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    Matern On Forms and Causes Toronto School and Plato PDF

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    Matt Mayuiers

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    ISSN 0826-9920, Kitudes maritainiennes Maritain Studies Publis par association canadienne Jacques Maritain Published by he Canadian Jacques Maritain Association EDITOR - DIRECTEUR Walle J Schulte, Dominican University College ASSOCIATE EDITOR -pIRECTELE ADIOINT Niki a Se sre EDITORIAL ASSISTANT-ADJOITEA LA REDACTION 21052016) MANAGING EDITOR - DIRECTEUR DES SERVICES DE REDACTION Willian Svc, Prince Unies DE REDACTION EDITORIAL HOARD ene! Toure ah Nel alge donc. Ono Chivers af Windor Ricard si acetas Sin Pat Univers fect ener (rene thats Join. Kase Uber Onova Woot Univer af Ts Host Sess inset a The Philp’ deste Reperaie Iuboraphige dea poopie {Wows inthe LA ibiogrephy Larevacest envied The Power es le Repent asierptiqu de apiouphi erp Abort: 258 ean Subscription: $25 pre “Tote communication de care sommes do envoy Business correspondence incline suscpions and membership nthe ‘xsocton) shoul he diet Tresurer, escain conaderne Jacques arin The Cana Dhwa ON. KI IGHCANADA, oral correspondence Conergy, bok for ev) lhe snr Arce es fphrcompte rm deseo prvie DeWiiter Schl, ono, 9a Engen Dyan ON, IR GRCANADA, ‘tudes maritainiennes ~ Maritain Studies ‘Vol. XXXIL, 2016 SOMMAIRE- CONTENTS Plato and/or Aristotle: The Legacy ow Aristo: leurs héitages respects Pasar of Lie roe (951-2CHE) au Luar Deo (195-2015) Leslie Armour: Metaphsician, Philoxopher of Cammunity Fiend Some Refetions on J. MeTagart’sPilosphieal System: 2 Simple ‘Metapysis but a Complex Epistemolgy us. ssensons aa) Ricard Fe (On Forms and Causes The Toronto Schol of Cmmmunlstion as Posscript to Plato ” Troerick Matern ‘The Cosmological Argument & he place of Contestation in Piosop ical Discourse: From Plate & Aristotle ty Contemporary Debates 0 ‘Soot Venter Platonic and Aristotelian ftlences inthe Philosophy af Language: A Cas for the Crag. "2 Eades martinices Marin Stes one’s neighbour even though one may not ceally lke him all that much, ‘MeTaggart puts itis way Arse expeicce ic sufi o show uth ts posible o love a mi Siltover hic gules ar, prvidd tha the wily and he coreiousers oft i Uy ar sendy intense” In the end, there is 4 community of absolute selves, timeless, mutually perceiving and loving. Everything else is ultimately an slusion. As 1 said "arlicr.this very simple metaphysics is going to requie taf explanation i tems of a complex eor analysis. One could say that for MeTagr, metaphysis is easy. epistemology is difficule, (On Forms and Causes: 1¢ Toronto School of Communication as Postscript to Plato | Conctasons TThave by no means aticulated all the complexities of MeTaggan’s system, Bu what hve shown tat he omaogiea pet ofthe system, mel tat the Shivers consis of non-spaosemporal minds (or sees) and their vie perceptions ofeach ober. ae not tebly complicted. Moveover, Ihave ii to sogest ht the fal complexity of McTaggart’ thought, and have only suggsed i not shown i it det isin the arcu of theme hich we confuse suc simple univene withthe one thst we eri “Tis is another way of uying wo understanding way McTaggo held thal philosophy, i heed, bolton tito kindof mticiam, This sts Dot the view thatthe univers is ovely mysterious or Bewidringly comps ‘chat itis extremely simple perhaps to simple 0 vealy proces in kin tional inlet ranne. In some ways, this tings us Bak to Wiens ‘whos tha the degps things cannot be sad, but shown, MeTaggat woul ‘ay tha the deepest hings cannot he cant be atic, Du perceived Froerck Mitre eas of Frie Havelock, Harold Adams Lanis and Marshall MeL uan have cllectively referred 10 asthe “Toronto School of Communication.” These scholars were not united by disciplines ~ Havelock was a classicist, Innis ical economist, and McLuhan a professor of English ~ but besides a ical chstering in Toronto. they were united in the idea that what is tant about communication is not the content but the form: in which that is transmited. The priory of frm over content should ot be confused concer of this school