Re: [xmca] Polls are closed: Manfred Holodynsk's article is choice

[Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net>]

Words, and the concepts they are signs for, do tend, as you suggest, to 
(1) Become institutionalised, so that they form part of a common fund of 
knowledge. This happens through the material objectification of the 
concept (in building toilets), the practical objectificationof the 
concepts (in using them in one way and not another, and only them) and 
the symbolic and semantic objectification (in signage and texts of all 
kinds), and (2) Gradually change over time, in a given community, and 
from one community to another, or from one subcultural group to another, 
due to changes in these forms of objectification. But to look at the 
*general* meaning of a symbol or tool or other artifact, we obscure the 
importance of what is *universal*. This only becomes an issue if, rather 
than taking ordinary objects as our paradigm for concepts and the 
objects of activity, we take precisely objects which are contested, 
controversial and/or changing. This is what we should do.

So, for example, let us supposed that the bank-employee in Manfred's 
example is female. We can see a possible explanation for her actions in 
the fact that she is committed to feminism. In this case her outburst is 
far from being a personal, idiosyncratic expression, but is actually a 
self-conscious action taken against a bullying male boss, an action 
subsumed within the project (or activity) known as feminism, or "the 
women's movement."

The result may well be changing the title of her job, for example, from 
secretary to office manager, because, as Vygotsky said, "the concept [of 
secretary] had become worn out."

Andy

carolmacdon@gmail.com wrote:
> Is it possible that this is simply "common" understanding which is negotiated again and again and is subject to change over long periods like the work "toilet" which has changed time and again over the period of centuries. 
>
> Carol
> Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Raquel Guzzo <rguzzo@mpc.com.br>
> Sender: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu
> Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:30:45 
> To: <ablunden@mira.net>; eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity<xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> Reply-To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> Subject: Re: [xmca] Polls are closed: Manfred Holodynsk's article is choice
>
>
> Raquel S. L. Guzzo
> Pos-Graduação em Psicologia
> Centro de Ciências da Vida
> Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas
>
> rguzzo@puc-campinas.edu.br
> rguzzo@pq.cnpq.br
> rguzzo@mpc.com.br
>
> On 30 Mar 2013, at 20:21, Andy Blunden wrote:
>
>   
> > So what can be meant by "societal meaning" then, Helena? Material objects (such as the bank building, and the various human bodies involved, and books and ledgers, coins, etc.) are "societal" in the sense of being universal. But "meaning" implies to me an act of "interpretation" of material objects, something particular. And if the Politburo is not there to ascribe the one societal meaning to material things/processes/events, what on Earth can "societal meaning" be?
> >
> > Andy
> >
> > Helena Worthen wrote:
> >     
> > > ...
> > >
> > > Before this gets too long, I'll just say that I agree, there is no
> > > omniscient observer to tell us what the "societal meaning" of something
> > > is. In fact, if Manfred and I were standing in line at that bank where
> > > this happened, it might be fun for us to compare our "personal sense" of
> > > what we saw.
> > >
> > > Helena   
> > >       
> > __________________________________________
> > _____
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >     
>
> __________________________________________
> _____
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>   
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> __________________________________________
> _____
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>   

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Andy Blunden*
Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
Book: http://www.brill.nl/concepts
http://marxists.academia.edu/AndyBlunden

__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca