[Xmca-l] Re: "cultivating Minds

[Larry Purss]

Mike,
Yes, I "sense" a family resemblance and I also agree that next comes the
poetry and the music -  AND the imaginal.  Ernst Boesch noticing the
"reciprocal interaction" of both "realistic action" and "symbolic action"
as a "unity".

The question of the particular way spaces/places emerge as both realistic
AND symbolic/metaphorical phenomena. In Simmel's work sociology
expressing the phenomena of "as - it". In Urs thoughts  the emergence of
spaces/places in how we "express" our sense of "home" and "vehicles" as
polyvalent. In Boesch's work the equal power of the realistic and symbolic.
In Bloch's work the potential power of "blues hope".

This is the way Ernst Boesch expresses this "theme": [and also a
particular "style" or an "approach"]

".... replacing a model of dualistic functioning - 'realistic' and
'symbolic' - by a unitary, but two dimensional one. On the one hand, we
structure our experienced reality according to factual instrumental,
spatio-temporal - i.e. 'realistic' qualities which allow social
communication and coordination; but we also, and jointly, structure our
experience in relation to situations and actions significant to our I-world
relationship, thereby establishing a kind of biographical consistency.
Denotational language, corresponding to the 'realistic' structuring of our
world, relates to facts commonly understood and defined; thereby it became
the language of the 'realist' or the 'rationalist', acceptable to science
and publicly valued.  In contrast, implicational language, necessarily
variable according to situations and individuals, points at aspects of
reality difficult to define, and thus would rather be the language of
dreamers, poets, or neurotics.  *Combining structure and valence*,
denotation and connotation, concept and symbol, into two *equally
important, and necessarily interdependent*, components of *action and
perception* threatened the usual scientific discourse and the relatively *firm
frontiers* between 'rationality' and 'symbolism' " [cited in  Ernst Boesch
 "Reasons for a Symbolic Concept of Action" in Culture & Psychology 1997
Volume 3 (3), pages 423-431]

The bold highlighting I have added to capture or grasp the recurring theme
of "reciprocal interaction" as it "plays out" in our performances and
dramas and scenes. Also to show that these various authors seem to be
following path marked out through "footprints" or "traces" that express a
"drive" towards life's vitality. Simmel's last book written in 1918 was
focused on life as vitality [or the loss of vitality]




On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 8:26 PM, mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu> wrote:

> This is a long and challenging thread already, Larry. Making the
> connections between
> Boesch, Urs, Simmel,,,,,, is something I will have to think about. Feels
> like a family resemblence alright. But I wonder about the following
> conclusion:
>
> I am suggesting that Simmel, Urs Furher, and Ernst Boesch were all
> following in the footsteps of the concept of "polyvalence" [multiple worths
> and  values] as symbolic actions.
>
> Might the similarity arise because symbolic actions are polysemic, and
> polyvalence is a part of
> polysemy of meaning?
>
> Where do the symbolic interactionists come into this story. Kenneth Burke,
> for example?
>
> next comes the poetry and music!
> mike
>
> On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 7:47 PM, Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Mike,
> > I will follow further in Simmels and Urs Furher's footsteps as this
> > theme also brings in Ernst Boesch's theory of "symbolic action" which was
> > developed as a notion that all phenomena [including action] have both
> > objective and symbolic "aspects". Boesch wrote:
> >
> > "This 'pervasiveness' of symbolism may be easy to grasp for a
> psychologist
> > with psychoanalytic experience or with strong artistic tastes; in my
> case,
> > however, although I believe myself to have a bit of both, this insight
> had
> > much more 'rational' roots. ... I trace its inception back to the 1963
> > article 'Raum und Zeit als Valenzsysteme', in which I formulated, for the
> > first time, the close *interrelatedness of 'valence' *[LP- worth/value ]
> > and 'structure': the conceptual structuring of space depends, I said,
> upon
> > the location of valences [worth/values] - it was the *'wish to return'
> > *which
> > led to the specification and stability of *places.*"  [cited in "reasons
> > For a Symbolic Concept of Action" in Culture and Psychology 1997
> > Volume 3(3): pages 423-431]
> >
> > I am suggesting that Simmel, Urs Furher, and Ernst Boesch were all
> > following in the footsteps of the concept of "polyvalence" [multiple
> worths
> > and  values] as symbolic actions.
> >
> > Larry
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 3:23 PM, mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > Amazing "coincidence" Larry--- I just wrote to Urs who I have not
> > > corresponded with for years as a result of going through his book on
> > > cultivating minds. It has a chapter on behavior
> > > settings as media for promoting children's development that has me
> > > re-thinking a number of issues. Among other things, there is a very
> > > interesting discussion of Roger Barker's research program. Very worth
> > while
> > >
> > > I could not open that file you sent, but I found the link to the
> journal
> > > article. Its here:
> > >
> > > http://lchc.ucsd.edu/Histarch/ja93v15n1.PDF
> > >
> > > There are a number of other interesting/relevant articles there. "The
> > sound
> > > of the violin" is a favorite.
> > >
> > > Thanks for reminding us of Simmel.
> > > Today, March 1, was his birthday!
> > > Coincidence?
> > > mike
> > >
> > > On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 3:01 PM, Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Mike,
> > > > I continued to explore Urs Furher's book that you mentioned on Simmel
> > > that
> > > > would be potentially beneficial to follow. In my explorations I came
> > > across
> > > > this article on the metaphor of "traces" or "footprints" in the XMCA
> > > > archives. It was written in 1993 and is an interesting perspective on
> > the
> > > > metaphor of cultivation AS FOOTPRINTS.  It is the third article in
> the
> > > > newsletter.
> > > > Urs is pointing to the reciprocal processes of "internalizing" and
> > > > "externalizing" the inner "affective sense" of "place" through
> > attachment
> > > > to "home" and "vehicle" as concrete ways to form one's identity
> through
> > > > attachment/security needs and  autonomy needs.
> > > > Larry
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an
> > object
> > > that creates history. Ernst Boesch.
> > >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an object
> that creates history. Ernst Boesch.
>