with "syle over substance." since the common these viriters is more profound. The transformational power af medium sage hearkes hack fo Plato's theory of forms and pettaps provides a $10 Why these theariss might fatly be considered impenetrable to those pproach them from the positivist worldview. this paper Twill provide a rie overview af the main ideas of the Toronto ‘nd why the dominant paradigm of thinking. about them — as able theories of “media effects” — may miss the mark. Marshall han openly suid that his studies wer, rather, a set of propositions about I cuises and no efficient canses, an idea that was, according to Eric han, suggested wo him by Jaeques Maritain ‘The aphorism “tbe medium message” cannot be grasped! aa medium having an effect oa the content, sages, any more than saying the “appleness” ofan apple has an effet on ape, colour or taste of the apple. The sume hols forthe the Toronto 48 8 group. In just the same way, Innis’ idea of “space-binding” and binding” media should not he seen a a description oF effects, hy whieh I Ottawa, Ontario, Cana Mca, “Itadaction” in Marshall McLahan and Eric MeL, Mes 1 Caave Houston, TX: NeaPoiess Pes, 2011, PS Sp 138 rales mariisennes/ Marin Sades Mater: he Toronto School of Communication aed Plato mean “efficient causes” (as in, “writing on papyrus causes oF makes possible in considering Exie Havelock a foundational memiber* There i, in any the Roman Empire”) but of forms (‘papyrus is the form of communication in MB broad enough agreement that there is a common idea supporting all hee an empire like the Roman Empire"). The Arstoclian differentiation of cause thinking, which T characterize in the following way: there is. a ‘would ths seem to be useful way of understanding the Toronto Schoo! ship Between, on the one hand, the way societies, even down to the Bur there is another salient feature common to the members of the Toronto gL of individual minds, ave structured and. on the thet. the dominant media School Judith Stamps made a link between the work of Inns and McLuhan on inication in those societies. The following isa brief overview of the , the one hand, and the “negative dialectic” of Theodor Adorno and the Frank Be scholars! main ideas, School, although how, either MeLuhan’s or Innis" dialectic Is negative is not made explicitly clear* Canadian historian of commusication thought Robert fod Innis Babe found that a key feature of Canadian communication thought generally, Tnis” carly carer was centred on a staples theory of political economy. land this cerainly includes MoLuhan and Innis, was dialectical reasoning. xe, for example, about the role of the for trade in opening up Canadian ‘What I wish t elucidate is what exactly formal causation may mean when the to European seitlement and how that trade shaped economic and Toronto Scbool authors are exansined in that way, and whether, fundamental pater in this country's histo. Later, his research shifted 1 a study these yehoars were not more Platonists than Arstteians. If dilectic is th: nications media and how they led to monopolies of knowledge common methad, and if form is, in these discussions about communication ‘various social castes in history. His book Empire and Communications really a eference to the Forms, or, in more precise terms, eon or essential lmbed two cental biases of communications media: they could either Favour ‘quality. we may find more use in the Toronto Sehool as 4 methodological i time ihe classe example being sione engravings in ancient Egypt approach to talking about what technology should be in essence. Ti favoured stability and preserved a monopoly of knowledge among a Upon Platonic dlaectic reasoning, following Georges Gurvitch (1894-1965) liply caste) or binding space (the historic example being papyrus, adopted by and Aleksei Losey (1893-1988), both of whom studied the subject of dialect: mans from Eayp which in combination with the Roman technology of intensively, fee from its 1h~ and 20th-century shackles of materialism (whic fs MMPbuilding, bound the vast empire together). Each medium, with its bias, is a weakness in the comparison to the Frankfurt School), and see how i