It's very easy to confuse the underlying cause for doing something with one's reason for doing it.
Example: The underlying cause for my perpetual search for sexual and emotional bonding is the complex of instincts surrounding reproduction. But that's got nearly nothing to do with my personal reasons for seeking those things.
It seems to me that Libertarians and Supply-Side zealots make this error most often. They think that because all human activity can be described in terms of cost:benefit or economics, that human behavior can be *understood* by in those terms. It can't; it can only be understood in its own terms.
Many hedonists make a similar error, though: They identify a subset of basic drives, and assume that they are fundamental and sufficient to explain human behavior and cognition. They're wrong on all three assumptions.
Example: The underlying cause for my perpetual search for sexual and emotional bonding is the complex of instincts surrounding reproduction. But that's got nearly nothing to do with my personal reasons for seeking those things.
It seems to me that Libertarians and Supply-Side zealots make this error most often. They think that because all human activity can be described in terms of cost:benefit or economics, that human behavior can be *understood* by in those terms. It can't; it can only be understood in its own terms.
Many hedonists make a similar error, though: They identify a subset of basic drives, and assume that they are fundamental and sufficient to explain human behavior and cognition. They're wrong on all three assumptions.
goatlove:
Exterminate all rational thought.