[Xmca-l] Re: In defense of Vygotsky ["Sense and meaning" really means consciousness, which really means intellectualism]

[Andy Blunden]

These words gained their meaning in German philosophy and subsequently 
in Marx. So the reasons lie in the German language.
In German, the word for "mind" is Geist, which is usually translated as 
"spirit" and is a highly polysemous word with a host of connotations 
which make it difficult for social or natural science to use. 
Bewusstsein, the German version of con-scio-usness, does not have these 
far reaching connotations, being derived from "being in the know" and 
references both psychological ideas and forms of ideology.
Andy
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*Andy Blunden*
http://home.pacific.net.au/~andy/


Annalisa Aguilar wrote:
> I'm curious why "consciousness" is used instead of "mind." Is there an answer to this other than philosophical? Or is it the case that the matter is accepted as settled because of historical materialism's prerogatives? In other words, is the use of the word just accepted as such because it has become a convention? Do people today question the use of the word as it has been used?
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