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Well, the literature on that book would probably fill a library so I
ought to limit myself.
I don't know where the idea of "no revolutions" comes from, but I would
have thought that the idea that the dominant paradigm being gradually
eroded in the very process of working itself out is pretty suggestive.
Maybe the fall of Apartheid didn't live up to the image of a revolution
either? Anyway, I think there are a lot of parallels with both Vygotsky
and Hegel, so long as one remains within the confines of a closed
scientific community. The main thing I was struck by was Kuhn's notion
of concepts as problem solution.
Vygotsky said it many times, but for example from "The development of
thinking and concept formation in the adolescent" in the Vygotsky
Reader: "only
during the course of some intelligent activity directed toward the
attainment
of a specific goal or the solution of a particular problem, can a
concept come
into being and take form." Or this paragraph:
"In contrast to the process
of maturation of
instincts and inborn drives, the impelling force which determines the
start of
any process or initiates any evolving mechanism of behaviour and
propels it
forward along the path of further development, is not to be found
inside, but
outside the adolescent and, in this sense, the problems thrown up in
front of
the maturing adolescent by the society around him, which are connected
with the
process of growing into the cultural, professional and social life of
adults,
are extremely important functional aspects which continually depend on
the
reciprocal conditionality and the organic coherence and internal unity
of form and
content in the development of thinking."
When you say "the cell concept of the concept is there
all the time," I presume you mean the paradigm which is generating the
problem-solving activity? Yes, until it falls into crisis. So you have
an ideal, which first arose as a solution to a total crisis, and then
sets up a new project to establish itself and solve its own problems.
And thus all the subordinate concepts, its "special principles" (to use
Hegel's phrase) appear in the form of problems needing to be solved.
But the solution or not of every problem ricochets back on the "cell"
as you call it.
Does that make sense?
Andy
Carol Macdonald wrote:
It's me, who never has the reference to hand, but apparently,
there aren't actual revolutions, the dominant paradigm gets gets
eroded and eroded over time.
And yes, I can see the unit as the developed concept--but aren't
we going to have to describe what happens as this thing is developing?
So I don't think it is totally compelling. Of course I may be missing
something, and the cell concept of the concept is there all the time?
What do you think, Andy?
Carol
--
Visiting Lecturer
Wits School of Education
Research Fellow
Linguistics Dept: Unisa
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