[hist-analytic] State of Nature: Methodological? Abstraction? Counter-Factual?

[Baynesr at comcast.net]

MacPherson differs from most other commentators on Hobbes by 
insisting that the state of nature at "initial position" 
involves a preexisting society. He distinguishes three 
different societies. What characterizes all of them are 
certain market conditions. They are The Status Society, 
the Simple Market Society and the the Possessive Market 
Society, which is what we live in. His task is to provide 
a motive for leaving the state of nature defined in these 
terms, which are not a state of war in the sense traditionally 
conceived. 



It is this third sort that allows for this possibility. 
His details are reasonably persuasive but, more importantly, 
insightful and original. They are useful to me because of the 
interface with economics and, ultimately, distributive 
justice. That's where Rawls and some game theoretically 
oriented people will come in. 



On possible worlds: take a look at how Kripke introduces 
them. He calls it by "stipulation." I think that is how 
he puts it but I don't have the book in front of me. 
If I am right, Kripke is not stipulating a world but, 
rather, abstracting worlds from the actual world. There 
can, therefore, if I am right, only be as many worlds as 
facts. Can't go into all that; I'm doing other stuff. 

On Myth: I have to think about this a bit more. Keep in 
mind that for Rawls the idea of a contract being formulated 
and agreed upon is not a "myth" but a representational 
device. There are other alternatives. I won't get into 
that. The aspect of myth that interests me is what 
Cassirer talks about in the Myth of the State. It's an 
easy read. I'm gonna take another look at it. Poincare 
made some "crack" about him not being such a good 
mathematician. "Mathematician?" I thought. If Poincare 
would call me a not so good anything I'd be flattered. 



Regards 



STeve 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jlsperanza @ aol .com 
To: hist-analytic@ simplelists .co. uk 
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 1:23:38 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific 
Subject: State of Nature: Methodological? Abstraction? Counter-Factual? 


In a message dated 2/13/2010 3:51:19  P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
Baynesr @comcast.net writes: 
"Thus in the  Rudiments the state of war is hypothetical 
condition, got by a purely  logical abstraction." (p. 28) 

----  

Thanks for the further quote from McPherson. 

That's an interesting thought! 

I would be interested to learn more about the different approaches  here. 

I always divided the approaches into 

-- genetic: those who believe the state of nature did exist. 

----- methodological: those who use it as a methodological device. Rawls ,  
"veil of ignorance". 

It's all pretty confusing, I know. 

But I _am_ interested. 

--- I am particularly inclined to regard those allusions as 'mythical' . A  
'myth' may have 'educational' value, though (My recent invigorated 
sympathies  for 'myth' derive from Wharton's book on pragmatics -- new with CUP which 
concludes with what he calls Grice's 'myth' about the origin of language. 

    [ Grice's myth: in the origin there was 'nature' . Only  signs naturally 
signifying this or that. In the state of our civilised states,  it's all 
artificial, etc.] 

---- I'm slightly confused by talk of 'counterfactual' -- in terms of  
possible-world semantics. It seems to me that a true counterfactual , I mean a  
genuine counterfactual (a subjunctive, or past subjunctive) conditional would 
need to postulate something different from a mere reference to the _past_ . 
I  don't think the past is a different world, as we may say an irreal world 
is a  different world. Hartey used to say that the past is "a foreign 
country" but  that's different and just metaphorical). 

---- I do like McPherson's idea that in Hobbes's counterfactual , it is not  
men as having desires they might have had then back in the state of nature, 
but as having desires as they have NOW, in this world, at this time. 

Etc. 

JLS 

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