es a certain kind of socal contol, and lends itself 10 the cretion of applies to Innis’ time-binding and space-inding communications media, 0 ies of knowledge. The tendeney to overcame these menopoies with iavelock's view of the source of Wester literacy: and io MeLulan’s Figure ia of communication represents a competitive diving force in history? Ground and dialectic of Tetrads. McLuhan explained his work in terms of lie Armour and Elizabeth Tri resid ws that nis was social seientist Avisotelian formal cause. The next stp, from Aristotle back to Plato, with his lie tie for philosophy, but only because the philosophy of hs ime Uialectic reasoning and Forms, is needed 10 make sense of the Toronto School df have given up on his projeet of integrating the human and natural asa schoo 7 Indeed, as we have noticed, Innis arrived at his ideas about the ‘There isa legitimate question over whether the three scholars am writing ‘of communication trough his economic studies of stapes, He has been about can even be called a school, Often, itis MeLuhan and Innis who ars ‘technological determinist, although there are other scholars who singled out as the key figures. I, however, follow Derick de Kerkhove and {0 focus on his description of the inwerplay between society and nication technology. [think the key point to help us decide isthe way nis pays attention tothe bias in social stueture, rather than cause of structure, thal commonications media represen. 2° Judith Stamps, Uthinking Modernity: bis, MeL, au the Frankfurt Schl _ —— Momcal: McGill Quoens University Pres, 1995. rick de Kercove, “MeLhan andthe Toronto Schon of Commun See Rotert abe, Canadian Comuuicaton Thought fev Foundational Wet Journal of Camara (1989), p73 (Coron: Univesity of Toronto Press 2000), p.27~ berate eer ts Can arch A tn. "A Plea for Times” in The Blas of Communication (Torts {Communication Thowsh iy of Toronto Press, 1991). 9. "See Ril) P.M Waluo snd Menahem Blonds, eds, The Toronto Schaol ie Armour and Elizabeth Trt, The Faces of Reason: An Esse Philosophy Communication Theory: Interpretations, Xenia. Applications (Verona Univer ure in Engin Canada, 1850-1950 (Ween, Ont Wied Laur Univers ‘of Torts Press, 2007. 962, Etudes marines / Martin Soler Matern: The Toronto Schoo of Communication ad Pte led visual space or acoustic sp Eric Havelock Inhis Preface to Pav, ric Havelock asks the question of why Plato would in his ulopian Republic, exclude poets and the ara posry* He Finds the answer in what poetry and the poetic experience would have actually meant tthe ancient Greeks. Poetry was not what we tink of it being in Ou literate ag rather, it was’ form of preservation of knowledge, « kind of living encyclopedia, and the poets had a special influence and power due to ther sole in preserving knowledge, Ths significance ofthe ancient poets is easily lost on those who can access knowledge though the wsten word Havelock wrote extensively on the effect of the phonetic alphahet on readers and literate societies, and the shift from oral society o literate society Oral communication puts an emphasis on finding ways to remember things ‘Verse is a essential tool of un oral culture. Homer aid Hes were not writin | works af an, bat recording in siting, atthe begining of the iterate age, the ‘oral eneyclopaeia of ie religion and culture. “Orally preserved statement his to be ‘poeticizd statement,” as Havelock puts i” Verse lends ise 1 retelling the ste story faihflly, while te structure af prose makes this mor suited to written text. The prevalence of verse in writen classical literature ‘does not belo this conclusion: rather, aes (0 the transition from an ora culture ro iterate one." Literate societies, expecially those societies with a phonetic alphabet are x 4 different footing. No longer reli on the hypantic chant of the posicze eneyclopedia, the literate person is able to become a person in away closer to ‘our understanding ofthe concept. Only ina literate society can knower separa himself from the known. Is this relationship between communication ti ‘memory that seems to be key in Havelock’s thinking. And its fo this reason, Heayeloek says, that Plato comes