Stephen -- I recall that Dan Dennett mentioned being chided by Richard Rorty
[justifiably, I think] for using the term 'hysterical' in a context that
lent itself to misunderstanding based on the gender-political baggage you
allude to. I think it was in Consciousness Explained; maybe Dominic can
correlate.
'Fanatical positivism', perhaps: being flipped into a modality that drives
you to build reassurance about the correctness of your point of view. This
leads not to being blinded to any evidence to the contrary, but rather to
the reconstruction of such evidence to make it perform the positivist
function you desire. I hazard a guess.
P
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to
> poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Stephen Vincent
> Sent: 19 December 2005 17:55
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: "Male hysterics"
>
> Is there a psychological category/classification for "male
> hysteria"? I admit to suffering from what that is on
> occasion. But it begins to strike me that
> Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Gonzales et al are "male-hysterics". I
> suspect it was not the Twin Towers but the plane that went
> into the Pentagon (the equivalent of their private parts)
> that provoked a full dose, now over 4 year sustained attack
> of this nationally self-destructive hysteria. In their
> madness they have torn-up the constitution, tortured, etc., etc.
>
> Not a pretty site! Pretty crazy. It will be interesting to
> see if the U.S.A.
> Congress and Judiciary will have the courage to stop enabling
> this disease.
> I suspect, sadly, the recovery will be quite slow.
>
> Stephen V
>
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