Re: dialectics

nate (schmolze who-is-at students.wisc.edu)
Wed, 3 Feb 1999 06:45:39 -0600

There were two articles in Mind Culture and Activity (Volume 5,
Number 2 1998) that appeared related to ascending to the
concrete. One was by Bert van Oers titled "The Fallacy of
Decontextualization", in which he argues what is actually
ocurring is recontectualization not decontentextualization. He
used an example of children playing in a shoe store in which
upon introduction of a measuring activity by the teacher the
activity was recontextualized. He argued that research should
focus on how new "abstract" thinking is a process of progressive
contextualization, rather than decontextualization. Also
Wardekker article "Scientific Concepts and Reflection", argues
for the importance of reflection in having the scientific
concept become part of the person.

Nate
-----Original Message-----
From: Jones, Peter-Cultural Studies <P.E.Jones who-is-at shu.ac.uk>
To: 'xmca discussion group' <xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu>
Date: Wednesday, February 03, 1999 5:05 AM
Subject: dialectics

>3 february 1999
>from peter jones, sheffield hallam university, UK
>in reply to rachel's query
>the method of ascending from the abstract to the concrete is a
fundamental
>ingredient of what is usually referred to as the marxist method
(or
>'dialectical materialism'). It involves quite a different (in
many
>respects, opposite) understanding of the terms 'abstract' and
'concrete' to
>that in mainstream philosophical discourse. this 'ascent' has
to do with
>the way in which scientific, theoretical cognition represents
or reproduces
>in concepts the real phenomena under consideration in their
concreteness,
>ie in their law-governed dynamic and interconnectedness within
the system
>of phenomena to which they belong. in fact it has nothing to do
with
>marcuse (as per the communication from phil). it is discussed
and explained
>by marx in various places but the most extensive treatment is
in the book
>by Evald Ilyenkov (1982), 'The dialectics of the abstract and
the concrete
>in marx's capital' and is also discussed in David Bakhurst's
book on
>Ilyenkov: 'consciousness and revolution in soviet philosophy:
from the
>bolsheviks to evald ilyenkov' (1991), Cambridge. specifically
in
>application to AT - i can't think of anything immediately, at
least in
>English. i hope this is of some help!!
>very best wishes
>p
>