PRACTICE IN EXAMINING ONTOLOGIES
This section on Ontology covers the three archetypes of being, namely Materialism, Idealism, and Behaviourism. Having read through them first (each covered in a page), then try some of the following suggestions (or do similar things that will also illustrate the desired points): Take any one of the postulates and apply it to an issue of interest to you. The issue might occur in a media story, in a book or magazine you read, in a conversation you have, in a presentation you attend, or it might be something that just springs to mind.
In the case of Materialism, ask yourself “What are the units of analysis in the argument (or story, or case history, or whatever)?” Is the claim that everything is composed of atoms, or atoms and energies, or what (else)? Or is the argument that reality consists of “facts”. If so, what kinds of facts (physico-chemical, biological, sociological, psychological, or what)? Whatever the materialist unit of analysis in use, how are communication, observation, and concepts explained in this analysis? And how does a materialist analysis explain the non-material assumptions in materialist theories and explanations? Think of the many aspects of human and biological life that a materialist account cannot explain (there are so many, and they are so obvious), and ask yourself why anyone would want to rely on an ontology that leaves so much out. Then think about the appropriate uses of materialism, and the inappropriate ones, and remember that.
In the case of Idealism, ask yourself “Can I eat ideas, or sit on them? Will they provide shelter from the cold, or heat, or nosy eyes?” You get the idea. Ideas help you organize your activities, but in most cases they cannot satisfy the needs of the body, either personal or social. So what is their proper role? And why do we so often see their role in life blown out of proportion? Think about how they relate to, and complement material considerations. For every idealist explanation, think of some materialist aspect of the case as well. And for every materialist explanation, think of some idealist aspect of the case as well. Never mind the “grand arguments” but just ask yourself how long anyone would survive without both materialism and idealism working together all the time.
In the case of Behaviourism, ask yourself “What about those aspects of reality that are not susceptible to conditioning – such as gravity, or electricity, or entropy.” Behaviourism applies to any organism, because they can all, to one extent or another, learn from interaction with their environments – even plants bend towards the sunlight. But non-animate entities don’t learn, so the concept of conditioning is moot in those cases. Since the total mass of the earth includes a far larger non-animate proportion than animate proportion, Behaviourism has important but very limited spheres of use. Examine peoples’ behaviour, and ask yourself these questions: To what extent is their behaviour learned, and to what extent innate. Does everyone learn as easily [no], or retain lessons to the same extent [no]. So, what schedules of conditioning produced the results we see? How do ideas affect habits? How do material facts affect behaviour?
Next, take an issue and try all three ontologies on it. See how the “look and feel” changes as each of the different ontologies is applied to it. What proportion of each of the ontologies is involved in accounting for different instances of reality? It all depends on your perspective.