his hard line on methodology and insistence on testing the "folk wisdom" out there. He is a "popperian" of the first order and, for my money, a model for us gadflies to follow. His challenge to the concept of qualia (which I am reading about right now) can be extrapolated to any number of constructs we rely on in the study of politics and administration. Which brings me to a second rationale for reading Dennett: I believe his 'multiple drafts model" (MDM) view of consciousness is ultimately relevant to our understandng of public adminsitration and decision making in general. I almost put this to the test in one version of a recent paper (that will be published in PAR next year), but I botched the effort (my co-authors pointed out, quite kindly, of course) and instead the article gets around the point I was trying to make by relying on Karl Weick's notion of 'sensemaking' which is appropriate but a step or two removed from the Dennett thesis. Nevertheless, the MDM promises to provide a more interesting (and challenging) view of what Herbert Simon meant by "bounded rationality". Dennett's "cover" figure for "Sweet Dreams" (designated Figure 1.1 at points in the book) seems to illustrate MDM well -- it is a Saul Steinberg (he of 'a New Yorker's view of the world' fame) cartoon reflecting what a museum patron might be 'thinking' as he stands before a painting by Braque. How does any public administrator -- any individual, for that matter -- 'make sense' of the "war on terror" -- or any other altered situation for that matter. My own preoccupation with how multiple, diverse and conflicting expectations are handled by public sector actors leads me to believe Dennett's perspective will utlimately impact on our approach to PA.... DennettSweet Dreamsconsciousnessmethodologybookspublic administrationDennett

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