Mechanistic:
Harvard University
This website is intended as support for a course at Harvard University (h2o).
Lindblom
http://h2o.law.harvard.edu/ViewProject.do?projectID=540
Machine:
"Etymology:
Middle French, from Latin machina, from Greek mechane
mechos expedient
archaic : a constructed thing material or immaterial...
an assemblage of parts that transmit:
force
motion
energy
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/machine
Mechanism (philosophy)
"In philosophy, mechanism is a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes.
It can be contrasted with vitalism, the philosophical theory that vital forces are active in living organisms, so that life cannot be explained solely by mechanism."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanism_(philosophy)
Mechanism ,
mechanical, and
mechanistic
"Mechanism , mechanical, and mechanistic, as these words are used in philosophy, have come to designate a worldview which renders superfluous the existence of disembodied conscious agents; in other words, "everything in the universe is produced by mechanical [i.e. physical] forces" (OED mechanism 6).
This is a peculiar variation on those meanings which have accompanied these words from their Indo-European and Greek roots through Latin, Old English and Present-day English. Mechanism has always meant machinery, contrivance; mechanistic, having to do with machines and similar structures with a mutual adaptation of parts; and in the case of mechanical, having to do with tradesmen or manual labour. There is always the sense of human (or analogous to human) purpose and design. How is it then, that the philosophical sense of mechanism has managed to cast off the implication of purpose, contrivance and design, leaving only the activity of physico-chemical laws, i.e. materialism? Furthermore, what residual effect does the common meaning of mechanism ("machine") have on this philosophical sense? Does the implication of purpose ?
When William Paley claims in his 1802 work Natural Theology that "[m]echanism is not itself power" and that "[m]echanism, without power, can do nothing," he marks a kind of midpoint between the ancient roots of the word and its modern philosophical sense, both of which invest mechanism with generative power. Although the Greek root mechanikos, from mechane (machine) refers to contrivances that would require a source of power, the OED notes a root form in Indo- European: magan, "to be able," which is related to a group of Germanic words denoting human agency, such as Indo- European mag and Old Slavic moga, "I can" (OED machine; may). These are the same roots from which modern German macht (power) and English might derive, hence mechanism was, at one time, power. But it was power intimately connected with human agency, just as the first machines used by human beings were. In fact, many early appearances of machine and mechanism do not refer to external contrivances at all, but rather to mental plots and intentions; in PDE, these have become machinations. The OED cites an example from St. Cuthbert, c. 1450: "Sho . . . machynd in hir mynde for thy at it was best for hir to fly" (machine [v.]1b)."
David Lavery
http://davidlavery.net/Barfield/Barfield_Scholarship/Zimmer.html
Harvard University:
Leaders: lindblom
Keywords: Harvard University, harvard, lindblom, general systems theory
Description:
lindblom
HOT TOPICS THINK TANK (!)
B.I.O.
(Post-Doctoral)
For summer fun... What is the hottest topic of the day?
Back once again by popular demand: As this course is developed, for summer, it is anticipated that the hot topics in disciplined inquiry shall be identified by a group of students signed prior to the beginning of the course: a pre-course Think Tank.
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http://h2o.law.harvard.edu/ViewProject.do?projectID=553
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