The other problem with functionalism is the implicit tendency to homeostasis.
Whatever happens serves the function of maintaining the whole. Functionalist
conceptions of welfare in capitalist society focus solely on its
system-maintaining characteristics, when actually between the partial
decommodification and independence from the marketplace, the reality is much more
ambiguous.
Joel Blau
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I think Cohen was right that
> historical materialism is basically functional explanation,a nd I approve of
> historical materialism. You mistake functional explanation for teleology if
> you think it involves reference to the "purpose" of events in a "grander
> scheme of things." Rather it explains events in terms of their usefulness for
> phenomena that support them. Thus (in the dated example of my paper), welfare
> is functionally explained in capitalism because of its function in damping
> social unrest, stabilizing the capitalist state that is itself functional for
> capitalist reproduction. There is no suprahuman teleogy here; the only
> uintentions are of actual political actors, class, state, and individual
> operating within constraints. But read the paper, it's really quite useful. I
> will send you a copy if you like. --jks
>
> In a message dated 6/21/00 11:18:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> << Justin wrote:
> >Functional explanation is legitimate, but Cohen's account of it in terms
> >of "consequence laws" is wrong; you need a mechanical account of
> >explanation, i.e., one that regards explanation as exposing the causal
> >mechanisms
>
> functional explanation isn't the same as seeing the feed-back from the
> whole to the parts. I don't think functional explanation is reasonable in
> most cases, at least in social science. We can't explain societal events or
> institutions in terms of their purpose in some grander scheme of things.
> They are instead the result of individuals "creating history" within the
> pre-existing society, based on the ideology that's encouraged and rewarded
> within that society.
> >>
