Re: Peter's Paper

From: Andy Blunden (a.blunden@pb.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Mon Jun 05 2000 - 23:17:15 PDT


Thanks Nate.

I appreciate Peter's paper, as indeed I still appreciate the introduction
to Vygotsky Peter gave me during a 3-hour drive 15 years ago, an experience
that has never left me - for having read the paper, I am now sure that it
is indeed the self-same Peter Jones.

Even allowing for a measure of parody, the naive positions Peter so
eloquently dismembers seem totally discredited, but I have some criticisms
of the understanding that Peter puts forward here and there, in the course
of his demolition.

Stangely, I find the use of the term "Materialism", with a capital-M,
somewhat too glib. And I feel this is symbolic of Peter's referent of "the
social body of humanity", "our vital ends" and "our ideas" - which seems to
me to neglect the obvious fact of the separation of theory and practice in
bourgeois society - that "life space saturated ... by symbols".

"Materialism" only tells us that Nature *as a whole* *exists* independently
and prior to humanity and that it is *knowable*. But knowledge has both a
"theoretical attitude" and a "practical attitude" and these two shall
always be in conflict and at odds with one another so long as there is a
social division of labour between thinkers and workers.

Sure, *we* know the world, but the whole crisis-ridden practice of humanity
is *how* we know it. *This practice* is the measure of the truth of
theoretical knowledge - and I have to say that on *this* basis, it's not
looking too hot.

comradely,
Andy Blunden

______________________________________
At 17:06 05/06/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>Andy,
>
>It can be found directly on the web at:
>http://communication.ucsd.edu/MCA/Paper/Jones/peter_jones.html
>
>Nate
>
>
>> ** Original Subject: RE: Peter's Paper
>> ** Original Sender: Andy Blunden
><a.blunden@pb.unimelb.edu.au>
>
>
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