Dialectical
HDCS6 who-is-at jetson.uh.edu
Fri, 27 Oct 1995 08:36:44 -0500 (CDT)
I worry if Stanton wortham's definition of dialectical is too narrowly
defined and we are throwing it of our box too quickly. The history of
the dialectic, the way I learned it admittedly way back, stretches
back to the ancient Greeks (probably further than that if I hadn't
gone to a Eurocentric college). It is when any two things, issues,
ideas, exist in the world simaltaneously, invariably causing some sort
of contradiction. The contradiction causes some sort of dynamic tension,
affecting both, fostering some type of a change (development?). Anyway,
one of the best concrete conceptualizations of this idea as a driving
force in development is in Yrjo Engestrom's book _Learning by Expansion_
(at least the way I read it).
By the way, a philosophy professor of mine claimed Hegel never wrote
the words, thesis, antithesis, synthesis. I'm sad to say I've never
read enough Hegel to know if this true. Anybody out there know?
Michael Glassman
University of Houston