| The history of research would suggest that we have made both too much and too little of meaning. In some idealistic schemes, meaning has played a dominant role in understanding how the world came to be, who we are, and how things work. Plato, for example, posited a separate realm of Meaningful Forms that somehow give substance to the imperfect examples of things we experience on a daily basis--everything from running shoes and jump shots to love and athletic determination. Many modern theorists would argue that such idealistic superstructures are fictions and consequently, that Plato made too much of meaning. On the other side of the coin, scientific materialists suggest that everything is composed of atoms and void. Subjective experiences are nothing more than brain states. Every research puzzle will be solved by looking for and eventually understanding underlying mechanisms. Some modern researchers, however, think that these reductionists are unduly and harmfully constrained by their commitment to one-way, material causation. In other words, they do not make enough of meaning. In this session, 2007 Raymond A. Weiss Lecturer Scott Kretchmar, Professor of Exercise and Sport Science at Penn State University, will defend a middle position on this issue, one that takes both meaning and atoms seriously. This position has significant implications for the kind of research we should be undertaking, our chances of solving complex movement problems, and even the shape of future Kinesiology Departments. |