[Xmca-l] Re: units of analysis? LSV versus ANL

[Martin John Packer]

Hi Haydi,

In the first chapter of Thought & Language, LSV points out that traditional psych had separated the intellectual, volitional, and affective aspects of human life, so that  "thinking itself became the thinker of thoughts." In my view this has remained true for much of the history of psychology since LSV was writing. Cognition has been studied as though it is disconnected from the motives, interests, and inclinations of the person who thinks. LSV set out to avoid this false separation, and there are constant references throughout T&L to the ways that verbal thinking is linked to what people desire and what they do. In this sense, yes, activity (in the general sense) was important to LSV. To repeat myself, my interpretation is that for him consciousness was *an aspect* of activity. It is in activity that we perceive, we feel emotion, we remember, and we think. I suggested earlier that thinking is an *articulation* of action; we also think when we *pause* from action; but we even then I would say that we think in order to act. 

In this regard it seems to me LSV also tied his work to the labor theory of Marx. He certainly highlighted the central importance of Marx's work as a model of methodology. But at the same time he was very critical of the ways so-called Marxist psychologists in Russia at that time had made use of Marx's theory. I imagine he might have said the same of ANL.

Martin
 



On Oct 18, 2014, at 7:06 AM, Haydi Zulfei <haydizulfei@rocketmail.com> wrote:

> Hi John
> If there's any talk of activity , it's a joint goal-oriented activity ; then what you think of 'speech' being an activity might be where 'speech itself' is in the focus with motives , goals , conditions .
> You want to sacrifice some innocents into a war ; you need a strong adept lecturer to excite them , stimulate them , propagate them through speech though other things are also available . In this circumstance , speech could be called "an activity proper" .
> But there's a time you want to reach and conquest a mountain top as the motive for an activity . There might be lots of speech and speech acts in this enterprise but the motive and goal are different from what we had in the first instance . Here speech asts just as a vector , means of communication , ignoring its organizational and cognitive capabilities .  
> And two more points :
> 1. I think at least in one place in 'thinking and speech' , Vygotsky analyzes speech as something which comes into being through the process of labour and with the assistance of tools and paralinguistics primarily bound to it . 
> 2. In the last lines of 'thinking and speech' , Vygotsky holds that he's traversed a reverse path ; he should have begun with "motive" other than words and concepts . And we may find many things in Luria's "Language and Cognition" in this regard . I think what might be fault with ANL besides his acts of espionage and conspiracies is that he did not waver in his belief to attach his theory to that of the labour theory of Marx . In fact all of them , at least , wished and hoped to make a society other than what the America now is . I remember Anna Stetsenko having said this many times while she was still here . And I very much like to know what dear Luria taught his friends and disciples about the whole deeds of his close friend , A.N.Leontiev . A.A.Leontiev's , Dimitri Leontiev's and especially Evald Ilyenko's and the Kharkov members in this respect .   
> Best Regards
> Haydi Zulfei  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: ‪Martin John Packer‬ ‪<mpacker@uniandes.edu.co>‬
> To: ‪"eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity"‬ ‪<xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>‬ 
> Sent: Saturday, 18 October 2014, 0:41:49
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: units of analysis? LSV versus ANL
> 
> 
> 
> I see a difference, Huw. I just don't see the difference that the difference makes.  And ANL cannot be correct: for one thing, in various texts LSV writes about the character of consciousness in preverbal children, and of how consciousness  is transformed by the acquisition of language. This would hardly be possible if language were a necessary condition for consciousness. 
> 
> Martin
> 
> On Oct 17, 2014, at 3:09 PM, Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>> Specifically, ANL is pointing to drivers and necessary conditions.  He is
>> saying that LSV considers language-ing the driver for consciousness,
>> whereas ANL points to activity.  This to my reading and thinking is
>> justifiably presented as a decisive difference.  It is the same as stating
>> that the deed precedes the word, and that the genetic precursor is
>> 
> different to products derived from it.
>>