down so hard on poets in his republic. Ora culture is not conducive to the kind of wisdom that is necessary to un bis utopia. Ieeauses the audience a become the subject, more directly te-lving the subject matter than a reader would noemally do Literacy allows Tor absieuction ‘nd meatal manipulation in & way that the oral tration does not. fhe viewer. He called such media “ho.” These madia exit in Visual space the audience to supply more information, iars have stuggled wit p06 probahl in as Aquinas said of Plato: “he constantly used figures of speech hagas i sth ‘now, ascribed four causes to things: matral formal, eieient and fina versity oF Windsor rose study ws cared to ines resent tories of Marshal than conceming the ‘ifrental ‘fects het (movie) and "co" esison) communication: mea. Four groups of college stents (N = 81) peed the samc highway acidet fim, “Signal 3! der four differen medi tions (color movi and bac ad wie flevison with and wiht sound Dependent arhle measurements were maby adsense “oe ofthe Mulipl Affect Adjective Cheek List (MAACL) wal Ss ur ines de aciden! im by “hal” mesa ie) were expected 10 score ian higher onthe anxiety, depression ad ote ssa of the NACL tha thse Wh wore caps the so” media elvision, Tere Marshall McLuhan “The Key o MeLthan’s study ofthe media is his focus on the interplay bere media of communication and the senses. Thus media could either favour whit * See Bie Havelck, Preface wy Plone (Cambridge, Mas: Hara University Pres 1963) ete setae os Prefore * Eni Havelock. Origins of Were Eteacy Coron: OSE, 1976, "Soe Eric Havelock, The Muse Learos so Write (New Haven, Conn: Yale Universi ros, 1986) 92 etary oe Mee 1965) Certain media—such as film, radio and raphy, were high in definition, and because of the fact that these media ly so much information © the audience, they do not invite pareipaion ie space i the realm of "eoo!” media which are low-detniion and thus the idea of hot and coot media in subsequent Researchers, cage o use the concept ss a hypethess to est, have Been by the seeming vagueness snd unveriiabliyofthe cones. In 3 fein, MeLuhat is tmembered fr his apbocams, “The Medium fs the his most famous quote. Many cfitcs would say of ing by symbols and giving his words a meaning quite other than thei theme that wites the three members of the Toronto Sebo! can be 1 fallow: media of conimunieation somehow make a iference inthe individuals and whole societies interact withthe world. The most common sm of the school, a eritciam that fen has een and continues «© be i sufers from technological determinism. Aristotle, the charge of technological determinism into terms of Aristotelian ent causation, society as we know its an eer caused by technologies of| te an abstract ofan experimental study from 1969 inspite by the view Luinan was saying media “effects” inthis way by the researchers a nas / De Ania ie Plato babu mau modum den, Onna enim figura Per symbol dost.” Fara ust of some of theme pop reo 0 oa ce Raymond Rosenthal, ed MeLatan: Pro and Con (New Yow: Ponsa ruses mariner / Marin Staten ica diference in posi MAACL scores for the i media coats nd tus MeL aku’ hype wer ot spore” ‘his seems to me to be something of an extreme example of scholar ia experimental social psychology “not getting” MeLaha. But othe than a sense ‘of incommeasurability of methods, what i i tht is being mised here? Reading Aristotle and Aquinas, we find tha efficiem causes are canes of the motion of things, and are thus prior othe effets they eause in rime," And ‘on a historical seale, we havea tendency to think of etses in terms of effets Hence Raymond William's eitcism of McLuhan, who was seen by Willa 1s taking media as an elficient cause of historical effects, As Willams writes “i the medium is the cause, all oer causes, all dhat men normally see sy history, are at once reduced 1 effects." Technological determinism, he note “is an untenable notion because it substitutes for teal social, politcal and economic intention, ihe the aon atonony’ of invention or an sexta hhuman essence." MeLuban talks about effects of formal causes, but in the literature

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