Hi Folks,

Here it is the final question. You can see the video here (but I warn you may wish to put dark glasses on before viewing).

http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Science-Education/265638800073

Here is the text version and hopefully this will give you something interesting to consider over the next two weeks!

Felix Guattari (1930-1992) was a radical analyst, social theorist and activist-intellectual. The 1996 book “The Guattari Reader” (Genosko,1996) quotes one of his positions:

“We can clearly see that there is no bi-univocal correspondence between linear signifying links or archi-writing, depending on the author, and this multireferential, multi-dimensional machinic catalysis. The symmetry of scale, the transversality, the pathic non-discursive character of their expansion: all these dimensions remove us from the logic of the excluded middle and reinforce us in our dismissal of the ontological binarism we criticised previously.”

Such expositions have been described as both illuminating (Genosko, 1996) or (as in the opinion of Sokal and Bricmont, 1996) “the most brilliant mélange of scientific, pseudo-scientific and philosophical jargon that we have ever encountered.”

Many of my colleagues would describe Guattari’s and others post-modern philosophical approaches as having revolutionised approaches to nursing science in the 21st century, as they move us toward a more humanistic and intuitive understanding of the world, and move us beyond positivism. In the book “Nursing Research: a qualitative perspective” Patricia Munhall suggests:

“Feminists like postmodernists have sought to develop new paradigms of social criticism that do not rely on traditional philosophical underpinnings. She notes that “feminist theories like other forms of postmodernism should encourage us to tolerate and interpret ambivalence, ambiguity and multiplicity as well as expose the roots of our needs for imposing order and structure. (pp. 139)”

I would probably question the assumption that feminism and postmodernism are somehow synonymous but, my question is; “Is this just another example of postmodern diatribe? For example, if we adopt a post-modern perspective on healthcare science, then surely both views on female circumcision (both for and against) are equally valid, and if so, it would seem we should be offering this as a therapeutic intervention in our health service provision to those who request it?”

What are your thoughts? Discuss in your pairs and post your responses as normal.

Refs:

Genosko G. (ed.), 1996 The Guattari Reader Blackwell,Cambridge, MA
Munhall P/L. 2007, Nursing Research: a qualitative perspective, Jones & Bartlett, Sudbery, MA
Sokal A. & Bricmont J., 1998, Fashionable Nonsense Picador Books

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