Received: from mail2.sas.upenn.edu (MAIL2.SAS.UPENN.EDU [165.123.26.33]) by csf.Colorado.EDU (8.8.4/8.8.4/CNS-4.1p-nh) with ESMTP id IAA18005 for ; Thu, 23 Oct 1997 08:01:18 -0600 (MDT) Received: (from jmote@localhost) by mail2.sas.upenn.edu (8.8.5/8.8.3/SAS.03) id KAA11796 for socgrad@csf.colorado.edu; Thu, 23 Oct 1997 10:01:17 -0400 (EDT) From: jmote@sas.upenn.edu (Jonathan E Mote) Message-Id: <199710231401.KAA11796@mail2.sas.upenn.edu> Subject: Re: Standpoint Theory To: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 10:01:17 -0400 (EDT) In-Reply-To: <199710222214.SAA14470@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu> from "Thomas F Brown" at Oct 22, 97 06:14:46 pm MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'm unfamiliar with the term standpoint theory or its application in sociology. My mention of Barbara Smith is more a reference to the mechanisms of scholarly discourse, akin to the recent work in the rhetoric of the human sciences (McCloskey, Fuller, et al). I am more interested in how our rhetoric conveys meaning and shapes knowledge. Even this is a commonsensical observation, but I am continually amazed at the number of people who recognize that facts are theory-laden, yet fail to recognize (or refuse to) that their own discourse is theory-laden as well. -- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @ Jonathon E. Mote @ @ Department of Sociology @ @ University of Pennsylvania @ @ jmote@sas.upenn.edu @ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Thomas F Brown wrote: > > > As my limited understanding goes, standpoint theory holds that > people's perceptions of society differ because they have different > perspectives. > > That strikes me as a commonsensical observation, ambiguously > conceptualized, and of little explanatory value in an analysis > of any logical rigor. But I'm assuming it's just the starting > point for the better standpoint theorists. > > Can anyone explain how the good standpoint theorists elaborate > the argument, or how they conceptualize it more concretely? > -- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @ Jonathon E. Mote @ @ Department of Sociology @ @ University of Pennsylvania @ @ jmote@sas.upenn.edu @ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@