progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC
INTELLECTUAL
An architecture, secondly, is also determined by effectors available, these may be the
people, technology, the financial elements, the legal elements, or in the broadest sense
what is available to make the elements function. People or technology for example places
bounds on what is achievable, however those bounds are typically well beyond the limits
that are self-imposed by the designer or architect in their view of the user in their world.
This concept of architecture and the use of design elements is critical in understanding
the paradigms used in the structure of information systems 188 .
World view is the most powerful driver in the development of an architecture. We argue
in this paper that it is essential to develop a philosophical perspective and understanding
of how to view what the architecture implements 189 .
We argue with Winograd and Flores, and in turn with Heidegger, that we must be thrown
into the embodiment itself, to understand the needs of the users, and to understand the
structure of the paradigms that are used to construct the world view.
To better understand the importance of an architecture we develop the concept of the
historicity of architectures and world views based upon the classic work of Kuhn and
then that of McLuhan.
Kuhn begins his thesis of how scientific revolutions occur by the introduction of the
concept of paradigms. He defines these as 190 ;
"...the term paradigm is used in two different senses. On the one hand, it stands for the
entire constellation of beliefs, values, techniques, and so on shared by the members of a
given community. On the other, it denotes one sort of element in that constellation, the
concrete puzzle-solutions which, employed as models or examples, can replace explicit
rules as a basis for the remaining puzzles of normal science, The first sense of the term,
call it sociological, ..., “
The concept of a paradigm is in essence the specific example, experiment, demonstration,
that all those who follow a specific theory are explicitly or implicitly relying upon or
basing their world view upon. The world is flat, man was created out of whole cloth, the
universe is 4,000 years old, or that the speed of light is limited, or that DNA controls all
life. The paradigm is that specific event, experiment, defining moment, from and upon
which the believes will refer back to and build their world view upon. Thus we return to
TR and his Progressive view of the Trusts. Yes there were trusts, a few, and yes they
controlled some important portions of the US industry but there were a few facts that TR
had not paid attention to.
188 See Winograd and Flores, pp 34-50, especially their discussion of Heidegger and Throwness in terms of design
189 See Kuhn, pp 72-85
190 see Kuhn p. 175
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