"individual" activity
ENGESTRO who-is-at cc.Helsinki.FI
Fri, 27 Oct 1995 12:07:58 +0200 (EET)
I think there is a deep misunderstanding behind the notion of 'individual'
activity. The separation of action and activity, or goal and motive, took
place very early in human pre-history. In fact, I doubt that we can find
a human society in which this separation had not already taken place. The
essence of the separation is that individual ACTION and individuality as
such were born through division of labor. The division of labor - the
production of seemingly separate and different individual actions - is
the very mode of existence of human activity. Thus, the notion of 'individual
activity' has no meaning.
Perhaps the confusion grows out of the fact that individuals participate
in various activities more or less in parallel. I go to work (work activity),
I spend time with my family, I engage in sports, etc. It is perfectly
meaningful to talk about the activities OF THE INDIVIDUAL. But this does
not mean that any of those activities is an individual activity! The
distinction is non-trivial.
Yrjo Engestrom