What we are “familiar-with” is not intelligently known, just for the reason that it is “familiar.” When engaged in the process of knowing, it is the commonest form of self-deception, and a deception of other people as well, to assume something to be familiar, and give assent to it on that very account. Knowledge of… read more »
Newcomers to systematic ideology are often surprised at the amount of attention paid to the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB). One reason for it is that in this organisation we find fully developed, set out ready for our inspection, the tendencies (in the jargon of s.i. the “eidodynamic” tendencies) which characterise the Left. One… read more »
From time to time IC includes short sharp jabs listed as “provocations”: This one appeared in IC5: Ideological uncertainty principle: The more precisely, an item of behaviour is quantified the less precise its significance becomes. Stan Chisman has responded: The more precisely an item of behaviour is quantified the less satisfactory it becomes as the… read more »
One conclusion toward which s.i. points is that the Political individualism associated with the eidodynamic has the result that the eidodynamic professions, (psycho-analysis for example), tend to be, unlike the eidostatic ones (physical science for example), areas of continuing intellectual conflict. Consider these remarks on the psycho-analytic theory of Jacques Lacan (a leading French analyst)… read more »
This review of Ideologies and Their Functions appeared in Reconciliation Quarterly. Ideologies and Their Functions. George Walford, 1979. Obtainable from The Bookshop, [address] Price: £3.95 HB; £1.95 PB. An interesting book. One cannot help liking a book which begins by pointing out that “I am mad about my flat” means “I am delighted with my… read more »
In IC5 there was an article by John Woodcock, entitled Evolution and Ideology. It posited an “evolutionary series” extending from the inorganic through the organic to the social and ideological. The purpose of the present short piece is to suggest that this concept is valid only if “evolutionary” be taken in that broad sense in… read more »
(In an earlier issue of IC we included a brief mention of this organisation and said a further account would follow. Here it is.) T.E.A.C.H. stands for Technology, Education and Change, the subjects with which it deals. It came into existence as a result of the very strong feedback from the conference on Education and… read more »
In IC 3 we noted the theory that personality determines belief, and pointed out that if it be accepted then it follows that those who believe this theory do so because of the personalities they have, and not because of any intellectual or scientific validity the theory may possess. We did not claim it as… read more »
Descriptions of the future we are to expect from rapid development of technology – computers, silicon chins and so forth – tend to present it as a time in which everything will be done for us. The great problem is expected to be the large numbers of people with nothing to do. But have you… read more »
After the second performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Berlin in 1829, there was a party for the performers. The wife of one of them, Therese Devrient, was sitting between Mendelssohn and a man who kept urging her to drink and showered her with inane and flirtatious compliments, until Therese, bored with his prattle,… read more »